Harry Potter Hogwarts Birthday Party - Part II

This is part 2 of 2.  
If you wish to read about the party from the beginning, 
click here for Part 1.

SORTING CEREMONY

The kids were then sorted into their houses.  Dave placed a house crest sticker badge in the hat before it was placed on their head.  Then it fell out as they removed it. I also gave them a bookmark that said a little description of what their house characteristics are. 

 

I put a picture of Albus Dumbledore on the mantle. 

I also put a little jar of Floo Powder.  All of these details were lost on most of the kids, but Maya and Ethen loved it.

Ethen got sorted into Ravenclaw.

Maya got sorted into Gryffindor.

POTIONS CLASS

In their invitation I put that they would be doing three classes: Potions, Charms, and Defense Against the Dark Arts.  For potions, Dave did a great job acting British (you can tell by the expression) and giving them a fun lesson.

I just put some labels on bottles I already had for a little decoration.

They mixed one tablespoon of bicorn powder (baking soda) with a vial of shrivelfig (vinegar). 

I loved their reaction as it bubbled over.

The next potion Dave taught he mixed himself because it involved flames. It was a basilisk regeneration potion.  He mixed one 4 teaspoons of wartcap powder (powdered sugar) with 1 teaspoon bicorn powder (baking soda) in a small shotglass.  Then he put it upside down in a glass bowl,  careful to keep it contained.  Then he poured basilisk venom (rubbing alcohol) around it, removed the shotglass and lit it on fire.  Basilisks emerged from the powder.

GREAT FEAST IN THE GRAND HALL

About an hour had passed at this point, so we moved into the dining room for lunch.  I set the table up using chargers under the paper plates and let the kids use glass goblets and silverware.  I served fruit/veggies and pizza.

 I also hung house banners above the table.

I made some candles out of rolled paper and put tea lights at the top and hung them from the ceiling for the floating candle effect.

We also had a birthday cake that Hagrid made.  It was delicious with whipped cream frosting!

QUIDDICH

The kids got to go out after lunch for a game of quiddich.  Dave made me these awesome hoops from hula hoops and plumbing pipe.  I just spray painted them gold.

He explained the rules to them because I knew I'd never get them straight.  They were divided into their houses and each team had 3.  There was one Chaser, who rode the broom and tried to throw the soccer ball into the hoops.  The beaters tried to knock them off the broom by throwing a dodgeball at them.  The rest of the kids ran around as seekers searching for the golden snitch.  This kept everyone engaged, turns were quick, and we rotated through all the kids.

Maya as a chaser.

 Ethen as a beater.

Seekers found the golden snitch!

CHARMS CLASS

I had them get their spell books and wands for Charms class.  They had to say "wingardium leviosa" to keep the balloon afloat.  This worked great, because if it fell on the grass it popped, so they really tried to keep it afloat.

 

DEFENSE AGAINST THE DARK ARTS CLASS

I got a creepy thing from Party City that resembled a dementor, and turned it into a pinata by removing some of its head.

Dave raised it up and down by standing on a ladder.  It didn't survive the first hit.  We had to keep retying it to the rope, but eventually they beat it to death, yelling "Expelliarmus."

BUTTERBEER

It was hot out, so it was nice to come in for some refreshing butterbeer at the Three Broomsticks.  I bought some butterscotch root beer from World Market (Dang It brand) and just made labels for them.  I put it in cups with whipped cream and butterscotch syrup.  I thought it was fabulous, but only a couple of kids liked it.  Wasn't a  hit.

HONEYDUKES

We opened presents at this point, as it was nearing time for parents to come (a 2-hour party).  When their parents came to fetch them, I let them come to Honeydukes for some candy.  I made the jar labels with my Silhouette Portrait.

I made some Honeydukes stickers with my Silhouette Portrait and stuck them on candy bags.  I filled them with some of each kind.

Chocolate frogs came from Amazon.  They are cheaper to buy in bulk.  I made the boxes from a template I found on Pinterest, but they are empty.  I used my Silhouette Portrait to cut them out, and it saved me tons of time.  Drooble's Best Blowing Gum are just gumballs.

Chocolate wands are Pocky chocolate sticks from World Market.  Pixie Puffs are marshmallows.  Liquorice Wands are Twizzlers (in Gryffindor colors).

I thought it would be fun to include genuine British candy, so the Lemon Sherbets and Exploding BonBons are strawberry bonbons and lemon sherbets from the UK that I picked up at It's Sugar store.  The bonbons aren't good, in my opinion.  Haven't tried a lemon one yet.

I made some Every Flavour Bean boxes from a template also.  Again, I used my Silhouette Portrait to cut them.  They happened to fit 3 boxes of the Bertie Botts Beans perfectly.  Each kid got one box.  They loved exploring which ones were vomit and earwax flavors.  Nasty.  

We'll that's it!  Congratulations on making it to the end!