The Sorting Hat Ceremony

I'd considered skipping this part of the party (I didn't want to buy the hat) but am glad that I didn't. Evie really thought it would be fun and it turned out to be one of the easier activities to pull off. We bought a sorting hat at Izilla's Toy Store on Capitol Hill. I read the poem from the book and then sorted each child into their houses.





I was going to put them all in Gryffindor to avoid any hurt feelings but it became clear that a few of them wanted to be in a different house. (I would quietly whisper asking each kid their preference as I leaned down to put the hat on their head.) Although by far the majority chose Gryffindor because it is Harry, Ron and Hermione's house. Evie's cousin wanted Hufflepuff but then was sad that she was the only one who chose it so we then had to resort her into Ravenclaw. It was fun to vary what I said with each kid and use the voice of the hat from the movie.

Divination Class

My long time friend Kelly agreed to come be Professor Trelawney the Divination teacher. We removed the sorting hat from the table and placed a tray full of Divination items including a candle a crystal ball with a picture of Voldemort in it (that was really a picture frame), a set of runes and tarot cards that I already had, and a tea cup.


She sat in a chair on one side and had a student sit in a chair on the other side. She then asked the students what they knew about any of the Divination arts. They raised their hands and gave answers. The items on the tray clued them in.

She then read many of their palms giving cute fortunes such as "I seeeeeeee cake in your future." Or "You will live a long life with much laughter and good friends."  "I see many birthday parties in your future." etc. etc. She was GREAT! She totally looked and acted the part. Thank you Kelly for being such a good friend!!!

Then we did tea leaf readings for the kids that didn't have their palms read. Same idea as with the fortune telling, simple easy to tell fortunes.

Oooh, I think she sees "The Grim". Actually we didn't do that, but that would have been good.

Then she pretended to see a scary vision in the crystal ball and that was the end of the class as we moved on to Potions class with Professor Dumbledore.

A closer look at the Divination tray.

Potions Class - The Fun

Unfortunately my Professor Snape wouldn't agree to come (You know who you are.) so Dumbledore taught Potions Class. The kids really had a blast. We had a few do-overs and a couple spills but that was to be expected.


The kids were pretty good about sharing the ingredients but I made sure to have lots so kids weren't standing around waiting.

On second thought perhaps test tubes full of concentrated food coloring wasn't such a good idea.

Some kids even dared drink their potions. For that reason I only used edible ingredients. That's not to say it tasted good.

"Hermione" consulting the potion book to make Polyjuice Potion.

This is how gross they got.

Instruct the kids to dump any rejects in the toilet (and yes they did dump and start over) NOT the sink unless you happen to be a plumber.

The aftermath. I was really glad I used a plastic tablecloth.

Sadly I was so busy the day of the party that I forgot to get any good shots of the potions table beforehand.  But I did take some pictures of the ingredients afterward, they are in another post. It really did look cool.

Transfiguration Class

Transfiguration class was really just a ruse. We put it in the invitation so I wanted to incorporate it somehow. We gathered back in the main room and I put a stuffed toad on the velvet covered table and pretended to turn it into a rat (which I'd hid up my sleeve).


As I did that Professor Dumbledore walked in with a scroll that announced class was cancelled so students could help look for the missing Golden Snitch.

The Search for the Golden Snitch

After Potions Class I, Professor MacGonagall, helped the kids clean up their potion stained hands and started "Transfiguration class" during which time Professor Dumbledore quickly hid the paper clues for the "Golden Snitch Hunt". We did it at the last minute so there was no chance a kid would notice a clue hidden in the bathroom or somewhere else before the search started and spoil the whole thing.


I had just transformed a toad into a rat when Professor Dumbledore hands me a scroll announcing the Golden Snitch is missing.


It says Transfiguration class is cancelled so students can help aid in the recovery. A reward of 1 Galleon, 1 Sickle and 1 Knut will be paid to each student that helps. A suspicious person was spotted by Prof. Snape near the girls lavatory. That clue starts the search in the bathroom..


Squeezing this many kids into our bathroom was quite a feat.


We hid a decoy clue in the bathroom just for fun.




The real clue found behind Moaning Myrtle.


Searching Diagon Alley.


Evie put it together and found the clue in the skull. She did not know any of the locations or clues. She wanted it all to be a surprise.

This was a Halloween decoration.

Craziness on the stairs as we headed up to the "restricted section library". I think it was hardest for me in my full length skirt. I wanted to be right there to make sure nobody fell down the stairs.


Again cramped spaces made for a frenzied search.


We had to help them make the connection between the Golden Snitch and the Golden Book by asking "What color is the Golden Snitch?" Amazingly I found this book a few days before the party for sale at a Safeway for $1 donation. (It's called Surgeon by Frank Slaughter and was not originally gold. I wish I knew why they painted it. If you want a gold book you'll probably have to paint one yourself but I didn't have to so I don't have instructions.)




The clue inside the book leads us back down the stairs to the Gryffindor Common Room.


They know they are looking for a musical instrument.


See the green tip of the flute on the right? It was easier to see in person.


They head back to where Fluffy was.


Evie plays music to Fluffy and we unlock the basement door.


The clue under Fluffy's paw.


They slide through the Devil's Snare.


Into the room with the flying keys.


The big key "unlocks" the "door".


Which is really a curtain with a paper lock Evie made.




The kids each take a turn looking into the mirror of Erised to see if their heart's desire will reveal the location of the missing Golden Snitch. After they've all had a turn they say to me "YOU do it."


I pretend to look hard into the mirror and then say "Ahhhhhhhh. I seeeeeeeee... it is....(long pause)...in a drawer nearby."


After a quick look around it is found!


The chest was slid pretty far back to make it a little harder to find.


This is what we were searching for. Yay! We recovered the missing Golden Snitch so the Quiddich tournament is saved.  (I bought the Golden Snitch from Alivan's for $3.59. The Harry Potter chest is from the Harry Potter Uno game.) We headed upstairs to dole out the reward money.

Honeydukes - The Trip to Honeydukes Candy Store

I could have simply set the candy out on a table but we knew it had better be somewhere that the kids wouldn't get into it if they happened to find it. This cabinet is actually my home office in my kitchen. I also really wanted the candy store to be a surprise so I was pleased that we were able to keep the kids out of the kitchen until the surprise trip to Honeydukes.

After the party I heard from many kids this was their favorite part of the party (That and potions class.) I guess that's no surprise. They got to take their selections home with them as party favors. Details explained in the Honeydukes - Creating the Store post.