HARRY POTTER 6th BIRTHDAY PARTY  Invitations were printed on scrolls with the Hogwarts crest on the top as an acceptance letter to Hogwarts.  These letters were delivered by hand by our family of 5, dressed as wizards with a plastic owl (Hedwig) in tow.  Here's the wording: Dear <Guest>, We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for \*\*\*\*'s 6th Birthday Party. We look forward to seeing you on Saturday, April 15th, 2006 and remember, the train leaves King's Cross Station (located at <Address>, Santa Clara) at Eleven O'clock AM sharp and the journey will last 3 hours. Please RSVP by sending an OWL to Hogwarts@mydomainname.net or by using the FLEW Network to <tel#> by Saturday, April 1st. Note that students may wish to wear their casual robes, as the journey may entail physical activity as well as working with messy potion ingredients.  Respectfully, Deputy Headmaster <Mom'sName>  Class List for First-Year Students: Orientation & Matriculation- History of Magic Potions Defense against the Dark Arts Quidditch Practice & Flying Lessons Magical Beasts Excursion to Hogsmead Divination   Decorations: We had balloons in front of the house on the corners of our yard saying "Platform 9" and "Platform 10" and a golden metallic curtain in front of our open doorway that guests needed to run through in order to get onto Platform 9 3/4. The table was decorated with stars & moon metallic confetti and stars hanging around. --  As guests arrived, they were "sorted" into the house at they wanted and were given a badge with the house crest on it (suprisingly, Slithrin was the most popular house!) They got a photo taken with the sorting hat on for thank you cards. Parents were given the "curriculum" (which listed the activities and helped keep us all on the same page-- we invited parents to jump in whever they wanted to-- people are always asking how they can help).  Kids went on to decorate their wizard hats, which was a wquiet "warm-up" activity they could do as guests trickled in. From there, they could check out the "magical creatures" that we had on hand (earthworms, slugs, snails & newts that the kids gathered from our yard that morning)  We had a spraybottle with water to "feed" the "bloodworms" until all of the guests arrived.  Hogwart's Class List for First-Year Students: 1.Orientation & Matriculation- History of Magic:   a.Sorting hat b.House Crest Pin  c.Decorate Hat (this was a felt wizard's hat that they could decorate with glitter fabric glue, feathers, pompoms & foam stars & moons)  <clear table afterwards for potions class> 2.Care of Magical Creatures: observe newts, snails, slugs, feed bloodworms 3.Quidditch Practice & Broom Flying Lessons: flying chair 4.Potions:  a.Exploding Brains (6 skull-shaped cups, volcanic ash <baking soda>, green/purple/yellow colored vinegar, trays to catch the explosion, Dixie cups for the kids to pour the vinegar into their skulls, cauldron with soapy water for quick clean-up)  b.Zing! Suspension (6 oil, vinegar, spices, bottles, poured over cucumbers in bowls) c.Elixir of Rejuvination (12 skull-shaped cups, lemons, sugar, mint, wooden spoons, ice water in pitchers, spoons- basically minty lemonade)  d.Special Ingredients (12 Popcorn in bags with unicorn dust<cinnamon sugar> /dragon scale<taco seasoning> /swamp grass<italian seasoning>/ghost whispers<parmesan cheese> for the kids to shake over their popcorn)  e.Gak (12 bowls, glue, liquid starch, colors, spoons, Dixie cups, ziplock bags)-we didn't have time to make this-  5.Spells/Transifguration: Red light-Green light (wands) Petrificus = stop Accelero = go Animagus ___= go like a _____ 6.Excursion to Hogsmead:  a.Lunch at the Three Broomsticks (Butterbeer or Polyjuice Potion, grilled cheese, peas, corn, fruit) <clear for cake>  b.Bartie Bott's Everyflavor Bean-Tasting at Honeyduke's Sweet Shop (cake) 7.Defense against the Dark Arts: Dimentor Pinata (bags) 8.Honeyduke's Sweet Shop: (each kid gets 3 galleons to spend) 9.Divination: A glimpse into the future, presents revealed (goodie bags) -- ...The Broomflying lessons basically consisted of a little plastic kids' chair with a broomstick taped to it, it had a climbing rope laced through it, which was carried by 2 strong adults to make the child sitting in the chair "fly." This was one of the major highlights of the party for many.  From there, we needed more set-up time to clean-up for potions, so "Mrs. McGonagall" lead the transfiguration lesson, where each child received a "wand" with glitter streamers coming out of the end and they practiced spells, moving & dancing with the wand. Then we played "Red Light-Green Light" with a spell-master giving the commands, and then letting the kids take turns calling out the spells.  Professor Snape then led the potions class and then they came into the diningroom which was decorated as "The Three Broomsticks," where they could choose from goblets of "ButterBeer"<rootbeer floats> or "Polyjuice Potion"<lime soda with lime sherbet>.  After lunch & cake, the kids got to sample Bertie Botts EveryFlavor Beans (they didn't like this so much) and then it was time to practice defense against the dark arts, by hitting our home-made pinata that looked like a dementor.   After filling their goodie bags with the toys from the pinata (fake lizards & snakes, flying frogs, pop rocks, invisible ink & lightning tattoos), they had an "excursion" to our picnic table, which was decorated as "HoneyDuke's Sweet Shop"- where they could spend their 3 galleons they were given on goodies like "Everyflavor beans," "Dragon Dung" (mint Merengue), "Dead Rat" (gummy rat), "dragon eggs" (Jordan almonds), "Worms" (gummy worms). After that, we had Divination, where kids tried to guess what wrapped presents were before they were opened.