Coningsby is a small and cosy Contemporary Art Gallery on Tottenham Street, London that I must thank the love for Harry Potter for letting me know.

As a Potterhead, I always thought there was no theme park or film-making exhibition better than real city where the wizarding world meant to occupy. If there is only one choice, I’d rather walk in between the red telephone booths that connected to the Ministry for Magic, travel through the real King’s Cross even without a train to Hogsmeade Station, and most importantly, explore the British culture that breathes the life into every detail in Harry Potter.

But luckily, living in London also gives you the chance to be one of the first visitors to The Graphic Art of the Harry Potter Films Exhibition at no cost.

So I took it right when the Gallery was open at 9am 01 December.

Unlike in most of other Harry Potter-related expos, the main content of this exhibition is 2D Visual Art printed and presented in frames on walls. Because this is the gallery of Miraphora Mina and Eduardo Lima, the graphic designers behind Warner Bros’ film making of Harry Potter series.

Although the place itself is literally an art gallery with limited space, they poured effort in making simple decorations that hang the mojo of the wizarding world. That could be told from outside where I could see the eerily twinkling candles that resembled the enchanted ceiling, or inside where the Hogwarts letters were left scattering around every random corner.

The pieces of graphic art were grouped movie by movie, so that visitors could get immersed in each part of the saga. The pictures could do that to you because they were very signature and memorable, even though they shared a tiny bit of on-screen duration among more than a thousand minutes of the series. Mina and Lima’s designs left a strong nostalgia with a unique style that was British, magical, political and cultural at the same time.

What I was also keen on was the fact that in that morning, the exhibition attracted just the right number of visitors — enough to confirm the appeal of the Harry Potter series after quite a while, and enough to keep quiet in the poky room. And interestingly, visitors were all mature, or even aged, contrary to the common belief that Harry Potter was a kiddish thing.

Eventually, I left the gallery with two souvenirs: a brandnewly released book of MinaLima’s designs, and the recognition of such an art gallery that is very likely of my type.