Harry Potter shop in Morpeth

Dollmaker Cathy Brady, the artist behind Realistic Baby Dolls, has made hyper-realistic dolls for film and television productions including Neighbours, Offspring and, most recently, an upcoming mini-series Hide and Seek. 

So when she sets her sights on making polyjuice potion, wands, spellbooks and even “Baby Harry” it’s a safe bet that there’ll be a little magic in her creations.

“I just love the imagination of the whole thing, and it gave me a chance to be creative,” she said.

“I always wanted to make baby Harry, but I thought I can’t do that without whipping up a whole display that takes up half my store.”

Ms Brady’s store, which occupies a room upstairs in Campbell’s Store, is now half Morpeth, half Diagon Alley.

She has made Hermione dolls, in full Hogwarts uniform and a Professor Snape doll complete with a potion laboratory. She’s expecting a shipment of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans any day now.

“I’ve gone crazy making stuff,” she said.

And while the designs are inspired by the Harry Potter universe, Ms Brady has not replicated props from the movies  –  she has designed it all herself.

“The potions are glittery, colourful liquids in glass bottles – they’re really quite special,” she said.

“When kids come in to the shop they’re sorted into their houses, they can practice their levitation spells when they pick a wand. 

“We’ve had kids coming in wearing costumes – adults too,” she added with a laugh.

Ms Brady said she reveled in creating a sense of atmosphere and immersion for visitors to her shop – a throwback to the largely lost art of Christmas wonderlands in the department stores of her youth.

“Life is meant to be fun,” she said.

“I want people to go away having more than just a look in my store, I want them to have an experience.

“It’s something missing from the World these days.”

The Harry Potter exhibition will run at Campbell’s Store until Halloween at the end of October before Ms Brady starts shifting her store to a Christmas Theme.