(CW: HP) LEGO® Harry Potter review: Hogwarts Moments

Jonas Kramm opens the four LEGO® Harry Potter 'Hogwarts Moments' sets for you today. The products in this article were provided for free by LEGO; the author's opinions are not biased by this. Editorial note: Although views expressed by Harry Potter's creator do not align with that of New Elementary, we continue to cover HP sets. Read about our stance here.

“Don’t judge a book by its cover.” We won’t! Today we will take a detailed look at the inventories of the four new LEGO® Harry Potter Hogwarts Moment sets that were released on 1 January 2021 for £27.99 / $29.99 / 29.99€ each. They not only bring new book cover plates, but lots of interesting pieces and recolours to discover.

Often simply referred to as LEGO Harry Potter books, sets 76382 Transfiguration Class, 76383 Potions Class, 76384 Herbology Class and 76385 Charms Class are a miniseries of four 'books' which unfold to reveal a Hogwarts classroom playset inside.

New Elements

First we will take a look at new moulds, recoloured elements and printed pieces featured in these sets.

Book Cover (69934)

Hard to miss when looking at the new LEGO Harry Potter brick-built books are their covers. They’re specially made for this series and don’t appear in any other sets. Each of the four sets has the book cover moulded in a different colour.

The new mould (69934) is a modified 10x16 Plate with 3.18mm handles on the spine edge. On the upper side the surface is flat with just a single outline of studs, similar to other plates with reduced studs. The open space is printed with Hogwarts house crests surrounded by thin lines and images in gold. These make them look very elegant and magical.

On the backside the plate has two 5x6 surfaces without tubes. The sets utilise these open spots for the application of large stickers, which I chose not to apply.

Two book cover plates are included in each set; the one on the front is printed with the crest and the one on the back is unprinted. 

The IDs for the undecorated Plate 10x16, Hor. 3.2 Shaft are:

• Dark Tan (6331899 | 69934)  in 76384 Herbology Class
• Sand Blue (6331894 | 69934) in 76385 Charms Class
• Dark Orange (6319518 | 69934) in 76382 Transfiguration Class
• Sand Green (6331898 | 69934) in 76383 Potions Class

Even though the classrooms inside of the Hogwarts Books are different, the construction of the book shape is the same and makes use of a new element for 2021 that appears in all four sets: Tile Special 4 x 4 with Studs on Edges and Clips Horizontal in Dark Bluish Gray (6310189 | 66252). It’s similar to two 4 x 4 modified plates with clips that have been around for years, 11399 and 47998, with the difference being this new 2021 mould has a flat 2x3 area on the upper side.

Recolours in Hogwarts Moments sets

Each of these sets also comes with 8x Tile 2 x 2 Curved Macaroni pieces in Bright Light Orange (6334203 | 27925), which are new in this colour.

Two Door 1 x 2 x 3 with Vertical Handle for Tabless Frames in Dark Tan (6334209 | 60614) in Transfiguration, Herbology and Charms Class.

One Brick Special 1 x 4 with Masonry Brick Profile in Light Bluish Gray (6314891 | 15533) in 76383 Potions Class.

Two Panel 1 x 6 x 7 with 2 Columns and Arch in Light Bluish Gray (6332620 | 40066). You can read more about this arched frame from 2019 in our review of 43182 Mulan's Training Grounds.

Glass for Frame 1 x 6 x 7 with Bow in Dark Bluish Gray (6332622 | 65066) and Glass for Window 1 x 4 x 6 in Dark Bluish Gray (6332623 | 57895), both in 76383 Potions Class. This is the first time the former element appears in an opaque colour.

Two Fence Ornamented 1 x 4 x 2 with 4 Studs in Reddish Brown (6334265 | 19121) in 76384 Herbology Class.

Seven Bracket 1 x 2 - 2 x 2 Inverted in Dark Tan (6330148 | 99207) in 76385 Charms Class. This same 2021 recolour also appears in 10278 Police Station.

Printed parts in the LEGO Harry Potter Books

Thanks to the Hogwarts Moment sets the students can finally cast new spells. Until now we’ve only had the printed 1x2 tile with the feather icon, but each class now comes with a different spell tile.

From left to right:

• Tile 1 x 2 with Groove, in Tan (3069bpb859) in 76383 Potions Class
• Tile 1 x 2 with Groove, in Tan (3069bpb649) in 76385 Charms Class, the one which has appeared in many sets since it was introduced in 2018.
  
• Tile 1 x 2 with Groove, in Tan (3069bpb860) in 76384 Herbology Class
• Tile 1 x 2 with Groove, in Tan (3069bpb861) in 76382 Transfiguration Class

 

The Round 1 x 1 Open Stud with Reddish Brown Mandrake Face and Open Mouth Pattern in Medium Nougat (6299867 | 67856) on the left is found in 76384 Herbology Class, its second appearance after 75969 Hogwarts Astronomy Tower. I have also shown on the right the mandrake from the Collectable Minifigure Series – so now you can control if it’s screaming or not!

Interesting bits

Not completely new, but definitely noteworthy in my eyes are these pieces:

One Panel 3 x 3 x 6 Corner Wall without Bottom Indentations in Reddish Brown (6334418 | 87421) in 76383 Potions Class which appeared once before in 2017.

• Two Animal, Snake Head with Open Mouth, Fangs and Curved Neck with Bar in Dark Bluish Gray (6234583 | 28588) in 76383 Potions Class. With five previous appearances, this piece is more common than I expected.
• One Brick Special Arch 1 x 2 Jumper in Dark Bluish Gray (6292417 | 38583) in 76383 Potions Class, the second time this piece/colour-combination appears in a set after its first appearance 2020 in 43176 Ariel's Storybook Adventures.

• Four Plate Special 2 x 4 with Groove and Two Center Studs in Tan (6294227 | 65509) in 76384 Herbology Class. While only debuting last year this element has already appeared in 17 total sets, though this is my first set containing this piece. 
• Two Plate Round Corner 3 x 3 with 2 x 2 Round Cutout in Black (6325190 | 68568) in 76384 Herbology Class; also appears in 2020's 71369 Bowser's Castle Boss Battle Expansion Set.

Minifigures in 76382, 76383, 76384 and 76385

I won’t cover all minifigures in this review but there are many with new pieces that I want to highlight.

Minerva McGonagall in 76382 Transfiguration Class is a completely new minifigure that features a new floppy witch hat and hair combo in Black with Tan hair (73213pb01).

Also her robe has lovely printing.

A Professor Flitwick minifigure as he appeared in the early Harry Potter movies comes in Charms Class for the first time. His beard is new in White (11911) and the mould was only ever used for Dwalin from The Hobbit before.

76383 Potions Class comes with Hogwarts student Seamus Finnigan with a new double sides head of which one face is covered in soot. The way it’s designed with stripes gives him a comical look.

In 76384 Herbology Class two characters from the Collectable Minifigures Series made a comeback in a new design. Professor Sprout has the same hat with hair combo but no skirt this time, so the torso now includes mud to make the transition to the Dark Tan legs more natural.

The torso on the left appears twice in this set and is similar to another Neville Longbottom torso from 2018 that features different crease patterns and a visible tie.

The earmuffs around Neville and Cedric’s necks are the headphones from Monkie Kid appearing for the first time in Dark Tan (6332110 | 66913).

Cedric also comes with Hips and Medium Legs which are, new in Tan (6327494 | 37364).

Stickers

Each of the classrooms comes with a sticker sheet to add further detail to the interior, though as I want to use the pieces in a different context in future builds, I didn’t apply them here.

On the Transfiguration Class sheet I noticed three paintings that are a nod to the designers of this set. Do you recognise them? I think I see Nick and Marcos.

The Builds

The binding of all four Hogwarts Moment sets are the same, only the colours are different. They  make very convincing books from the outside but I was a bit disappointed by the scale, as they don’t approximate the standard size of an actual book. In that regard the pictures can fool you!

When the book is closed some of the sides show a messy structure, but at least the colour scheme is consistent.

When you hear that the books can unfold, you may expect something similar to 21315 Pop-Up Book, but this version is different. The Harry Potter books get opened upstanding, so their covers form the walls of the classroom and not the floor. There is also no kind of mechanism, just hinges so you can swing out the walls yourself. I made little animations below so you can see how the books unfold, but if you find GIFs difficult to watch you can skip my set descriptions.

Each set makes the best out of the available space inside and uses every tiny gap to fit in more details. Fitting all the furniture elements and other objects back in the book is trickier than it seems so I advise to keep the instructions. The minifigures unfortunately don’t fit in the books and have to remain outside. 

LEGO 76382 Hogwarts Moment: Transfiguration Class

The Transfiguration Class comes with 241 pieces and three minifigures. 

 

Thanks to the walls formed by the book, all of the little accessories and pieces of furniture can quickly create a scene the minifigures can interact with.

LEGO 76383 Hogwarts Moment: Potions Class

For the Potions Class, 271 pieces are used and it comes with three minifigures. The designers took care to make each classroom in a different layout and changed the folding techniques.

I’m not an expert in toy photography, but with a bit of light you can quickly turn these books into scenes from a magical world.

LEGO 76384 Hogwarts Moment: Herbology Class

The Herbology Class also includes three characters and 233 pieces. From an aesthetic point of view this class has to be my favourite as I love the integration of the greenhouse and the different plant elements growing across the room.

The windows allowed me to play with the light even better.

LEGO 76385 Hogwarts Moment: Charms Class

At the Charms Class, the set is made of 256 pieces and includes another three minifigures. This classroom suffers the most from my leaving the stickers off, as the walls are empty and so are the bookcases and the blackboard.

But the accessories stored in the chest and the vitrine make it still possible to create an interesting scene here!

Combining all of the Harry Potter Hogwarts Moments sets 

When you have three or four of the Hogwarts Moment sets you can connect them to each other. The pieces needed to do so are included. 

While it caused no 'wow' effect for me, I can imagine that it makes better play for children as they can go around the model and let the characters attend different classes.

Conclusion

The Hogwarts Moment sets are a new approach to the Harry Potter theme bringing fresh ideas and unique playability. I like the concept and the execution. The foldable walls and hidden details in the books along with the many accessories make these sets easy to play with. The amount of new colours is a big plus and I like the new cover plate. It’s specific enough to be helpful in these sets and still universal enough to be used in other cases.

The price point of £27.99 / $29.99 / 29.99€ for piece counts between 233 and 271 is rather high. Collectors of the Harry Potter minifigures can maybe justify that, but just as a parts pack they cost too much.

READ MORE: 80023 Monkie Kid's Team Dronecopter is a great source of recoloured parts

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