Harry Potter Birthday Production For my 9-year-old daughter's birthday, we did not just have a party. We had a whole production and had a great time with it.  INVITATIONS: We bought the pre-made invitations with Hogwarts on the front. The RSVP was to Professor Quirell. When people called, we explained that Prof Quirell met an untimely departure, but that they could rsvp to us. Some kids actually thought the invitation was from Hogwarts because we used the same pre-printed font to address the invitations and our return address said Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry, 9 3/4 (our street address).  DECORATIONS: We made paper chains out of black paper and shiny silver contact paper and covered almost the whole main floor of the house.  We also made three other paper chains each in the colors of the three houses we were using (we left out Slytherin).  We enlarged the house emblems (copied from a Harry Potter coloring book) and mounted them on black paper with the paper chains around them. This decorated our dining room. We made snitches with styrofoam balls, white feathers and gold spray paint (make sure you buy it at an art supply store and tell them you are spraying styrofoam or the spray will melt the foam. We buried a few snitches) and hung them from the hall and dining room chandeliers with clear elastic string (the kind used for stringing beads; just tie the string to a nail and push the nail into the ball). We made large signs (black paper and cut out the shiny silver contact paper for letters) for each class the kids were to attend and hung them over the class location. The stairs leading up (off limits to the party) was roped off and had a sign hanging from it saying "beware of Fluffy" with a picture of Fluffy (from the coloring book). Our front door had a 20x30 color poster of the Hogwarts Express, so it looked like the train was coming out of the door (downloaded picture from internet and emailed to Kinkos; poster is now framed in our playroom). We covered the #10 on our house and put 9 3/4. We put a large plastic black caldron containing dry ice outside the front door and poured water on it to create a Smokey effect. For our dining room table, we used a black plastic table cloth and bought silver and gold stars and moons and sun confetti, which we threw all over the center of the table. Our plates were silver and our napkins had the house emblems (store bought).  THE PARTY: When the 17 girls arrived, they were given small gold party bags to decorate with stickers and told that this was their school bag. We also offered tattoos and drew a lightning bolt on their forehead. My daughter wore her Harry Potter costume. I then welcomed our fist year students and introduced myself (Prof MacGonigal), Prof Dumbledoor (my brother-in-law in a wizards costume), Prof Trelawnie (my mom in a gypsy outfit) and Prof Snape (my husband in a dracula costume with a goatee colored on him). I explained that when I said their name, they would come sit on the bar stool and I would place the sorting hat on their head. Once the sorting hat told them which house they were in, they were to get their class schedule from Prof Trelawnie. The kids were in shock that the hat could talk (secret: a walkie talkie taped inside the point of a witches hat; the other walkie talkie was held by my husband in the basement; he could hear me say the name, but the response was only heard through the hat). The class schedule was printed on parchment paper purchased at an art supply store and cut into a small size. The three houses rotated between three classes. Prof Dumbledoor signaled the end of each class. POTIONS CLASS: Prof Snape was in the dungeon(unfinished basement) with many clear plastic cups containing premeasured amounts of the ingredients needed for his experiments. Experiment #1: The kids poured dragon sweat (1/16 cup lemon juice) into the dragon's blood (cabbage juice - boil a red cabbage and the water turns purple) and watched the blood turn pink. Then they poured magic powder (1/4 teaspoon baking soda) into the blood and watched it turn purple again. Experiment #2: The kids poured poison water (1/8 cup vinegar) into the blood and it turned pink again. Then they poured more magic powder (1/4 teaspoon baking soda) into the blood and it fizzed up over the top of the tall cup. It was messy, stinky and fun (we had a sink nearby).  Experiment #3: The kids were given a plastic container half filled with a new kind of magic powder (cornstarch). They added some swamp water (water with green food coloring) and stirred with a plastic knife. The powder became thick. When they picked it up, it magically became like a liquid again.  They covered the green goop and put it in their school bag. TRANSFIGURATION CLASS: Prof MacGonicle was in the kitchen. First, a regular pretzel stick was turned into a wand. Each kid made two wands by dipping one end into a small crock pot filled with melted chocolate and then sprinkling colored sprinkles on the hot chocolate. The wands were placed on tin foil labeled with their names, placed into the refrigerator and put next to their seat just before they sat down to eat. Second, a plain piece of paper was turned into a note through the use of invisible ink. Each child was given a quill (long colored feather with cotton swab taped to bottom). They dipped the quill into the magic liquid (lemon juice) and with a generous amount of juice on the tip, they wrote whatever they wanted on a small strip of paper. The paper was then placed on a hot griddle. About one minute later, the writing appeared on the paper (the lemon juice burns faster then the paper, so it creates a scorched effect wherever the lemon juice is). The quills went into their school bag. DIVINATIONS CLASS: With tarot cards in hand, Prof Trelawnie told each child a long story about their future based on the cards the child chose (all made up, of course). Then, each child was instructed to pop a fortune telling balloon using any popping method they'd like (my daughter came up with one sentence fortunes, which I typed on a small piece of paper, folded up, brought to the balloon store, slid one into each balloon, and then the store later blew up the balloons).  When searching for a popping method, only one child discovered the large cactus nearby. Once each house had rotated through the three classes, it was time for cake. In front of each plate was a clear straw and a clear plastic cup containing magic powder.  Prof Snape and I carried around a caldron filled with bewitched water (the smoke from the dry ice inside the large plastic caldron was spewing over the top; great effect). As we ladled the water into the cups, the powder turned a color and the water turned another color (thanks to Kool-Aid's Magic Drink). Very cool. The cake was a picture of Harry Potter, downloaded from the internet and scanned onto the cake by the bakery. CARE OF MAGICAL CREATURES CLASS: This was the last class of the party. Each house received a bag containing a magical creature (stuffed animal). The girls within each house had to take the tape, feathers, pom poms and pipe cleaners from the bag and create a magical creature. Then they had to answer the questionnaire in the bag, which asked "What is your creature's name?", "What type of animal is your creature?", "Where does your creature live?", "What does your creature like to eat?", "What are your creature's magical powers?", and "How do you tame your creature?". Each house chose two representatives to come to the front of the room and present the creature and the answers. By this time, all the parents had arrived to pick up their kids, so the presentations ended up being done to the parents and the other students. At the end of the party, we added a small photo album and a piece of candy to their school bag (we had taken pictures of each one when they were being sorted). The party pictures were sent with the thank you notes. It was a great party. Every child raved about it for days, in school and at home. We were exhausted, but enjoyed coordinating the production. We spent a lot of time preparing, but we did not spend a lot of money. The keys to the success were: adult costumes and conviction that everything happening was real; and constant and smooth movement from one activity to the next (each class was no more than 15 minutes). Hope you enjoyed our party!