This is no graveyard, it's a Chessboard.

The largest part of my Harry Potter collection revolves around the Wizard Chess scene near the end of Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone.  (Have you noticed I keep saying "Philosopher" rather than "Sorceror"?  That's because I am what you might call a traditionalist.)

Below is a WONDERFUL photo of Misha doing his imitation of one of the Chessboard Pawns.   He is holding one of the two swords that were used in the Wizard Chess scene (see the photo below Misha).  The camera shot you see below is the ONLY shot where actual swords were used.  All remaining camera shots used computer-generated swords.  The sword Misha is holding is the sword that is being held by the right-side pawn.  I know who has the left-side sword but he just doesn't want to part with it.  I can't say that I blame him although I sure would love to have both of them!  The two shields behind Misha are two pawn shields (again, used on-screen), one black shield and one white shield.  As you see the pawns moving around the floor during the chess game, you will see the shields on the pawn's backs.   These shields came off the backs of two of those pawns, and they are HEAVY.

The photo below shows a clay model of a chessboard pawn, called a "maquette" (French for "model").  This is the ORIGINAL clay maquette that was created in designing the Wizard Chess pawns.   It is extremely detailed and quite an amazing piece of artwork in its own right!

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