Hosting the Perfect Adult Harry Potter Themed Party

Hosting a themed party is always tricky because it has to be just right to the fandom and it's always nice to add in little surprises. I've hosted two Harry Potter themed house parties already because I love the book and movie series. Each time I've gathered more ideas to improve the vibe and impress my friends.

To throw the best themed party of any kind you must be familiar with the fandom. If you don't know a lot about Harry Potter or Hogwarts I suggest getting on Pottermore the official site by J.K. Rowling.

The Entry

When guests first arrived it's more impressive to have a "portal" on the front door so they feel like they're being transported into the magical world. It sets the expectation of what is waiting inside.

What I did was purchased 5 different shades of paper, some brown, orange and red. I cut them into different sized rectangles to look like bricks then used double sided tape to stick them to my front door. I also owned a 9 3/4 luggage tag which I attached to the handle. (total cost under 5$)

Other ideas that I've seen is printing a poster of the fat lady portrait asking for the password. A clever idea that could be used is simply taping up a sign that says "Dumble" on the front of your door, hopefully people get a chuckle from the pun.

Entertainment

I went to Indy Comic Con last year and was amazed by the panel they set up for the Harry Potter fandom. They picked a list of fictional characters from pop culture to be sorted into houses and each house would debate why that character should be sorted to their house based on the character's actions or personality. For example, Rick Grimes from Walking Dead in my opinion would be sorted to Gryffindor.

It could take time to get a list together but for die hard Harry Potter fans that are dedicated to their houses this is a lot of fun.

Another form of entertainment that I've used for my Harry Potter themed parties (that is adult) is of course Quidditch Pong. I try to make this as competitive as possible so I host it as the Quidditch Cup pinning the houses against each other. I get 4 sheets of paper of the house colors and cut them into banners. This way I can mark each winning game on the coordinating banner to announce the winning house at the end of the night.

Drinking

If your short on money this is one way I've been able to hold true to Harry Potter and bring people together through having a Potion Shot Table. I bought different glass bottles in various shapes from Michael's, a gallon of rum and a bag of Jolly Ranchers.

Pick the colors of Jolly Ranchers you want your potion to be, stuff them in the jars and add rum. Let it sit over night in the fridge, occasionally shaking it or tipping it upside down. They are delicious and fun. I also labeled my potions according to the colors. For example, green is Polyjuice Potion, blue is WolfsBane & red is Amortentia.

Put shot glasses on the table with your potions. People will invite others to come do a shot with them. It adds to the aesthetic and social environment.

Thanks for reading and good luck hosting!