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Hosting a Magical Harry Potter Party for Adults
- Alexandra Smith
- Feb 9, 2024
- 7 min read
So you want to host an adult Harry Potter-themed party, but don't know where to start? Look no further! I spent over a month and countless hours preparing and planning the perfect party so that you don't have to.
Decorations
These turned out sooo well! The wall decorations were such a game changer and made it feel like real life Hogwarts.
Messenger Owls
White / grey balloons
Red ribbon (had to get 2 of these!)
Permanent marker
Paper (ripped into smaller pieces)
Walls / Ceiling
Bookshelf / Table
Black gauze
Stag (already had this from Target for Christmas decor)
Other
Potion bottles (couldn’t find the exact ones I got from Target, but linked similar ones from Amazon)
Poster board for score
The best decoration was probably my handmade and designed ‘Wanted’ posters. I had my guests send me a mugshot of themselves, came up with funny crimes that were inside jokes and got the posters printed off at my library for only a couple cents per page instead of $1+ at Walgreens / Staples. Everyone thought they were so fun and wanted to take them home at the end of the night. They also looked AMAZING on the wall! If you would like your own custom Wanted posters, please email me for rates!
Food & Drink
Drinks
I chose a combination of drinks / potions so that I could use ingredients more than once. The potions turned out so well because of the edible glitter I used. It was such a game changer and I no longer want to make any drink with out!
Love Potion
Equal parts Sweet & Sour mix, Watermelon pucker and Vanilla vodka. Add edible glitter to make it look like a real life potion!
Polyjuice Potion
Equal parts Sweet & Sour mix and Midori (melon liquor). Add edible glitter to make it look like a real life potion!
Butterbeer
Vanilla vodka, butterscotch schnapps, cream soda, whipped cream and butterscotch syrup are optional but recommended. I did even parts vodka and schnapps, but you can play around with the ratios. This was SOO good, but very sweet so hard to drink more than one or two glasses. Probably for the better considering you can make this as strong as you want and it will still taste delicious!
Raven Claws
Aka White Claws - if you want to go the extra mile, you can print out the Raven Claw crest and tape in on each can!
Gillyweed Water
Just a normal mojito!
Food
I asked some of my guests to bring a dish to pass that was Harry Potter themed. All of the food turned out so good, but I completely forgot to take pictures! I will link where we got the inspo! I knew ahead of time what they were bringing, so I printed out labels by finding a Harry Potter font online that you could copy and paste into Word.
I made sweet and spicy meatballs (my favorite party snack!)
Pigs in a blanket but make it Harry Potter!
A super easy quick snack!
Magic Wands
Chocolate covered pretzel rods
Avocadabra
Just chips and guacamole!
Hufflepuffs
Any kind of snack that is a puff (cheese puffs, popcorn puffs, etc)
Costume
Drinking Game
I created a drinking game for my party and it turned out sooo well. Everyone got so into it while also getting drunk. The purpose of the game is to win the house cup by winning points for your house by completing different prompts.
Set Up
You will need to prep all of the messenger owls beforehand (supplies used are listed under decorations).
Make the owls
Blow up the white and grey balloons
I googled pictures of the outline of an owl’s features and drew them on each balloon
Make the parchment prompts
I ripped (I wanted the edges rough to make it look more like parchment) pieces of standard printer paper into 6 pieces
Write prompts on each of the pieces (samples listed below)
Attaching the parchment papers to the owls
I started by cutting the red ribbons into various lengths based on how low I wanted them to hang
Roll up the parchment papers one at a time and tie the red ribbon around it to hold it in place
Tie the other end of the ribbon around the tie of the balloon
I then secured the owls to the ceiling using painter’s tape which surprisingly held really well. You could also use helium to blow up the balloons and have them float, but taping them was super easy and ensured hat they would stay in place
If you are doing the Horcrux prompts (see details below), you will need to hide the ‘Horcruxes’ beforehand
If you are keeping track of score, make a scoreboard ahead of time so that everyone can track their scores!
Start the Game
When guests arrive, have them write their name on a piece of paper and throw it into the ‘Goblet of Fire’. You can use any type of bowl for this if you do not have a goblet / chalice
Sort your guests into houses! There are many different ways you can do this, but here are some options:
My friend made Sorting Hat cupcakes! We passed out the cupcakes and then had everyone take a bite. I then passed out glow sticks that represented their houses’ color so we would remember who was in which house!
You can also just write the houses on pieces of paper and have each person draw a house out of a bowl / hat
You could sort your guests by their outfits / who they dressed as. This may not be even and you would need to rearrange some people
Have your guests pick their teams
The game will begin by drawing a name out of the Goblet of Fire
Playing the Game
Once a name is drawn, that person will choose and owl and open the parchment paper attached
The person will read the prompt either out loud or to the group and then follow the prompt
If they complete the prompt, their house will receive the allotted points in the prompt
Once complete, they will draw the next name out of the Goblet of Fire
Continue until all of the prompts are complete or if you set a time limit, etc
Tally up the points and award the winning house the House Cup (or just a congratulations)!
Prompts for Parchment Papers
I had a few parchments that I did not want people to read out loud since they were a secret, so for those prompts, I wrote “Mischief Managed” before the prompt. Make sure to inform your guests of that rule before starting!
For the Horcrux prompts, I hid 7 fireball shooters to represent the 7 Horcruxes. The guest that pulls one of the Horcrux prompts will have to find it using the clue and then take the Fireball shooter. They are then awarded 50 points!
Normal Prompts:
“Choose someone to flip cup 1 vs 1. Winner is awarded 25 points”
“Mischief Managed. You’re a house elf, try to steal a part of someone else’s costume without them noticing. If they notice, your house loses 25 points. If they don’t, your house gets 50 points”
“Your team gets 5 minutes to finish as many Raven Claws as you can, each Raven Claw is worth 5 points for your house”
“You get 30 seconds to name as many characters as you can. 1 point per name”
“Tom Riddle stole your diary. Pick a house that isn’t yours to do two truths and a lie. If they get it correct, you lose 15 points. If you win, you get 25 points”
“You got hit with the Love Potion. Take a shot with a person of your choosing”
“The chamber of secrets has been opened. Play ‘I have ever’ (the opposite of Never Have I Ever) to learn everyone’s secrets. Start with three fingers. First to put down all three is awarded 25 points (if there is more than one person, each person is awarded but max 25 pts per house)
“There is a traitor amongst us. Pick a house to lose 20 points or award your own house 15”
“Pick someone from another house to play Deathly Hallows Stone, Cloak, Wand (Rock, Paper, Scissors). Best of 3. Winner is awarded 15 points”
“Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans but make it shots. Pick one house to pour the shots (one with Vodka and the others with water). Pick another house to be the guesser. Everyone in your house will go one by one, taking the shot. The house that is the guesser will have to vote on who they think had the Vodka. If they guess correct, your house will lose 15 points. If they guess wrong, you are awarded 25 points”
“You have the Elder wand. The next points that your house wins will be doubled”
“Pour one out for Dumbledore. Finish your drink and get 15 points”
“Talk in a British accent for 10 minutes. Lose 5 points every time you break character”
“You have been designated to check everyone’s drinks for poison. Each person pours their drinks into one cup and you must finish it. 5 points for each drink that was added.”
Mischief managed: You are Nagini. Find the host as you will need to secretly conceal a Horcrux.
There is a Horcrux clue that cannot come before this prompt. I marked these two and made sure this one was selected first. Give your guest one of the Fireball shooters to conceal
Horcrux Clues:
Myrtle is Moaning. Find this Horcrux in her favorite spot.
I hid this behind a plant on the back of my toilet
“The boy who lived, come to die.” Find this Horcrux where Voldemort didn’t mean to make one.
I had this one in my pocket since I was dressed as Harry Potter
“Kill the snake and then it’s just him.” You will need to guess who Nagini is. Your reward will be reduced by 5 points for every incorrect guess.
This is the clue that needs to come after the Nagini prompt!
“Detention, Mr. Potter!” You will find a Horcrux where Harry served his first detention.
I had a sign on my patio that said it was the Forbidden Forest and hid it out there
“Expecto Patronum!” You will find a Horcrux where Harry’s Patronus is.
I had a stag / buck decoration that I had on my shelf (see photo in the Decorations section) and I hid it behind it
Find this Horcrux near the object Harry used to get the Sorcerer's Stone.
Hid this behind a mirror I had in my living room
Find this Horcrux where you would find the object Harry took from Bellatrix’s vault.
Hid this is my cups cupboard
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