If they're anything like the socks around our house, I'm sure those could suck the life out of just about anybody!

That's a marvelous party idea, Jughead! Sounds like so much fun. Have you guys found the recipes for pumpkin juice/butterbeer online?

The US Potter conventions (I was part of the administrative staff for one once, before I quit. Don't ask.) have an official ground quidditch game and I'd bet they'd be willing to share the rules with you.

We've been to many a Potter book release at bookstores... and we've seen some fun activities. Build your own wand, with string/pipe cleaners/etc. Potions classes... kids could make slime, or do those simple chemistry tricks (color-changing, dry ice, etc.)

I'm sorry I'm not nearer, as to portray the Fat Lady! ;)

And about the whomping willow stuff.. two seconds of glee per kid ain't bad, as long as you have somebody willing to do it. We did a live scarecrow once, and the bursts of terror/laughter made all of the waiting in-between completely worth it.

If you can find a car-shaped pinata, you could staple some leaves to the stick and blindfold and have the kids "be" the whomping willow trashing the Ford Anglia. (helps if you can find a blue car, but chances are you'll have to settle for red)

You guys are awesome! I'll definitely fill my sibs in on these ideas!

The whole Azkaban idea for bratty kids is so cool!

And, actually, we're going to drape a net over black balloons to make Dementors. I just remembered that idea.

I REALLY like the Diagon Alley idea. Since it's my sister's house that will be hosting this event, maybe we could do Diagon Alley in her garage or something. That would be interesting.:snap:

Hallowe'en has always been a holiday that my family has celebrated with full force. About 15 years ago, when I was a small fry, we had a tree in our front yard that was, well...dead. And, we were getting new siding to replace the cracked and warped siding that we previously had when we moved in. So, that year, we decided to have fun with it. We made our house look like a haunted house, and threw a fake corpse in the dead tree along with bats and ghosts. And, we also painted murals on our glass doors to add to the spookiness. The Hogwarts party we're planning this year is going to be really fun to plan out.

I'm glad you like our ideas! Feel free to borrow as many as you like! :cool:

Exactly! I think how we're doing it is that each section of the house will be a classroom (i.e. Divination, Potions, Transfiguration, etc), and each class will have an activity. It'll be like a rotation thing going on, similar to class activities within school.

Yeah...not exactly the most kid-friendly activity. :D ;)

Those are all great ideas! I think I'll do some searching for some recipes! Thanks, LSPE!

That is another great idea! We actually sell car pinatas at the store I work at, but I think they're all yellow and red...

...but, we could always repaint it with non-toxic paint.

That sounds like so much fun!

(And I'm happy that we have another Potter geek here. Soon we'll outnumber the Monty Python people! :p)