“Witchcraft and Wizardry” Minecraft Map: A Magical First Impression

Ah, Hogwarts. I can’t tell you how disappointed I was when, at the age of eleven, I did not receive my letter from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. But now, in the “Harry Potter” themed Minecraft map appropriately titled “Witchcraft and Wizardry”, I can! ~~Only took me a decade extra.~~ In this map, you are a Hogwarts student who receives your letter on your doorstep, and are whisked off to the magical world of the Wizarding World. Along the way, you attend classes, learn spells, and can explore the castle.

But before we can even get to Hogwarts, we need our school supplies! So, we go from our humble home in Little Whinging (Privet Drive, to be specific), hop on the Knight Bus, and go to Diagon Alley. Of course, our Muggle money is no good, so we go to Gringotts Bank and exchange our money for Wizarding money, the main currency being Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts (though in the map, it’s just Galleons). After getting our money, we can get our school supplies, mainly our wand, robes, and school books. Upon gaining our supplies, we can finally go to Hogwarts!

But to get there, we first need to get on the Hogwarts Express. So, we walk through London (complete with the London Eye on the River Thames), to Kings Cross Station. Walk through the wall between Platforms Nine and Ten, and we arrive on Platform 9 and 3/4, go on the Hogwarts Express, and arrive at Hogsmeade Station. Upon arriving, you will walk with Rubeus Hagrid, the Keeper of Keys and Grounds, go down to the docks, and take an enchanted boat to the castle proper. There, you will be Sorted into your House. They are; Gryffindor, the brave and chivalrous, Ravenclaw, the wise, Hufflepuff, the kind, and Slytherin, the cunning and ambitious. From there, the map truly opens up, and you can go to classes, explore the castle, and do side quests!

So let’s talk classes! In the map, there is Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration, and Potions. Each class typically involves some kind of minigame. For example, in the first Charms class (and the first class of the map) you learn Lumos, the Wand-Lighting Charm, which allows you to produce light from your wand. The developers cleverly added in a maze that you have to traverse using Lumos to get 5 gold stars and return to the Professor, Flitwick.

In Defense Against the Dark Arts, you learn defensive spells, such as Stupefy, a spell that damages enemies in front of you. Again here, there is a minigame, this time involving an obstacle course, where you have to hit targets using Stupefy, as well as an enemy gauntlet, where you have to fight waves of enemies to round out the class.

Transfiguration is a class I have not gotten to yet, so I cannot for certain say what it entails, but in the books and movie series, it involves learning spells that can Transfigure or change objects, such as Reparifarge, which un-Transfigures an object.

Lastly, we have Potions, with Professor Severus Snape, which we all love to hate. This class, you guessed it, involves making potions. Some potions restore your health, such as Essence of Murtlap, whereas some allow you to breathe underwater for a limited time, such as Essence of Gillyweed.

Finally, we have the castle itself. Hogwarts is as you’ve probably imagined it; confusing, big, and oh so magical. Within the castle’s walls, you can; do side quests; explore and find secrets relating to places within the books and movies, or go outside of Hogwarts and explore the magical and non-magical worlds.

If I were to describe the map in a single word, it would be magic. The love and detail that went into it is amazing, and I highly recommend checking it out here:https://gumroad.com/l/floomap. It is free, but there is an optional donation as well. I do hope you enjoy reading this first impressions and do hope you check out this amazing map.