In March 2024, LEGO released two Hogwarts sets with gray roofs, which was odd, because up until that point, the roofs on LEGO Harry Potter sets of Hogwarts were predominantly light-green. The new LEGO sets were also larger and more intricate than their prior iterations, and fans suspected (and have since confirmed) that these sets are part of a ” new wave” of Hogwarts modular buildings. Collect them all, and you will eventually form a whole castle.
LEGO Harry Potter Hogwarts Castle: The Great Hall
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Set #7435 is a 1700+ piece recreation of the Hogwarts Great Hall. It comes out on June 1, 2024, and it is the first “new wave” Potter building of this size and scope. Taken by itself, it is a quality rendition, more display-oriented than play-oriented, despite the 10+ age recommendation. Taken as a small part of a larger Hogwarts Castle, it’s an excellent, if intimidating, start to what will be a multi-year cumulative build, for anyone who has the patience and money to see it through.
To give you a sense of scale: the 2018 version of the Great Hall measured 14 inches high and had 878 pieces. The new 2024 version of the Great Hall measures 16 inches high and has 1732 pieces—almost double the number of its predecessor. And even so, there’s still only room for two long tables within the Great Hall. How big would the Great Hall have to be to squeeze in four tables, for Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin respectively? Would it need to be twice the size of this one? As it is, the new set costs $199.99. It might not be possible to build the perfect Hogwarts while also keeping it economically feasible for the average fan.
You build the Great Hall in phases. First, you build the rocky cliffs and the footprint of the building. This bodes well for the future—a Chamber of Secrets or a Slytherin Common Room could easily slot into the final castle, without reverse engineering a solution to somehow stack and meld them together. It also allows for a descending walkway, which leads down the cliffs to the Boathouse.
The Boathouse, however, is not a part of the Great Hall. It is a separate build that you can purchase separately and then attach to the Great Hall via hooks. If you want to build the entire Hogwarts Castle, there are several sets—already released—which will be part of the final build. These are Hagrid’s Hut (Set #76428), Hogwarts Castle: Potions Class (Set #76431), the Hogwarts Castle Owlery (Set #76430), and the aforementioned Hogwarts Castle Boathouse (Set #76426). The Owlery and Hargrid’s Hut will be physically unattached to the larger castle, if you’re looking to cut a corner or two.
Then, you build the buildings. They look appropriately Gothic, with narrow spires, dramatic arches, and columns which surround the square courtyard. The Great Hall is not enclosed; the back is open like a diorama, which allows us to see the scenery and staged tableaux within. There are hooks on the edge of the diorama, however, which leads me to believe that the final castle build—whenever it’s complete—will have nothing exposed. One hopes that by interlocking multiple sets together, the interiors will be encased and hidden from view, 360 degrees around.
The dining/reception hall contains the flags for all four Houses, tables laden with food, floating candles, and clouds on the ceiling. Beneath this is a dungeon (accessible from a secret rockface entrance), which includes the Hufflepuff Common Room, a narrow corridor for skulking about, and the girl’s bathroom, where Harry, Ron, and Hermione battle a troll in their first year. The LEGO troll looks appropriately doltish, with a tiny head and a big club.
Ten other LEGO Minifigures round out the cast: Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Albus Dumbledore, Professor Quirrell (who, true to canon, has Voldemort on the back of his head), Leanne, Daphne Greengrass, Terry Boot, Professor Vector, and the Fat Friar. Their looks and sizes are consistent with their appearances in The Sorcerer’s Stone.
The most expensive LEGO sets on the market have never topped $850. And it seems that rather than crossing that threshold—a full Hogwarts Castle would be a ripe candidate for doing so—LEGO is going to sell these large sets piecemeal. It’s an installment plan of sorts, to ensure that the designers can create something ambitious and adult-oriented while also keeping the price manageable.
Earlier this year, LEGO released a miniature build of Hogwarts Castle. At the time, I thought it was a secondary option for Potter fans who didn’t have the space or the cash for the bigger, more imposing model. But now, with the release of the Great Hall, it takes on some additional meaning. What if this is a miniature model of what the new Hogwarts Castle will eventually look like?
If that’s the case, the part that’s circled red? Is all that’s been released so far. This is going to be quite the final build, someday. But for now, we wait.
LEGO Hogwarts Castle: The Great Hall, Set #76435, retails for $199.99. It is composed of 1732 pieces, and it is available now at Amazon and the LEGO Store.
Kevin Wong is a contributing freelancer for IGN, specializing in LEGO. He’s also been published in Complex, Engadget, Gamespot, Kotaku, and more. Follow him on Twitter at @kevinjameswong.
