A Snowy Visit to Hogsmeade: Turning a Wizarding Village into a Winter Village

Prepare all your festive decorations and cast the spell that creates the biggest snowbanks as we make our way to Hogsmeade, the all-wizarding village known for its gorgeous architecture and magical holiday atmosphere!

LEGO provided BrickNerd with set 76457 Hogsmeade Village - Collectors’ Edition. This wonderful set recreates the charming design of the old wizarding cottages and shops in remarkable detail: all the playful signboards and colorful elements are faithfully inspired by the films.

The only difference from the Harry Potter franchise is the feeling of an in-between season. It’s clear that the richness of modern LEGO elements would disappear beneath thick layers of snow, and this limited snow coverage became an exciting creative challenge for us!

Let’s enjoy this incredible set as an “off-season” foundation for creativity and watch the landscape transform into a true Winter Village. I took inspiration from the snow-covered window ledge of the Hog’s Head pub from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and carried that visual through Harry’s adventures across all his school years.

Scenes from a Snowy Hogsmeade

The friends are waiting for Harry as he returns from his unsuccessful date with Cho Chang…

Another motivation for recreating cinematic scenes in Hogsmeade is the wide range of characters in different outfits who accompany Harry on his many visits to the village. Aberforth Dumbledore, Albus’s brother, appears much brighter here than in his somber film portrayal. I chose a short-bearded minifigure face to better match Aberforth’s appearance in Order of the Phoenix. It’s here, in Aberforth’s pub, that Harry and his friends form Dumbledore’s Army.

Sweet Treats from Honeydukes

One long-held dream connected to this new set finally came true: Honeydukes now has a grand new front façade! I decorated it with icicles and piled the street high with snowdrifts, turning it into the most festive building in the village. Harry is using the Invisibility Cloak (since he didn’t get permission to visit Hogsmeade) and is hiding from Professor Dumbledore, who’s enjoying his favorite sherbet lemons—clearly inspired by Muggle lemon drops. You can see Harry here, right?

The interior of LEGO’s Honeydukes doesn’t closely match its movie counterpart, so I expanded the space exclusively for BrickNerd! Step inside the “real” Honeydukes and choose your favorite magical sweets.

I sculpted—well, “cooked”—all the famous Honeydukes treats: Jelly Snakes, Ice Mice, Chocolate Frogs, and modified Pumpkin Juice bottles. I also gathered the printed LEGO boxes of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans into a brick-built stand, just like in the third movie.

Let’s stroll along the shelves filled with sugary treasures. LEGO introduced two new packaging elements for Exploding Bonbons and Fizzing Whizbees, which I built in relief and filled with candy.

The window display is decorated with multicolored bottles and enormous spirals of spun sugar—one of Honeydukes’ most memorable features. While the LEGO version leans toward warm tones, the key tone of the film’s building is sand green, so I incorporated it into the updated design.

Harry has just stolen Neville’s red lollipop, so I gave him another one! It was great fun combining sculpted treats, new LEGO elements, and older pieces from a previous smaller Honeydukes model.

Professor Slughorn is enjoying his favorite crystallized pineapple! I used the same technique to make Professor Dumbledore’s sherbet lemons, and you can recreate them for your own sweet scenes. Here’s a quick and easy tutorial: shape small colored rolls of clay into teardrop shapes (as shown in pic 1), combine them into a larger roll, then slice it thinly and cut each slice in half. For the pineapple, alternate white and yellow layers, roll them together, and slice into round pieces.

Snowy Shops and Secrets

The scene featuring Katie Bell and the cursed opal necklace is a great example of moments in the films where snow dominates the environment. I created numerous snowbanks in different shapes, carefully tailored to the size and design of each building.

There are also plenty of delightful discoveries inside shops that were never shown on screen in the movies. Take a look inside Zonko’s Joke Shop, bursting with cheerful energy: Fred and George Weasley have stopped by to restock Dr. Filibuster’s Fabulous Wet-Start, No-Heat Fireworks and other branded products, complete with eye-catching realistic prints!

The largest building in the set is the Three Broomsticks pub. It’s been significantly expanded compared to earlier versions, and its design sets the architectural tone for the entire wizarding village.

The cozy warmth of a winter refuge comes through in the pub’s cozy rooms, where Professor Slughorn is inviting Hermione to the festive evening in his Slug Club.

Bringing the Village Together

I used the previous Hogsmeade set as a backdrop for some forced perspective, which is a great way to bring more depth and life to the scene. The new set offers even more playful details and architectural ideas, perfectly capturing the spirit of the a Winter Village.

Transforming Hogsmeade into a Winter Village allowed the familiar setting to be explored from a new angle, where snow, seasonal decorations, and small custom details reshape how each building and scene is perceived. The combination of the new Hogsmeade Village set with expanded interiors, added snowbanks, and layered layouts made it possible to recreate recognizable film moments while also introducing new ones.

Together, these elements highlight how a fun set like 76457 Hogsmeade Village - Collectors’ Edition can be adapted into something festive while still staying true to its original character. I hope you enjoyed this magical journey as much as I did. See you again in the Wizarding Village!

LEGO Harry Potter 76457 Hogsmeade Village – Collectors’ Edition is available for around $400 US | $490 CA | €380 EU | £350 UK | $600 AU.

DISCLAIMER: This set was provided to BrickNerd by LEGO. Any opinions expressed in this article are those of the author.

Have you used Hogsmeade in your LEGO winter villages? Let us know in the comments below.

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