Ferder

Interesting that they included all the modular sets from this line except for First Flying Lesson, though since the doorway section isn't an 8x8 module it's harder to fit with the rest. A shame, since a doorway section is so useful!

In one of the box-art pictures for Dumbledore’s Office they have the pensive on one of the side wings instead of in the top square, which actually makes more sense for accuracy. But that would leave the top module completely empty so it got me thinking what else could go up there. Dumbledore’s giant telescope?

Hogwarts Additions: Pros: Love that both sets include towers that can be used at 90 degree angles. The castle has always been lacking in sets to create either of the four major Hogwarts Courtyards. Hopefully the title with the colons (Hogwarts Courtyard: Sirius Rescue) indicates that more courtyard sets are coming. For now, one could purchase several Sirius Rescue sets as a castle-building parts pack. The 8x8 corner piece on that set is especially welcome. The new Dumbledore Office is a welcome upgrade to both the original 2002 set and the too-small Clocktower module. The addition of the library is great too. Nice to see a more rounded Great Tower to accompany the 2020 Castle cons: still not sure how any of them could work as a base for the Hospital Wing. We need another three-wide base for that. Non Hogwarts sets: Nothing exceptional about the Shrieking Shack but nice to see it back again after all this time. Fun that the transformation feature was included again. Ministry of a magic is well done. Impressed that it has so many fun details in the interiors (the offices, the department of mystery shelves). Lots of cute play-features In there as well. Grimaldo Place is perfectly executed. Impressed that the mechanism was included without sacrificing interior details.

Something looks different about Marcos in the interview--- he's got hair now! I wonder if he got himself a transplant or did he pop a hair-piece on (like a minifig!)?

This Post on the forum here had some ideas

Show us pics!

This Youtube video (in German) shows all the modules combined, including Flying Lesson. It ends up being a great solution to having something to put under Fluffy Corridor, that isn't Lockheart's classroom or a duplicate COS section. All that's left over is the two Flying Lesson roof pieces. I really like it!

Not quite, the designer mentioned that the several sand green pieces that accented the grey roofs in 2020 Astronomy Tower weren't an intentional foreshadowing of this years' green-roof wave. There was nothing said about what the roof colors would be after this year, but you're probably right that if the modular system continues next year, it would also have green roofs.

This Designer Interview has some interesting insight into the reasoning behind this year's Anniversary line. Some key takeaways: The 2018-2020 line was a three-year plan The new Anniversary line is called a soft reboot because it introduces the new modular system, while also keeping the pin-connections from the 2018-2020 wave The goal with the soft reboot "Anniversary" line was to attract new kids to HP (that weren't old enough to be interested three years ago). This explains why the focus is on the first two films, which are more kid-friendly than say Deathly Hallows. Also, the Anniversary is celebrating the release of the first film, 20 years ago. With the 2018-2020 line they had run out of "consumer-recognizable" Hogwarts exteriors, hence a return to familiar locations like the Great Hall. This admission does not bode well for the chance of getting less iconic locations like the Bell Towers The sand-green elements on the Astronomy Tower set were a personal touch by that set's designer, and not part of the official switch to Sand Green for the Anniversary Line. It was just a happy coincidence that it served as a transition between the two lines. All things considered, the future of the line looks like it will be this new Modular Hogwarts system, rather than a return to the style of the 2018-2020 series.

I was curious what the new Modular System would look like if the Girls Bathroom was added to the main Great Hall-Chamber of Secrets set and Lockheart's classroom was still connected to his office, so I did this rough photoshop. To fill in the gap under the Fluffy set, I duplicated the portion of the Chamber with the slide and deleted the interiors. One can imagine filling it up with pieces from the Potions Classroom Hogwarts Moment set or perhaps one's own Chamber of Winged Keys or Philospher's Stone Room Even the exterior looks a lot better this way with the windows and rooms all on the upper portion and the rocky parts all on the bottom. Though I cheated here with a mirrored rock section on the bottom-right side.

Without an official set created to fit in that space, I would consider putting a second Myrtle Bathroom there, but gutting the interior and replacing it with ellements from the Potions Hogwarts Moment set. Snape's classroom is in the dungeons after all

Plus, it would mean that the full modular build would be completely subterranean at the bottom. Lockhart's classroom just doesn't fit with the rest of the sections with their grey "underground" design.

The other set I like from this line is the Flying Lesson. it looks like it could go well with either Castle line (from 2018 or now) and it's handy to have extra connecting walls between the major towers to build out Quads and such. Curious what the interior for that will have.

Let's talk modularity: I love the concept, and but not sure about the integration of the Forbidden Corridor set. On its own, the Forbidden Corridor looks incomplete. As shown in the box art, the trap down doesn't even align with the lower section with the vines. It works better in the picture of the suggested combined build, with the 16x8 Lockhart Classroom from the main Castle placed underneath the Fluffy section and moving the 8X8 vines underneath the trap door. However, I don't like that Lockhart's classroom is separated from his office, which is now above the Girls Bathroom section. Ideally, Lockhart's Classroom would stack above the bathroom (making for an extra-tall tower beside the Great Hall, albeit an overly boxy one), and a different 8x16 section would be underneath Fluffy's Corridor. A 16x8 Chamber of the Winged Keys set in the shape of the Girls Bathroom set would fit perfectly!

The HP Wiki is an excellent resource for this, especially for where the locations are portrayed in the films. For instance, if you look up Hogwarts Library, it tells you at the top which section of the castle it is located (in this case, the Training Grounds Tower, on the other side of the courtyard from the Long Gallery). You can follow the link and see what the Training Grounds Tower looks like, and how it’s changed appearance over the films. https://harrypotter.fandom.com/wiki/Hogwarts_Library

Which part are you referring to as the courtyard? That balcony part on the top third with the crenellations (beside the tower)?

I'd say the new Great Hall looks like a lot more like the 2010 design, than the original 2001 one.

Anyone have any thoughts how these could be modded to attach to the ongoing modular Hogwarts line? I wonder if the rooms can stand up on their own without being attached to their books (though the books do work well as walls, at least from one side)

I was going to add it to the Great Hall but it threw off the floor plan shape. I’ll probably end up removing the dancing mechanism and use it as a corner wall piece.

I was curious if I could better match the movie model blueprint by making the Quad form from the Grand Staircase Tower, instead of the far side of the Great Hall. I used the Room of Requirements to form one of the quad walls. It's a bit of a wonky "square" but at least now the Great Hall is at the correct 45-degree angle from the rest of the Castle.

Visuals for the Hidden Side castle are out. Turns out that just like in the box art only the telescope tower is tan and the rest is black and grey. So there goes any hope of it being useful for extra Hogwarts parts.

It depends what you're looking for. The Hogwarts Castle UCS is designed as a scale-accurate display model (the exterior, at least), though it only features about 1/3 of the castle. The playsets on the other hand will feature more areas of the castle in the end, but without heavy modding (adding landscape, bridges, courtyards) it will always be a more "impressionistic" version of the castle that highlights only certain key locations. With the playsets, the pin holes are on the side of every wall so that you arrange the modules however you like and LEGO can keep releasing Castle parts indefinitely, without worrying about how they are supposed to fit together. Take the Clocktower for instance. If one is trying to be a bit more accurate to the Hogwarts Castle design, it would be positioned behind the Great Hall. However, LEGO suggested that the sets all be attached in a line, with the Clocktower beside the Womping Willow wall, since this arrangement is better for showing each building and for fitting the whole castle on a shelf. It all depends on what setup scratches that LEGO Hogwarts itch for you.

Agreed. I didn't mind that Hogwarts changed throughout the years since most of the major layout changes were done on the 3rd film-- when there had only been two films out at that point, with the majority of films still to be made. But not only did the 8th film throw in major design changes that contradicted what had been established in the 7 prior films (the Viaduct, the Grand Staircase) but that is now the representation for Hogwarts in the Fantastic Beasts series as well. It's like fumbling on the final hurdle.

Behind the Great Hall. But I would swap the positions of the Dumbledore Office Tower and the Yule Ball Section, so the Yule Ball piece is closer to the Great Hall, and the Clock Tower isn't directly touching the Great Hall.