LEGO Hogwarts Castle: The Main Tower Review: A Whimsical Set for the Whole Family

There’s no shortage of Harry Potter LEGO sets out there for fans, as the first tribute to the Wizarding World was released in 2001 to coincide with the release of the first movie, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. As the Wizarding World continues to expand, LEGO sets have honored all corners of the franchise, with LEGO’s recent initiative being to revisit the iconic location of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. We’ve gotten a number of sets replicating the school in a variety of scales, but kicking off with The Great Hall in June 2024, LEGO is making the scale even larger and more immersive for important alcoves in the castle. The latest expansion of Hogwarts, Hogwarts Castle: The Main Tower (#76454), brings to life locations and scenes from the original movie with a build that’s just as exciting to engage with as it is to put together.

Coming in at a staggering 2,135 pieces, The Main Tower is a monster of a set, which will take your average adult builder 6-7 hours to complete. Confirming how this set is meant to be played with by younger fans, you’ll receive 12 minifigs, including Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom, Professor Kettleburn, Nearly Headless Nick, Albus Dumbledore, and other Hogwarts students. The set also includes animal companions such as Fluffy, Hedwig, and Fawkes.

The first three bags in the set help establish the overall footprint of the set, though it offers a lot more than merely creating the set’s foundation. Those first three bags contain minifigs of Harry, Ron, and Hermione, with each bag offering a complete build of rooms from the finale of Sorcerer’s Stone. You’ll get to build Harry’s pursuit of flying keys, Ron playing Wizard’s Chess, and Hermione becoming ensnared in vines. By getting started with three separate, complete builds, it makes for a satisfying start to the overall project, as other large sets might spend the initial bags crafting an ambiguous infrastructure.

Each room feels detailed enough that they could be smaller sets on their own, so knocking out three in a row could be a bit overwhelming for younger fans. However, it makes for an organic pause point where, once they are built, fans can already start playing with these iconic locales.

Bags 4 through 8 end up expanding on those three complete rooms to construct the rest of the main floors of this tower, which also includes Fluffy and his room. While Fluffy is a fan-favorite character in Sorcerer’s Stone, he somehow looks even more adorable in LEGO form than he does in the movies. Fluffy also stands upon a trap door that opens up into the vines Hermione falls into, with there being a clever integration of how a vine mechanism opens and closes to replicate the wizards falling through the floor.

Bags 9 through 11 construct the Gryffindor common room, complete with banners, beds, and chairs to lounge in. Even though the room might not be nearly as detailed and intricate as other sections of the set, this section manages to effectively evoke the vibe of the room without having to be overly complex. The highlight of this section is easily the “Fat Lady” portrait that separates the common room from the stairwell. As any fan of the Wizarding World series can tell you, the various hidden passageways and secrets contained in Hogwarts are what make the location so exciting to imagine visiting, with this passageway honoring that intrigue of the locale. LEGO could have taken the easy route to create this transition, but made sure to honor the source material.

Bags 12 through 16 help construct arguably the most recognizable component of the Main Tower, which is the moving stairwell. Much like the Gryffindor common room, to fully replicate the complete details of this location would be next to impossible, but LEGO manages to boil down the essence of the location to deliver exactly what fans need to convey the spirit of the stairwell. We might only get three sets of stairs as compared to the dozens in Hogwarts, though the ways in which they spin and rotate, along with the multiple portraits adorning the walls, authentically convey the spirit of the moving stairwell.

At the top of the stairwell is Dumbledore’s office, which, as has become the theme of the overall set, honors the key components of the office even without exhaustive detail. From the Sorting Hat to the Pensieve to the Sword of Gryffindor, the decor in the office isn’t just generic wizarding items. Above his office, bags 20 and 21 construct the attic and the roof of the tower. Making this section more exciting is that you also get to create the Mirror of Erised, which shows someone the “deepest, most desperate desire of our hearts.” In this case, you get stickers to show Harry alone on one side, only to rotate to show Harry with his parents. Capping off the build with one of the more emotional items in the Wizarding World means that the entire structure concludes with a more significant relic that audiences and builders will connect with.

For fans who have already constructed last year’s The Great Hall set, this The Main Tower set can be connected to help immerse yourself in the major scale of this new Hogwarts initiative. Between the trap doors, moving stairwells, the dozen minifigs, and removable bottom floors, The Main Tower will appeal not only to older builders who appreciate the devotion to details, but will be far more than just a display piece once completed, as younger fans can dive into every corner to replicate iconic moments from the adventure. LEGO continues to outdo itself, even when putting fresh spins on iconic locations, and Hogwarts Castle: The Main Tower is no exception. If you want to add it to your collection, pre-orders are available now here at the LEGO Shop for $259.99 with a release date set for June 1st.