Will's Harry Potter Party

Will's 7th birthday was Sunday and we celebrated on Saturday with a magical Harry Potter party. My friend Ally designed the invitations as tickets on the Hogwarts Express. I just love how they turned out!

The party was a day at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.  

Will greeted his friends as they came to school

and then it was time to meet the teacher, Professor Friedrich von Fizzle, Adjunct Professor Emeritus of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and Director of Muggle Outreach.  

The muggles were told they were at Hogwarts for the day to see if they have what it takes to become wizards. 

Their first stop was Ollivanders Wand Shop, which of course is on Diagon Alley.  

Fortunately, Professor von Fizzle was able to get a small collection of wands brought to Hogwarts for this special occasion.  

Each wand was unique!

"The wand chooses the wizard, remember... I think we must expect great things from you, Mr. Potter."

Once all the boys had their wands, it was time to head to class. The first class was Divination, where the students attempted to look into their future.   

Each student had a cup filled with ice (and a dollop of gel food coloring on the bottom). 

They had to concentrate really hard to see what their future would bring, and once the bubbling liquid (seltzer water) was poured on top, the liquid would change color and their future would be revealed.   

Will's liquid turned purple, which means he will be skilled at potions. Henry's turned blue, indicating that he will be a famous quidditch player!

Next up was Herbology, where the students planted the seeds of purple people eaters, which were specially harvested by Professor von Fizzle for our class! But first, the muggles had to decorate their pots with magical runes.  

The kids showed great skill in Herbology and then moved on to Care of Magical Creatures. All the magical creatures had escaped and we had to follow the clues left by Hagrid to round them all up! The boys were very good at solving the riddles and rescuing everything from a unicorn to a spider.  

Our next class was Potions. 

The students first made the Wiggenwald Potion, which is known as slime in the human world.  (The flobberworm mucus was glue, honey water was plain tap water, salamander blood was green food coloring, and the liquid lionfish spines was a mixture of borax and water.)

The second potion was a bubbling truth serum. (The leech juice was a mixture of water, purple food coloring, and some dish soap. The crushed jabberknoll feathers was baking soda, and the horklump juice was vinegar.) 

 As you can tell from Will's expression, the bubbling truth serum was awesome!

After all their hard work, the boys deserved a little break. Will requested a cookie cake this year, so we happily got him one.  

Seven!

After cake and a bunch of goofy jokes, it was time for our final class, Defense Against the Dark Arts. Professor von Fizzle had captured this dragon and we had to defeat him!

For the record, seven-year-old boys do not have any difficulty destroying a pinata! Will took off his head on his second go-round and has the trophy in his room to prove it.  

After the harrowing encounter with the dragon, the boys were up for one last adventure, a field trip to Hogsmeade to visit Honeydukes, the candy shop.

These acid pops were just marshmallows coated in melted white chocolate and rolled in sugar sprinkles.

    

The sweet treats were the perfect end 

to a very magical seventh birthday party.