I watched the third Harry Potter movie to get some inspiration for this cake. I've read the books, but I needed it fresh on my mind. I didn't take anything from the third movie directly, but it got the wheels turning. Harry travels to and from Hogwarts every year with a rather large and old suitcase, and I wanted to replicate that look. I learned that the best way to make fondant brown is to color it with cocoa powder, NOT to add brown food color (you have to add A LOT of brown to get the color this dark, which alters the taste and texture of the fondant). The books... Magical Me and Potions... were just made in a simple 9x13 pan, trimmed to the size I wanted. The Harry Potter lettering was made with gumpaste and then painted with my new airbrush!! That's what gives the lettering the 2-tone effect. Finally, Harry is made of gumpaste with a glass globe (from a light fixture) around him to give the "Divination" feel. I found the fabulous cake board at Roberts Craft Store. I just love the wood edge. The cake is a simple cake from Martha Stewart and the filling was buttercream and a strawberry cream cheese frosting (just use strawberry cream cheese instead of the plain kind)... yum!!