Harry Potter Party-11 year old My Harry Potter fanatic daugher turned 11 this year, so we absolutely had to have a Harry Potter party.  For the invitation we downloaded clipart of an owl holding a scroll. We printed this on white cardstock and my daughter colored them in to create snowy owls, barn owls, and tawny owls. We then typed up a Hogwarts Acceptance letter for each guest (after all, most of the guests were 11 too!) that said: We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to a one-night trial at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in honor of (my daughter's) 11th birthday.  Please find enclosed a list of all necessary equipment. The train will depart on (date and time) from (your address). The train will return promptly the next morning at 9:30 a.m.  We await your owl (or muggle fellytone to (me)at (phone number)) by no later than Wednesday, March 15. The supply list requested they wear wizard clothing, bring sleeping bag, etc., bring a broomstick and extra socks for Dobby (our one year old was dressed as a house elf.)  This was printed with green ink, rolled as a scroll, and sealed with red wax (melted crayon). We then hole punched two holes near the owl's feet, tied the scroll letter on with ribbon, and hand delivered the invitations. For decorations, we hung a poster of Harry Potter on the front door, with the word Alohomora glued on.  We got out lots of our Halloween decorations (witches, ghosts, jack-o-lanterns, black cats, spiders) and honored Gryffindor with lots of red and gold streamers. We had candles burning on every table and all over the mantles to create an authentic Hogwarts atmosphere. Our whole family got into the theme by dressing up as characters from the book: The birthday girl was Hermione, Dad was Dumbledore, Mom was Professor Trelawney, and her sisters were a unicorn, a mermaid, and Dobby the house elf. When the guests arrived, the first step was to find the right wand. The wands were real sticks spray-painted silver and dusted with glitter, which gave them an authentic feel.  My brother in law played Olivander's part by inviting each child into the living room and helping them test the wands by waving them and naming an animal. The first couple they tried wouldn't work, but when they waved the right one, he "turned into" the animal. He totally got into it and the kids loved it! While the other kids waited their turn, they each got to guess how many Bertie Bott's every flavored beans were in a jar. Next came the feast. I bought take-and-bake cheese pizzas, and added star shaped pepperoni to one of them. (I cut these out with a star cookie cutter).  The cheese was Weasley's Cheezie Wheezie, and the pepperoni was Pepper-Star-oni. We served butterbeer in plastic red goblets (ginger ale with butterscotch syrup mixed in) out of a smoky black cauldron (dry ice), and a giant spider crawling into the top.  Of course, sorting follows the feast, so we used an old witch hat and sorted each child into Ravenclaw or Gryffindor, because we would need two teams for the rest of the party. Now it was time for class.  The first class was Defense Against the Dark Arts, where we made Anti-Dark Wizard missiles.  The kids absolutely loved this and it was so easy.  We went outside and filled empty fuji film canisters half full of warm water and part of an alka seltzer tablet.  The kids quickly popped on the lids and turned them upside down on a table and a few seconds later they shot off 15 feet into the sky. The canisters were reusable. Next came Transfiguration where we played charades with words from the books, and the children waved their wands and shouted "Transform" before each clue. When they guessed a clue, they received a chocolate frog or Peppermint toad I made with a frog mold and wrapped with a picture of a character from the Books. Then we went to Snape's potion class and made Slimy Snape Slime. I had all the "potion" ingredients in different glass bottles and acted as mean as Snape. Then we washed our hands and headed for Divination, the class I had dressed up as Professor Trelawney for. We did another experiment with milk in a flat pan, added blood (red food coloring) and essence of wormwood (dish soap) and told fortunes with the shapes that formed. Then I got out my crystal ball (a round glass bowl coated with glue and glitter inside) and told each child's fortune, at the end of each I said "And you will eat cake ... and ice cream" in a spooky voice and all the kids started saying it with me each time.  During the birthday child's fortune I went into a trance like in Book 3 and said something silly like "You will open many presents But when the clock strikes Midnight you will fall into a deep sleep." The next class was Care of Magical Creatures and the girls each got to make and name an origami owl. Even though I did all the basic folds ahead of time, this part still proved a little tricky for the kids, but we had lots of adult help. The last class was a Trivia Quidditch Match and Treasure Hunt with Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw. If the team answered the question correctly, they received a clue on where to find the next question. I gave them multiple choice questions so they'd be sure to answer them, and kept the treasure hunt clues fairly simple (e.g., "You can flush it" and they just had to find the right toilet). As they ran to find the next question they "rode" on the brooms they had brought as if they really were playing quidditch. When they answered the final question, they all "flew" upstairs to find a box filled with a golden snitch (Cadbury caramel eggs) for each of them. It was finally time for cake and ice cream. My sister in law made an awesome Mad Eye Moody eyeball cake by decorating a white bowl cake with red gel frosting lines and a big blue bouncy ball cut in half as the eyeball. She put red candy balls all around the cake plate, and we used a Harry Potter candle. For the ice cream, I dipped sugar cones in chocolate and halloween sprinkles to make wizard hats that we set on top of an ice cream ball. Last the kids set up the "dormitory" and watched a Harry Potter movie. The next day, they took home their shiny red treat bags filled with their chocolate frogs, peppermint toads, and golden snitches. They also each got a bag of Bertie Botts Beans (jelly bellies wrapped in celophane), Tongue Teasers (pop rocks with a Weasley Wizard Wheezes tag on it that I printed using a Harry Potter font I downloaded from the web), Owl Droppings (junior caramels with a similar label), HP glasses, lightening bolt tatoos, plastic spiders, and a toy rat. The kids and adults all had a blast and we even created a new Harry Potter fan out of one of my daughter's friends who had never read the books or seen the movies. What a great theme for a fun party!