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You are here: Home / By Book / Harry Potter / A Harry Potter Hogwarts Dinner Party | Part I

A Harry Potter Hogwarts Dinner Party | Part I

Harry Potter· JK Rowling· Parties

4 Oct

Harry had never even imagined  such a strange and splendid place. It was lit by thousands and thousands of candles that were floating in midair over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting.

These tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting. Professor McGonagall led the first years up here, so that they came to a halt in a line facing the other students, with the teachers behind them. The hundreds of faces staring at them looked like pale lanterns in the flickering candlelight. Dotted here and there and among the students, the ghosts shone misty silver. Mainly to avoid all the staring eyes, Harry looked upward and saw a velvety black ceiling dotted with stars.

He heard Hermione whisper, “It’s bewitched to look like the sky outside. I read about it in Hogwarts a History”

It was hard to believe there was a ceiling there at all, and that the Great Hall didn’t simply open on to the heavens.

-Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone

We threw the ultimate Hogwarts Harry Potter party, so we share all our how-tos, from DIY decor ideas from the 'Great Hall' to 'Herbology'.

Disclaimer: Amazon Affiliate links through this post. I either bought the item from Amazon or am linking to something incredibly similar to what I used.

The world of Harry Potter caught our imaginations 17 years ago. JK Rowling gave us a magical world, with details so complete, and yet embedded in our own world, so it wasn’t so far a stretch on the imagination for us afterall.

For many of us, we’ve been waiting for our acceptance letters to arrive since 26th June 1997, when we first opened the pages and dove into Harry’s wizarding world.

In August, eleven of my friends finally had theirs delivered (by muggle mail so as not to confuse the mailman).

As with the usual acceptance letter, Professor McGonagall informed them of their acceptance into Hogwarts, and attached the uniform and books list. A ticket for the Hogwarts Express was also included, along with a note. It stated that Platform 9 3/4 had been temporarily relocated to an address in Perth, Western Australia, and included additional contact details in case their owls were unable to deliver their responses.

To start, watch this quick 45 second video to give yourself a feel of the party atmosphere…

With the relocation of Platform 9 3/4, clear signage was place at the front of the property (although it was the owl next to the sign that had muggles doing double-takes).

harry potter hogwarts dinner party entrance 9 3/4 signage

Up on the platform, the entrance was clearly marked with the Hogwarts Express signage.

hogwarts express signage | A Harry Potter Hogwarts Dinner Party

On the train station columns, wanted posters for the likes of Sirius Black, Bellatrix Lestrange, Fenrir Greyback, Amyclus Carrow and Alecto Carrow, warned wizards to keep an eye out.

wanted posters | A Harry Potter Hogwarts Dinner Party

And whoops! Looks like Ron left his Shooting Star broom behind…

rons shooting star broomstick | A Harry Potter Hogwarts Dinner Party

The entrance of Hogwarts was kept simple with a large ornate tapestry hung on the wall. A long table held a variety of candles, while an owl looked on with its box of owl treats, waiting to be fed.

harry potter hogwarts dinner party-owl with owl nuts

Under the table, student purchases from Diagon Alley (Scrivenshaft’s Quill Shop) sat neatly waiting to be picked up, and a scattering of newspapers (The Daily Prophet) and magazines (The Quibbler, Which Broomstick) have been tossed in a pile.

harry potter hogwarts dinner party harry potter hogwarts dinner party-37

A floor candelabra grandly lit the majority of the entrance.

image by Danika Zuks

image by Danika Zuks

We’ll take you into the Great Hall before showing you the rest of Hogwarts in Part 2, since this is where the students spent most of their evening.

A long black draped table with beeswax candles twinkling in glass vases (even the most careful wizard can be clumsy!), stretched down the centre of the room to cater to the 13 guests. Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans in Wizarding World boxes and a Deathly Hallows necklace was presented at each place as party favors (you’re never too old!).

Image by Danika Zuks

Image by Danika Zuks

On the furthest wall above the fireplace, the Hogwarts  banner makes it clear which wizarding school they were attending.

harry potter hogwarts dinner party table-1

The fireplace was lit up, and beside it, floo powder. Speak clearly, otherwise you might end up in some dark alley!

harry potter hogwarts dinner party floo powder

Above, the ceiling disappeared into a night sky while candles (magically flameless) bobbed above their heads.

harry potter hogwarts dinner party-great hall night sky

Dobby popped in to see how the dinner was coming along. Fortunately he wasn’t trying to help, so no cakes landed on anyone’s head!

harry potter hogwarts dinner party-dobby head

In a far corner, the sorting hat waited to determine what house they might be in… (we made our own, but there’s an animated talking one that sorts you into your house on Amazon. A fun party activity!).

harry potter hogwarts dinner party table sorting hat

A large 250L vat of dragon blood waited to be used in the close-by potions class.

harry potter hogwarts dinner party vat of dragon blood

Shelves of potion bottles and potion ingredients lined the room. (Get the full break down, step by step here.)harry potter hogwarts dinner party-3-potions harry potter hogwarts dinner party-13-2 harry potter hogwarts dinner party-19

Above, owls perched on towers of stacked books overseeing the whole party…

image by Danika Zuks

image by Danika Zuks

Candles blazed around an old cauldron, while someone seems to have left the ingredients halfway through doing a potion! And don’t forget, transfiguration homework is due next week.

image by Danika Zuks

image by Danika Zuks

 

image by Danika Zuks

image by Danika Zuks

harry potter hogwarts dinner party table advanced potions textbook

A pile of additional ‘light’ reading– perhaps left behind by Hermione?

harry potter hogwarts dinner party-24

To be continued…

harry potter series | A Hogwarts Dinner Party | part 1 Harry Potter Hogwarts Dinner Series | Part II Harry Potter Hogwarts Dinner Series | Part III With just some cheap blackboards (or even just black paper!) and some chalk, draw these designs (as seen in the movies) and quickly create a Hogwarts Potions classroom for your Harry Potter party. Creating the ultimate Hogwarts Harry Potter party means having the perfect potions set up. To make the room feel believable, follow our checklist of the pieces we put on our shelves. There’s a photo of every shelf so you can see the detail and be inspired for your own party!  hogwarts 9 3:4 signage how to | harry potter series  With just a few ideas, you'll have 'Herbology' set up for your Harry Potter party i no time!

In the meantime, browse the other guests posts from the party

The Tales Compendium

Laura Moseley

The Brazen Duck (aka Danika Zuks who also kindly photographed on the night of the party! You can see her photography portfolio here)

32 Comments

Previous Post: « Harry Potter Blog /Non Blog Hop round up for September 2014
Next Post: A Harry Potter Hogwarts Dinner Party | Part II »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Leanne says

    October 5, 2014 at 1:05 pm

    I absolutely adore your Harry Potter posts! Love it!

    Reply
    • Bryton Taylor says

      October 5, 2014 at 9:39 pm

      Thanks Leanne 🙂 I always have fun creating them!

      Reply
  2. Mary says

    October 20, 2014 at 3:52 am

    This looks absolutely amazing! All the detail you’ve put into everything makes me feel like I’ve took a peek in Hogwarts; I can only imagine how transported your guests felt. Great job.

    Reply
    • Bryton Taylor says

      October 22, 2014 at 11:33 pm

      Thanks Mary 🙂

      Reply
  3. Lee-Gwen says

    June 10, 2015 at 11:36 pm

    Um … part 2? She asks hopefully …

    Reply
    • Bryton Taylor says

      June 15, 2015 at 2:48 pm

      Part II is right here –> http://inliterature.net/food-in-literature/2014/10/harry-potter-hogwarts-dinner-party-part-ii.html
      and part III here –> http://inliterature.net/food-in-literature/2014/10/harry-potter-hogwarts-dinner-party-part-iii.html
      enjoy! 🙂

      Reply
  4. judy says

    June 15, 2015 at 3:01 pm

    OMG! How long did this whole thing take to prepare? THIS IS AMAZING!!
    -dies-

    Reply
    • Bryton Taylor says

      June 15, 2015 at 7:25 pm

      Thanks! Uh, yeah, a while! But it was so worth it 🙂

      Reply
  5. Grace says

    June 20, 2015 at 2:32 pm

    I adore your Harry Potter posts! I am planning a Harry Potter themed birthday party, and I found you on Google. These posts gave me some ideas! Hope to see more wonderful posts!

    – Grace

    Reply
    • Bryton Taylor says

      June 29, 2015 at 11:08 am

      Thanks Grace! Hope you have an awesome party! x

      Reply
  6. Holli Weter says

    July 21, 2015 at 10:29 am

    Oh my word! I am so impressed with all of th details put into this. I want to go to this party!! Truly increadable!

    Thank you for sharing.
    Holli

    Reply
  7. ellie says

    July 27, 2015 at 10:10 am

    Hi Bryt…. Merlin’s Beard… what an amazing party?! I wonder if you could email me privately as I have a few questions that I would like to ask you. Big Hugs, talented lady xx

    Reply
  8. Melanie says

    July 31, 2015 at 9:53 am

    Great post and beautiful party! I am making your pumpkin juice for Harry Potter’s birthday tomorrow. How did you hang the floating candles? Fishing line?

    Reply
    • Bryton Taylor says

      July 31, 2015 at 10:06 am

      Hope you enjoy! I can never get too much of it 🙂 Yup, lots and lots of fishing line!

      Reply
  9. Anshu says

    August 20, 2015 at 8:35 pm

    I can’t express my happiness when I saw this post and your blog.
    Amazing work Girl.

    A HP fan from India.

    Reply
    • Bryton Taylor says

      September 1, 2015 at 7:22 am

      Thanks! Hope you enjoy it 🙂

      Reply
  10. Hannes says

    September 2, 2015 at 6:54 am

    I absolutely love all of your ideas for this party! The details are beyond amazing! You did such a good job in recreating that Hogwarts atmosphere! 🙂
    Where did you get those book covers from? They are stunning! 🙂

    Reply
    • Bryton Taylor says

      September 2, 2015 at 8:18 am

      Thanks 🙂 A lot of the paper printables were from TheRPF.com. You need to sign up (free) but they have a paper section for Harry Potter. People have worked to recreate book covers, packaging etc. Very handy if you’re throwing a party!

      Reply
  11. meagan says

    September 30, 2015 at 7:18 am

    I am a total nerd for harry potter. My friend had a harry potter 11th birthday party (same as harry in the first book) and omg we went on platform 9 3/4 and had to go to the wand shop, we went to classes like potions and dark arts everything and we lived in a private neighborhood in Hawaii so it took a little while to get everything in for her party cause we had to not only get everything from the book and movies, but we had to order majority of our stuff online cause you know we’re on an island and owls have a little harder getting to us plus its a process. Anyways I wanna redo our Harry potter experience and now your ideas makes it a whole lot easier to see everything and how much work it will take again. But Love your website!!

    Reply
  12. Dani says

    October 17, 2015 at 11:56 pm

    This is amazing!! Thanks for sharing these magical ideas 🙂

    Reply
  13. Giselle @ The Busy Spatula says

    November 16, 2015 at 9:29 am

    This is incredible! The amount of detail is astounding!! 😀

    Reply
    • Bryton Taylor says

      November 25, 2015 at 4:19 pm

      Thanks Giselle 🙂

      Reply
  14. Christine says

    April 10, 2016 at 9:46 am

    Your Sorting Hat looks very authentic. Did you make or purchase?

    Reply
    • Bryton Taylor says

      April 11, 2016 at 11:58 am

      Thanks Christine, we made it 🙂

      Reply
  15. Jill says

    September 26, 2016 at 7:24 am

    HELP! I’m giving a HP Bridal Shower this weekend. Your site has been a HUGE help. I love the video showing the outside of the house then the different decor ideas inside. But I also want that music that u hv playing. What is that? I wanna play it as people arrive!

    Reply
    • Bryton Taylor says

      September 26, 2016 at 8:43 am

      Moonlight Hall http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1200095

      Reply
  16. Dale says

    October 9, 2016 at 9:08 pm

    Wow, how did you do the starry ceiling, was it painted? Brilliant job on all of the Harry Potter themed things and I can’t wait to see more.

    Reply
    • Bryton Taylor says

      October 17, 2016 at 2:44 pm

      Thanks 🙂 It’s a roll of starry sky plastic from Amazon and diamontes to add extra shimmer.

      Reply
  17. Rachel Emrath says

    May 5, 2017 at 2:34 am

    Do you have a page on how you made your sorting hat? I’ve not cared for a lot of the ones online (except the actual leather one I would have neither the time, patience, or talent to create). Would love to know how your made yours!

    Reply
    • Bryton Taylor says

      June 5, 2017 at 4:06 pm

      Hi Rachel, unfortunately, I don’t have a page on how to make the sorting hat. I’ll add it to my to-do list for future posts!

      Reply
  18. Nerissa says

    June 29, 2017 at 1:47 am

    I literally loves everything on your blog! It’s amazing!!! Especially all the HarryPotter things, may i knw where u get HarryPotter’s very thick book property such as bathilda bagshot’s a history of magic book, rita skeeter’s the life and lies of albus book, defense against the dark arts etc and daily prophet/quibbler?
    And do you have a tutorial for mandrake? It’s very cute i really want to make it!!

    Reply
    • Bryton Taylor says

      July 10, 2017 at 2:16 pm

      Most of the book covers I found on therpf.com (slightly hard to find the links and not sure if I can link directly, so give yourself time to hunt around!). And I haven’t done a tutorial on the mandrake (yet). Was hoping to make one this year and film and photograph the process.

      Reply

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Hi, I'm Bryt!
I'm a bookaholic, huge Harry Potter fan, and love throwing full blown themed dinner parties. Read More…

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I love love love Dr Seuss' illustrations, so I use I love love love Dr Seuss' illustrations, so I used a How The Grinch Stole Christmas book to easily (and cheaply) decorate my kitchen wall this year. Baroque style photo frames made them that bit fancier!⁣
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What a Halloween that was! 🎃 Incredibly gratef What a Halloween that was! 🎃
Incredibly grateful that we were able to celebrate, even though we did things a little differently. 
With a spider theme in mind, my parent's house was covered with a mixture of white weed mat and cheesecloth. The faux spiderweb material we only used on branches, since the darn stuff is sticky and a nightmare to remove! 🕷️🕸️
Kudos to mom who did the majority of the work, adding in faux dead leaves, branches and trees, turning springtime into one magical night of autumn. Dad was in charge of sound effects and lighting.
Typically we hide as characters or creatures in the garden which slows the kids as they come up to the door, giving them time to look around. They can never tell if something is going to move or not!
Being 2020 though, the 'tension' of coming up to the house was broken because the witches were outside. We placed ourselves at a table with an entrance and exit pathway, reminding them to "stay one broomstick apart"! Let's hope next Halloween we're back to 'normal'. We'll have to make up with some extra scares! 🎃  📸 Photos by our Halloween photographer, dad 😉 
#halloween2020 #HalloweenPerth #HalloweeninAustralia
'That' Sleepy Hollow scarecrow was the inspiration 'That' Sleepy Hollow scarecrow was the inspiration for our yard haunt back in 2016. Of course, we had to have him in a field of cornstalks... a tricky task when you live in Australia and it's actually coming into springtime!  Dried banana leaves, with its leaves shredded, were tied to old stick fencing. Lit from below, you would've believed the headless horseman was somewhere nearby. 🎃  #halloweenyardhaunt #Halloween 
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Decorating is a celebration of autumn and October- Decorating is a celebration of autumn and October- a small action that makes an ordinary moment meaningful. It's our way of acknowledging, enjoying, being excited, even grateful, for 'right now'. In years like this one, where we can find ourselves wishing for 2020 to be over, it can be even more important for  these moments. ⁣
So instead of focusing on how I found myself time-warped from early September to the end of October, I'm going to simply celebrate the best week of October.⁣
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200 years ago, Washington Irving published his short story, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Some homemade decorations like a Sleepy Hollow sign, faux 'cornstalks' mixed with some storebought decorations have my house filled with October vibes to celebrate the bicentennial. 🎃⁣
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[BILBO BAGGINS’ BUTTERED SCONES] It’s been qu [BILBO BAGGINS’ BUTTERED SCONES]  It’s been quite a year… but I couldn’t miss celebrating Hobbit Day!  Mixing up a batch of Bilbo’s buttered scones is an easy way to start the morning off right (and doable before work).  I’ve also jumped back onto Youtube to make these alongside you, but- and I guess this reflects the year- I’m changing up my approach to videos. I’ve relaxed my style, and slowed my pace to capture the comfort of baking and cooking that I love so much.  #lotr #lordoftherings #thehobbit #thelordoftherings #tolkien #jrrtolkien #middleearth #hobbitday #bookworm #hobbitweek #foodinliterature #bilbobaggins
In the end, it’s only a passing thing, this shad In the end, it’s only a passing thing, this shadow.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Even darkness must pass.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
A new day will come.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Those were the stories that stayed with you.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
That meant something.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Even if you were too small to understand why.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I know now.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back only they didn’t.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Because they were holding on to something.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
...⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
That there’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo. And it’s worth fighting for.
-The Two Towers, J.R.R. Tolkien⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #thehobbit #lordoftherings #samwisegamgee #lotr #tolkien #middleearth #jrrtolkien #hobbit
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