Muggle Quidditch

The one activity Colwyn insisted we do at his party was Quidditch. So we found the rules for Muggle Quidditch and decided to give it a try. We had one red kickball that was the Quaffle, two smaller balls that were the Bludgers, and a Golden Snitch. At first we just put the Snitch behind the goalposts, which were two hula hoops hung from trees. But that proved way too easy.. much more fun was having an actual person be the Snitch and run around, trying to dodge the seekers. All of the positions were the same (chaser, beater, keeper, seeker). If you got hit by a Bludger, you had to drop the Quaffle if you were holding it and freeze for 10 seconds.

We played several times. We didn't keep score because there was way too much going on. It was barely controlled chaos, but a LOT of fun.

The Food

Here's the cake. Harry is made out of gum paste, which I will never work with again. The only upside was that I got the decoration done in advance, so I wasn't up until 3am the night before the party doing the cake, like I usually am.



After our activities were done, the kids got to go to Honeydukes. We had Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans (several boxes of Beanbozzled Jelly Bellies mixed with regular ones). Chocolate frogs that a friend of my husband's made (thanks!). I also made cockroach clusters (little heaps of pretzels covered in chocolate) and peppermint toads (white chocolate toads filled with peppermint buttercream). Some lemon drops rounded out the offerings.



The Leaky Cauldron offered bat wings (chicken wings from a local BBQ place), Molly Weasley's Meat Pies (my husband made these), parchment scrolls (wraps from the grocery store), and fruit wands (fruit kabobs).

The Sorting

I created a sorting hat out of poster board. I made a cone and then a donut shape and taped them together. Then I used brown flannel I had left over from some Jedi robes I made, along with some spray adhesive and fabric stiffener.



Then I arranged the house scarves on one of our play stands.



I hid the receiver of our baby monitor amidst the scarves. My husband had the transmitter in our bedroom along with a script for the sorting. In hindsight, we should have used phones set on speaker because I had call out the kids' names really loudly so he could hear them in our room and know which lines to speak.

Divination

One activity that we thought was going to be a flop was actually a big hit. We made folded fortune tellers, sometimes called 'cootie catchers.' I folded them all in advance on sturdy, brightly colored cardstock. Then I printed out labels with the four Houses, and lots of fortunes. The four house labels get stuck on the outside. Then on the inside, you write numbers 1-8. The on the flaps, the kids affixed whichever fortunes they liked best. These are some of the fortunes we used:

Due to a tragic transfiguration error, you will spend several years of your life as a sausage.

You will be stampeded by a herd of raging hippogriffs.

A Basilisk will escape and hide in your plumbing. Beware long baths.

Congratulations! You will be drafted as the next Seeker for the Gryffindor Quidditch team.

Way to go! During Astronomy class, you will discover a new planet which will be named for you.

You will fall in love with a Centaur and move to a tree house in the Forbidden Forest.

The Weasley brothers will hire you to test their new joke shop products. You will never be the same!

You will live a very long life, but as a werewolf. Beware of full moons!

Congratulations! You will win the next Daily Prophet Grand Prize Galleon Draw!

You’ll find out the hard way that Acromantula venom is not a good cure for a runny nose.

You’ll catch the Snitch and win the Quidditch Cup for your house!

You’ll get prime seats at the next Quidditch World Cup, but you’ll have to perform as the mascot!

You’ll come in first place in the All-New-England Wizard Chess Championship!

You’ll marry a Weasley and have eleven children.

While vacationing in Sweden, you’ll spot a real Crumple-Horned Snorkack, but nobody will believe you.

You’ll win a life-time supply of Fizzing Whizzbees! Don’t forget to share!

Beware! A boggart has just taken up residence under your bed.

Bad luck, a troll just smashed your potions homework to smithereens.

Educational Decree 30 prohibits students from eating birthday cake.

Terrible news! A polyjuice potion mishap will leave you with a long, furry tail.

Lucky you! Mrs. Weasley has remembered to knit a sweater just for you! Watch for her owl!

You'll find your true friends in Slytherin.

Someone will try to slip you a love potion! Constant vigilance!

You will receive top grades and be made a prefect! Great job!

You will accidentally get hit by an Engorgement Charm - your nose will never look the same!

You'll get in trouble for practicing inappropriate charms on a goat.

Potions Class

Potions class was a huge hit. Nobody wanted to stop and move onto the next class.

I bought these bottles from AC Moore and created some labels for them:



We filled these with vinegar dyed different colors. Here was the setup before the class started. The mason jars have stuff from Target's Halloween section: plastic skulls and hands, rubber rats and bats. I wasn't intending for the kids to add those to their potions, but they did.



Some of the ingredients are dry barley for beetle eyes, golden raisins for shrivel figs, gummy worms for flobberworms, lemonade mix for crystallized dragon tears, Pop Rocks for powdered root of asphodel, lemon peel for boomslang skin, dried cherries for hinkypunk hearts. Then there was the necessary baking soda, labeled 'powdered unicorn horn.' The kids loved watching their potions fizz when we added the powdered unicorn horn at the end.

I bought plastic cauldrons for the kids to use.. they're small, but I think it was better that way.

Leaky Cauldron and Honeydukes

The plan is to have our kitchen be the food station. One counter will be the Leaky Cauldron, filled with things like pretzels, butterbeer, pumpkin juice, parchment scrolls (sliced tortilla wraps), bat wings, and dragonheart dip. Another counter will be Honeydukes, with Chocolate Frogs, Peppermint Toads, licorice wands, Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, etc, etc.

Naturally, I need signs for these. I bought some unfinished plaques from AC Moore for a little over $3 a piece. Some acryllic paint, Google Images for inspiration, and voila:





I still need to do a coat of poly, especially on the Leaky Cauldron sign. Word to the wise - be sure your wood isn't knotty, as it really messes up the paint.

House Scarves

The party will include a Sorting Ceremony, during which the children will be sorted into their houses (and the adults, too, if they want). I wanted the kids to have something to denote which house they're in, and I settled on scarves. At first, I was planning on crocheting them and had my aunt teach me how. But as I started working on them, it became apparent that I'd never have enough time to get them done. My next idea was fleece scarves, and they turned out very well.



I bought blizzard fleece from Joann's in the house colors (red/gold for Gryffindor, green/grey for Slytherin, yellow/black for Hufflepuff, and blue/orange for Ravenclaw--orange being the closest I could find to bronze). I cut the fleece into 11"x12" squares and used three of each color for a scarf. I cut fringe about three inches long on opposite sides and tied the squares together, tying plain knots in the two end squares. Obviously, the kids will be able to take these home as part of their favors.

The File

For most big events (birthdays, holidays, etc), I keep a Word file full of ideas, websites, lists, and so on. Here are some of my lists for this party:


General Ideas

Goodie Bags:
Chocolate Frogs
Peppermint Toads
HP Crayons
(plus scarves, hats, wands, cauldrons)


Food:
Butterbeer (cream soda and butterscotch syrup)
Pumpkin Juice (mango juice)
Jelly Beans
Ice Mice
Treacle Tart
Licorice Wands
Fruit Wands (kabobs)


Décor:
Signs: Broom Parking – Staff and Guests ONLY Others will be swept away!
In Case of Fire – no flying).
Downstairs Door - “Do Not Disturb – House Elves at Work”
Beware – Whomping Willow
Staff Room

Fake Books: Monster Book of Monsters, Standard Book of Spells Grade # by Miranda Goshawk, A Beginner’s Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch, A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot, Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling, One Thousand Magical Spores and Fungi by Phyllida Spore, Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find them by Newt Scamander, The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble, Break with a Banshee, Gadding with Ghouls, Holidays with Hags, Travels with Trolls, Voyages with Vampires, Wandering with Werewolves, Year with the Yeti by Gilderoy Lockhart, Intermediate Transfiguration by Emeric Switch, Unfogging the Future by Cassandra Vablatsky, Numerology and Gramatica, Ancient Runes Made Easy, Home Life and Social Habits of British Muggles by Wilhelm Wigworthy, Defensive Magical Theory by Wilbert Slinkhard, Advanced Potion-Making by Libatius Borage, Armando Dippet: Master or Moron?, The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore by Rita Skeeter, Curses and Counter-curses (Bewitch Your Friends and Befuddle Your Enemies with the Latest Revenges: Hair Loss, Jelly-Legs, Tongue-Tying, and Much, Much More) by Vindictus Viridian, Flying With the Cannons, Little People, Big Plans by Ragnok the Pigeon-toed, Moste Potente Potions, Magical Water Plants of the Mediterranean, Nature’s Nobility: A Wizarding Genealogy, Quidditch Through the Ages by Kennilworthy Whisp, Twelve Fail-Safe Ways to Charm Witches



Activities:

Diagon Alley – Cover playroom door with bricks, Gringott’s to take out money, shops for buying a wand (wooden dowels), cauldrons, witch/wizard hats, robes (XXL Men’s T-shirts)

Sorting Ceremony – Put baby monitor under Sorting Hat

Potions Class – Bottles filled with different colored vinegar (leech juice, basilisk venom, dragon blood, etc), ground unicorn horn (baking soda). Poppy seeds for beetle eyes, golden raisins for shrivel figs, gummy worms for flobberworms, lemonade mix for crystallized dragon tears, Pop Rocks for powdered root of asphodel, lemon peel for boomslang skin, dried cherries for hinkypunk hearts.

Folded fortune tellers – labels to affix fortunes on the inside

Basilisk Stare – pass out cards to kids, kid who gets ‘basilisk’ card is it. Basilisk must blink twice to Petrify their victim (who must fall down and lie still). Kids try to figure out who the basilisk is.

Muggle Quidditch – Hula hoops (hang from tree?), Beaters stand on sidelines and throw soft balls at players (freeze for 10 sec. if they get hit), Seekers have to try to get Snitch behind the hoops

Checklist

Gryffindor Scarves
Slytherin Scarves
Hufflepuff Scarves
Ravenclaw Scarves

Print and Assemble Invites

Wands
Wand Boxes
Crayons

Jars/bowls for Potions
Snitches for Decoration
Candles to Hang from Ceiling

Dumbledore Costume
Molly Weasly Costume
Hagrid Costume
Big Kid Robes
Little Kid Robes
Adam & Daniel’s Robes

Trivia Game
Prize for Trivia
Transfiguration Chalkboard

Make music CDs (one general, one Moaning Myrtle for bathroom)

Basilisk Stare Game (cards)

Signs
Bulletin Board
Book Jackets
Fake Books

Make Labels
Fold Fortune Tellers

Chocolate Frogs
Peppermint Toads
Ice Mice
Treacle Tart

Shopping List

HP Wall Scrolls

Parchment Paper & Envelopes
Wax and H stamp
Owl feathers

Dowels
Wood beads
Crayon Mold
Styrofoam Balls (Snitches)
Snitch Feathers
Candles
Fishing Line

Purple fabric for Dumbledore’s Costume
Dumbledore Beard
Hagrid Beard
Black fabric for Molly’s Robes
Black t-shirts
Witches’ hats

Prize for Trivia Game

Black posterboard, frame(?)

CDs

Posterboards
Wood Plaques

Rolls of paper (white, red, blue, etc)
Gold pen

Labels for printer

Inspiration

I've been a big fan of Harry Potter for the last ten years or so - naturally, I was thrilled when my oldest started to get into the series. We read the first book aloud last summer, the second one early this summer, and we're just finishing up the third book now. I'd been waiting and waiting for the opportunity to plan a Harry Potter party, and Colwyn finally cooperated by asking for a HP party this year!

I generally go overboard with the kids' birthday parties after they reach a certain age (we do really low-key parties the first few years), not because I think it's necessary, but because I just love planning and hosting great parties. This one is going to be extra over-the-top because I'm such a big fan, and because a lot of our (adult) friends are fans, too.

Planning started off by trawling the internet for ideas. I took a lot of inspiration from the birthdays described at this Birthday Party Idea website, as well as from The Hogwarts Celebration and My Harry Potter Party. I've allowed myself two full months to plan and prepare.