Potions Class - The Decorations

I had to take the liberty of combining elements of different rooms into one. Obviously we didn't have enough space to have a Great Hall, hallways with art, and a potions classroom. I knew Potions class could make quite a mess. I considered the kitchen but I didn't think I could pull off the decorating. So we decided to use our dining room but to remove all the chairs to make it easier for the kids to move around. I hung the 4 house banners from the ceiling. We added to the gallery style artwork that I already had by removing family portraits and hanging the painted eye my father painted and the Shakespeare holograph.

I took a picture of the blackboard from the movie and replicated that as best I could using artists black mat board that I got from Utrecht on Capitol Hill. I did the lettering in real chalk. Steve made a very simple frame that we then stapled the mat board to (using a construction staple gun)and hung screw eyes from to hang it.

The specimen jars and staging area for potions class.

The inspiration for our blackboard - from the movie.

A very handsome toad I got from the toy store.

Some funky pods my friend Janet brought.

A plastic creature from the toy store, in colored water.

A finger ball I got at the Goodwill for $.99. It really is about being resourceful and using what you can find creatively. This was one of my favorite finds.

A crowded glimpse of the potion classroom.

I covered the table with a protector pad, a black sheet and a black plastic tablecloth on top (from the party store). That worked great to protect against spills. I put three metal trays (that I already had) in the center of the table, full of ingredients. It looked really cool. Unfortunately I didn't get pictures before the party started because I was so busy.

I used the same metal trays, that I already had, to protect my sideboard from spills. I set some specimen jars on one of them for something interesting to look at and to help make my dining room look less like a dining room and more like a potions room.

Potions Class - The Potion Jars

My kids had so much fun making potions in a cauldron with their friends earlier in the year. I knew this could be one of the best parts of the party. I had been wanting to create potion bottles for Halloween anyway so I was excited about this because I knew I could reuse them for that purpose after the party. That part was easy.

But what to mix the potion in. I knew one big cauldron would be a disaster as I'd already witnessed the arguments about who gets to add what ingredients to the potion. Each child needed their own container to mix in. Preferably something that was water tight so the kids could take their potions home with them. Fortunately I'd been saving large jam jars so I had a good start but with 16 kids I was going to need a few more so I saved jars for a month prior to the party. Just cleaning the labels off was a job.

I had done some research on the internet and found a few antique English chemist labels. We used those for ideas and then designed our own in Photoshop including the Hogwarts crest our own Chemist logo with a place for the student's name. I printed them onto full sheet (8 1/2 x 11") labels and cut them with a paper cutter, then applied them to the jars.


They turned out cool and I know my kids will continue to make potions in theirs for a long time.

Potions Class - The Ingredients

Making potion ingredients was one of the funner parts of planning this party. I collected cool bottles and jars from the Goodwill for $.69-$2.99 ea. I knew I would reuse them for Halloween so I felt I could justify the time and expense (it adds up) because I knew we'd get use out of them in the future. We made a list of ingredients we needed to make particular potions. We made a potions book as a party favor and many of the kids referenced specific potions from the spellbook during "potions class". I loved trying to create authentic looking ingredients in the kitchen. Maybe I missed my calling as a chemist. A lot of the spices were purchased in the bulk foods department for very little money.

Acid - Jarritos Lime Soda

Mandrake Juice - unsweetened cranberry juice with black food coloring
Swamp Water- water, asafoetida (a super stinky spice), brown & green food coloring

Boomslang Skin - Hyley's loose whole leaf tea soaked in water

Dragon's Blood- Rasberry cocktail mixer

Spider Legs - Black sprinkles from the cake decorating store

Fluxweed - Dill

Knotgrass - Catnip

Lacewing Fly - Plastic flies from the party store

Sal Amoniac - salt
Crocodile Heart - candy hearts
Asphodel Powder - ground mustard seed
Gingerroot - powdered ginger
Salpeter Filings & Rasplings - coarse shaved garlic (Safeway bulk foods)
Daisy Root - Wondra flour



Pufferfish Eyes - boiled large pearl tapioca with a touch of pink and water

The kids LOVED the pufferfish eyes even though many were afraid to touch them.

Flue Powder - Grey colored sugar from the cake decorating store

Beetle Eyes - black sprinkles from the cake decorating store

Armadillo Bile - corn chowder (from a box) with green food coloring

Toad Slime - corn syrup, molasses & food coloring simmered together on the stovetop with a whisk to prevent scorching

 The bottled toad slime.

Ashwinder Eggs - dried soybeans

Test Tubes - water, almond extract & food colorings

Water - the most basic of potion ingredients but a necessary one

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.