I’m standing mere feet away from a dragon. Its footsteps shake the ground beneath my feet and the sound of its breathing reverberates off the marble walls. It pauses and sniffs the air, before turning its head towards me. It starts to run and with a huge bellow unleashes a stream of fire from its mouth. Smoke swiftly fills the room.

For a brief moment I forget that I’m standing on a movie set, and that the dragon before me is not flesh and blood, but an incredibly lifelike projection on a screen.

I’m at the launch of Gringotts Wizarding Bank at the Warner Bros. Studio Tour in Leavesden and, though I’ve been a repeat visitor since its opening in 2012, I can’t help but look around with a sense of childlike wonder at the Harry Potter film sets come to life.

And I’m not the only one. After the dragon has retreated back behind its shroud of heavy smoke, my friend Eleanor turns to me and says: “They’ve made magic real.”

There’s a palpable sense of excitement as guests gather in the tour’s new entrance hall to hear actor Jason Isaacs – known for playing Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter films – introduce the launch of Gringotts Wizarding Bank. Among the other stars present are Dan Fogler and Claudia Kim – who star in the Fantastic Beasts films – singer Kimberley Wyatt, celebrity chef Gizzi Erskine and West End star Carrie Hope Fletcher.

Gringotts is the tour’s biggest expansion to date and is testament to the tour’s ability to continue attracting visitors from all over the world – even eight years after the last Harry Potter film was released. With the continued success of the Fantastic Beasts films, a whole new generation of fans is clamouring to step through those famous doors into the Great Hall.

And now, with this newest expansion, there’s even more to explore. As well as the bank’s stunning marble hall complete with lifelike goblin tellers and crystal chandeliers, the new section also includes the Lestrange vault filled to overflowing with treasure, prosthetics and costumes used to transform actors into goblins, and that incredible dragon projection.

As always with the tour, the sheer sense of detail is staggering. Individual hairs have been placed on prosthetics to make them look as real as possible, ledgers sit on the goblin tellers’ desks listing their customers’ details, and 38,000 pieces of rubberised treasure spill across the floor of the Lestrange vault, glinting like real gold.

Even with this being my seventh visit, I still spend nearly five hours exploring the tour and marvelling at the incredible craftsmanship involved in creating the hundreds of sets, costumes and props.

And if you’ve never been to the Warner Bros. Studio Tour before, there has never been a better time to visit.

Gringotts Wizarding Bank opens to the public on Saturday, April 6. For details and to book visit www.wbstudiotour.co.uk or call 0345 084 0900.

Warner Bros. Studio Tour, Studio Tour Drive, Leavesden, WD25 7LR.