In case your owl -- or dementor -- hasn't arrived yet, Harry Potter: The Exhibition is opening this weekend at the Museum of Science, staying through Feb 21, 2010.

It's a 10,000 square-foot exhibition of more than 200 props and costumes from the six Harry Potter films. The original wand and glasses are there of course, along with Ron and Harry's dorm room beds, Hermione's lovely scarlet Yule Ball gown, and my personal favorite -- the real Azkaban prisoner rags worn by Helena Bonham Carter as the delightfully mad-as-a-hatter Bellatrix Lestrange. (Yes, she really is tiny in real life too.)

The kids -- and adults -- on our press preview Thursday night were enchanted. The consensus was that it is a cool exhibit for anyone who loved the books and movies, of any age.

Even 5-year-old Dennis, too young to sit through the more intense parts of the films, loved the displays -- though he was rather more fascinated by the personal audio recorder that spits out factiods from the movie's costumer designers at each stop.

There are a few dark and scary parts -- between the music and video, the effect is fairly intense at times -- but even the smallest kids on our tour seemed fine with it.

Parents might rather worry about their Magically Disappearing Wallet at the end, when the tour neatly dumps you from a Hogwarts banquet into real-live gift shop. (No, they don't take Galleons.)

If you're a cynic who is wondering what this all has to do with science, I'd direct you to the Buzzkill Museum down the street. (Admission is free, no waiting.)

Like the MoS's exhibit on Mythical Creatures, and before that, the so-called science of Star Wars, Harry Potter: The Exhibition shouldn't be held to the standard of the MoS's bread-and-butter physics, space exploration and technology displays.

It's pretend. It's show business. It's fluff. It's fun fluff that the kids -- and you -- will probably enjoy quite a bit.

The fluff doesn't come cheap -- without a membership, you'll pay $26 for adults or $23 for children ages 3-11. Members get in for $5, so if you live in eastern Massachusetts it could make more sense to get an annual family membership for $105.

(And fellow suburban Mass Pike travelers, do not -- as I did the other night -- get in such an intense discussion with your progeny about the gun control billboard plastered near Fenway that you miss the I-93 North exit and wind up on a car tour of South Boston.)

For hard core science parents truly intent on squeezing some educational juice out of this one, sorry to say there isn't much. You could try to work in some of the museum's suggested discussion topics about owls, and (I kid you not) brooms in flight.

Or maybe just take the kids to the rest of the museum afterwards, and make them learn something serious about science. That's what it's there for.

Have you seen the Harry Potter:The Exhibition at Boston's Museum of Science? Tell us what you and your family thought of it! Leave a comment, or drop an email (or howler) to enoonan@globe.com