Hogwarts Birthday Party  For my son's 8th birthday party, we decided on a Harry Potter /Hogwarts theme.  We rented our subdivision clubhouse to have plenty of room for the festivities.   Invitation:  Each child was sent an official invitation from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry printed on Hogwarts letterhead in emerald green ink on parchment paper.  The invitation read, "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry cordially invites you to attend a celebration in honor of the birthday of Sir Nicholas." A personalized letter from Professor McGonagall was included which provided all of the party details. Parents were asked to reply by owl, or by using the muggle telefony.  Each envelope was sealed with emerald wax and Hogwarts "H" that I rubber stamped into the wax while it was hot. An owl delivering parchment was printed on the front of the envelope since wizard's mail is delivered via owl.   Assistance: There were 32 children coming to this party, which was more than I could handle alone.  I invited four middle school kids from my neighborhood to attend the party as "Prefects" to help out.  They were sent the same official invitation from Hogwarts as described above.  Each Prefect was assigned a house:  Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin and they were responsible for the little kids sorted into their house. Each "Prefect" was given a $10 gift certificate to a book store for helping out.  Arrival: At the entrance to the clubhouse we placed a large round sign that read "9 3/4" followed by a wall of black fringe that separated the clubhouse foyer from the main greatroom. As the children arrived, they had to cross the barrier at Platform 9 3/4 to enter the party.   Diagon Alley: Once through the barrier, children shopped the stores of Diagon Alley to get their supplies for school.  Long banquet tables were set up adjacent to the layout of the greatroom to create diagon alley. Each table was decorated as a different shop in Diagon Alley. We did this by using Science Fair display boards. I'll explain each shop as we go through. There was a  3' walkway between the tables and wall to create an "alley."  Large cut-outs of storefronts were placed on the wall to note stores such as "Quality Quidditch Supplies," Flourish and Blotts," and "The Magical Menagerie."  First Stop: Gringott's Bank. Gringott's was decorated as a large white and silver building. Large decorative columns were placed on either side of the table to give the illusion of architecture. The bank sign, a picture of Griphook the Goblin, and the Goblin's bank policy (found in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone) was on the display board. At the Wizard's bank each child received a pouch full of gold galleons and an empty gift bag decorated with stars that the "Prefect" instructed them to keep throughout the party to put their "goodies" in. Second Stop: Madam Malkin's Robe's for All Occassions.  Madam Malkin's was decorated using silver and baby blue.  Sign's denoting sales on dress robes and pictures of wizards in a variety of different robes adorned the display board for the shop.  At the shop a "Prefect" measured each child and gave them their wizard's hat and robe.  The wizard's hats were regular party hats that were spray painted black and decorated with glitter glue.  The robes were men's extra large white underwear t-shirts that were dyed black and cut up the front to resemble a real robe.  Third stop: Ollivander's Wand Shop.  Ollivander's is an old place. It's been around since 832 B.C. so the display board was decorated in brown craft paper that had been crinkled and tea stained.  Pictures of the available wands were pasted on the display board along with wand care instructions.  The wands were made from 10" dowel rods that had been stained a variety of different colors:  ebony, cherry, mahogany, maple and placed in a black silk box lined with red felt.  In the wizard's world, the wand chooses the wizard, so after a couple of tries, our "Prefect" would shoot off a party popper to let the child know that the wand they were holding is the one that has chosen them.  Sorting Ceremony: After the visit to Diagon Alley, each child entered Hogwarts for their sorting. An official Sorting Hat was purchased from the WB website. A walkie-talkie was duct-taped high up inside the hat.  A friend read the sorting hat's song (found in HP and the Sorcerer's Stone)from the other room and the hat "magically" spoke. Each child was called up alphabetically.  The sorting hat was placed on each child's head and the hat called out which house they were sorted into. My friend had a list of each child's name and what house they were to be sorted into so that an even number of children went to each house.   Wizard's Classes:  After everyone was sorted, their "Prefects" took them to each of their classes in turn.  Classes were Herbology, Charms, Leviation, Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts.  Herbology:  Silk vines and flowers were strung on garden trellises and the trellises were placed on the walls around the Herbology classroom for decoration. Five different kinds of flower seeds were placed in empty terra cotta planters and named wizard names such as Puffapods and Devil's Snare and placed on the table.  Large garden urns were placed on the table and held potting soil and garden spades.  Each child was given a pot to plant the flower seed of their choice. Charms:  The charms classroom was decorated with tea candles on the tables and standing candelaberas around the wall. "Magic Postcards" were purchased from Oriental Trading. They are cards that allow the children to scratch the black coating off and reveal colors below. Each child was given the opportunity to "magically" draw their picture on the postcard and write their name and address on the back.  Postcards were collected at the end of the class and sent to the children later in the mail as thank you notes. Leviation: Masking tape was placed on the floor in the shape of a square.  Each child had to use their wand, or mind power to keep a balloon from touching the floor. Potions: The potions classroom was decorated with black paper on the walls and hanging wall torches bought from Oriental Trading. Each child had his own mini-cauldron to mix his potion in.  The mini-cauldrons were actually black salsa servers purchased from my local discount store. Each child was also given latex free gloves because this was going to get messy. The potion was a combination of white craft glue, water and borax that creates a slimy putty substance.  We made creepy labels for each of the solution bottles and gave them names like "Salamander Spit" and "Dried Dragon Scales." Interesting measuring cups allowed the children to measure out their potion ingredients.  Neon food coloring was used so each child could color her own slug slime. Defense Against the Dark Arts Class: All of the children came together for this class.  In DADA class we fought a Chinese Fireball dragon. In other words, we whacked at a pinata. Fun, fun, fun! The great feast: After classes, it was time for these kiddos to have a snack.  The great hall was set up in the middle of the clubhouse.  House banners measuring 6' long were suspended from the duct work in the club house ceiling and hung over each of the house tables.  The house banners were made from inexpensive vinyl table cloths that were cut and glued together to create the design the official banner: red and gold for Gryffindor, yellow and black for Hufflepuff, blue and yellow for Ravenclaw and green and silver for Slytherin. The tables below were decorated in the same color tablecloth. Each table had a large silver star fountain centerpiece.  The tables were set with gold plates and gold plastic forks and spoons. The napkins bore the Hogwarts crest. Jewels were glued onto clear plastic water goblets purchased from Oriental Trading.  One by one the "Prefects" took their houses through the kitchenette for a snack. Snacks included, pb&j (every 8 year old wizard's favorite), parchment scrolls (salami and cheese rolled in flour tortillas), cheese chunks with star topped toothpicks, fruit salad, and chips served in a cauldron.  Of course, no wizard's celebration would be complete without serving Butterbeer and pumpkin juice! Time to open presents:  All of the birthday presents were placed in the "common room" which was at the end of the clubhouse. All of the clubhouse sofas and chairs were arranged in a giant circle in front of two-story windows.  We all retired to the comfy sofas after our snack to watch the birthday boy open his presents.   Cake and ice cream:  Cake and ice cream was served after we opened presents which gave the Prefects time to clear the food tables and reset them. The cake was a custom made round cake that resembled a Snitch.  The Snitch is a small gold ball with wings that's used when playing Quidditch. The cake was frosted in gold frosting with gold edible glitter. The wings were constructed of gold foil and placed in the cake using skewers.  Cupcakes iced with gold frosting and gold edible glitter were actually served for convenience due to the number of children that were at the party. Vanilla ice cream had been scooped ahead of time and placed in small dessert cups.  These were kept in the freezer until dessert time and were easily distributed to each child that wanted one.  Hogsmeade: As parents began to arrive, each child was allowed to have a shopping spree in Hogsmeade. We had two stores for them to shop, Honeydukes Sweet Shop and Zonko's Joke Shop. These shops were placed along the far wall and set up much like Diagon Alley with long banquet tables and Science Fair display boards.  Honeydukes: The display board for Honeydukes was covered in colorful striped wrapping paper creating the illusion of wallpaper.  Windows were cut into the display board and miniature curtains were made from an old table cloth.  At Honeydukes the children could help themselves to candy, candy, candy...Pixie stix (made from real cornish pixies), Droobles Best Blowing Gum (gumballs), Giggle Juice (wax bottles), Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans (jellybelly), Acid Pops (suckers) and Chocolate Frogs (homemade chocolate frogs made with a candy mold). Zonko's: Zonko's was decorated in black and red with joke sayings on the board. I raided my party box and gathered all leftover favors from past parties.  All of these went to Zonko's - bubbles, mirrors, bracelets, whistles, paddle balls, leftover pinata filling - you name it, it went.    Each kid left after having a thoroughly good time!  Thank you notes:  As noted above each child was sent their own drawing from "Charms" class as a thank you.   That's it...nothing left but the clean up!