View source for Harry Potter: The Character Vault by Jody Revenson

{{infobox1
|title=Harry Potter: The Character Vault
|author=Jody Revenson
|reviewer= Luke Marlowe
|genre=Entertainment
|summary= A beautifully detailed book filled with fascinating nuggets of information, ''Harry Potter: The Character Vault'' is aimed at those who loved the films, and want to know more about the design process that went into making the elaborate costumes, as well as information from the actors themselves about how they influenced the design. 
|rating=4
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|pages=208
|publisher=Harper Design
|date=October 2015
|isbn= 978-0062407443
|cover=0062407449
|aznuk=0062407449
|aznus=0062407449
}}

Unlock new information about your favourite characters from the Harry Potter film series. This coffee table book profiles the good, bad, and everything in between – from Harry and Ron to Voldemort and Umbridge. Hugely detailed and filled with beautiful illustrations, images, and never before seen glimpses into the design process – this book will answer your questions about character design in the Harry Potter series.
 
I can't deny that I'm a big Harry Potter fan – whenever a new book was released I would rush out to the bookshop, then straight back to my bedroom where I wouldn't move until the book was finished. An easy task when dealing with the few hundred pages of [[Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J K Rowling|Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets]] or [[Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J K Rowling|Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban]], but an altogether more difficult task when dealing with the huge tomes that the later books became! They were a huge part of my childhood, and the films too – whilst the first couple haven't aged so well, the films from ''Prisoner of Azkaban'' onwards are pretty darn wonderful. I read a lot into the background of Harry Potter when I was younger – but a lot of the information in this book was new to me. It's intriguing to see quite how much the actors held influence and had a say over what their characters would wear – Maggie Smith influencing Professor McGonagall no end, Imelda Staunton being fattened up for the despicable Dolores Umbridge etc. 

All the wonderful facts are accompanied by frankly stunning illustrations from the design process, as well as stills from the films. This is a very lovely coffee table book, and I may well be looking out the other books in the series. As a nice little bonus, two lovely posters are included with the book – one of the Order of the Phoenix, and one of the Death Eaters. There's also a small attached booklet that features the Death Eater mask designs – which again is wonderfully illustrated.
 
I can't deny that a lot of the information in these books can probably be found on the internet, but that isn't the point of this – it's a lovely big book, filled with wonderful snippets of information, and fantastically detailed drawings that give fascinating insights into the filmmaking process. No, it's a not a must read – but if you have friends who are fans, it will make an absolutely wonderful present, and many thanks to the publishers for sending a copy in. 

As for further reading – I imagine you'll already have read the Harry Potter books, but if not – [[Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J K Rowling]] is still one of my favourites, and both Lupin and Sirius Black list amongst my favourite literary characters. Taking the innocent childhood sense of wonder that permeated the first two books, and taking it in a far darker direction – Prisoner of Azkaban is still a book for children, but ones who relish a bit of darkness and danger.

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