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Happy birthday, Harry Potter! The famous wizard’s birthday on July 31 happens to be just days away from my own birthday, so I’m sharing some Harry Potter birthday party ideas. Celebrate The Boy Who Lived with a Harry Potter birthday cake, ideas for Harry Potter party decorations and a Harry Potter drinking game to play while you watch the films.
Typically, I’d have dinner at a new restaurant or meet friends for drinks to celebrate my birthday. However, COVID-19 has changed things. Instead of going out this year, I decided to throw a Harry Potter-themed birthday party at home.
If you’re curious, I’m a Gryffindor, “where dwell the brave at heart,” so says the sorting hat. I don’t know if I always display the Gryffindor traits of daring, nerve and chivalry, but being sorted into that house inspires me to think more like a Gryffindor in times of doubt.
How old is Harry Potter?
The first book is set in 1991, the year Harry Potter turns 11 and gets that memorable visit from Hagrid and learns he’s a wizard. That means Harry Potter’s birthday is July 31, 1980. That would make this year, July 31, 2020, his 40th birthday. That’s right, Harry Potter is celebrating the big 4-0! Daniel Radcliffe, the actor who plays Potter, was born July 23, 1989 and turns 31 years old this year.
Harry Potter birthday party food ideas
One of my favorite parts of the movies is when there’s a feast in the Great Hall and you see the tables filled with all sorts of delicious foods and desserts. At the Welcoming Feast, a first-year Harry is in awe at the generous spread, which included roast beef, roast chicken, lamb chops, sausages, different kinds of potatoes, apple pies, treacle tarts, chocolate eclairs, jam doughnuts, rice pudding and more.
If you love being in the kitchen, you might want to pick up a copy of The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook; I haven’t seen it myself but it looks like there are all sorts of delicious Harry Potter desserts like Cauldron Cakes and Treacle Pudding. Here are more ideas for treats to serve at your party:
Harry Potter birthday cake
The book describes the cake Hagrid baked for Harry’s 11th birthday as “a large, sticky chocolate cake with ‘Happy Birthday Harry’ written on it in green icing.”
To make a cake like the one Hagrid gave Harry in the film adaption, start with a chocolate cake and add pink frosting and “HAPPEE BIRTHDAE HARRY” written in all caps in green icing. There’s no need for perfection here. Hagrid’s spelling wasn’t perfect, and he admitted that he may have sat on the cake during the trip. The imperfections are what make it charming!
I made a slightly different version with a 9-inch layered devil’s food cake and an orange buttercream frosting. Then, to pipe on the letters, I added green food coloring to plain buttercream frosting, put it in a ziptop plastic bag and snipped off a small corner piece.
To make this using store-bought ingredients, use a boxed chocolate cake mix and pink frosting like a strawberry frosting. Then add the letters in green icing, which you can make with white frosting and green food coloring.
Pumpkin pasties
If you’re like me and love pumpkin so much you could eat it all year, serve one of the treats offered on the Hogwarts Express, pumpkin pasties. Pumpkin pasties are like hand pies made with pie dough and a sweet pumpkin filling. You can even draw a little lightening bolt on the tops of them before baking as an homage to Harry Potter. Here’s a Pumpkin Pasties recipe from A Few Shortcuts to try.
Jars of candy
Take inspiration from Honeydukes, the candy store in the charming village of Hogsmeade, and fill glass jars with different kinds of sweets. In the books, Honeydukes is described as having “shelves upon shelves of the most succulent-looking sweets imaginable,” including “creamy chunks of nougat, shimmering pink squares of coconut ice” and “hundreds of different kinds of chocolate in neat rows.”
Of course, there are also Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans and other magical treats like toad-shaped peppermint creams that hop in your stomach and exploding bonbons. Exploding bonbons might be hard to come by, but you can make your own chocolate frogs, like the kind Harry first enjoys on the Hogwarts Express with Ron Weasley, with a frog chocolate candy mold. Thankfully, these ones won’t hop away.
Harry Potter movie marathon snacks
Balance out all those sweets with a few salty snacks for watching during a Harry Potter movie marathon. Popcorn is a movie marathon must, and you can also have bowls of nuts and some treats like flavored jumbo marshmallows by SmashMallow.
Golden Snitch candy party favors
Make simple Golden Snitch candy party favors by cutting wing shapes out of white construction paper and then gluing or taping them to the sides of a round candy that has a gold wrapper, like Ferrero Rocher or Lindt Lindor White Chocolate Truffles.
Butterbeer
You’ll need something to wash down all those sweets and salty snacks! Make your own butterbeer or pumpkin juice, or create a special Harry Potter-themed cocktail for the party. Serve a “Polyjuice Potion” party punch or a butterbeer drink (spiked or non-alcoholic). At the Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme parks at Universal Orlando, butterbeer tastes like a butterscotch flavored cream soda. Try this Harry Potter Butterbeer recipe from Favorite Family Recipes.
Harry Potter birthday party decorations
When it comes to planning a Harry Potter birthday party, decorations are a must! Deck out the room in Gryffindor scarlet and gold or keep it simple with a few Hogwarts-inspired touches.
Harry Potter bar decor
I used candlesticks and a wand and map from The Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park to dress up my bar. I also set out the makings for a gin cocktail and small vintage gold glasses that were an estate sale find.
Floating candles
Add a magical element to your party with floating candles like those that light up the Great Hall in Hogwarts. Here’s a Harry Potter Floating Candles tutorial from The Sits Girls.
Harry Potter crafts & games
Before settling in to watch the films, organize a few Harry Potter crafts or games to play.
DIY Harry Potter potions labels
Make your own potions labels to use as party decorations or as a party activity. I made my own Harry Potter potions bottles using items I already had in my house. Get the DIY Harry Potter potions instructions here.
If you’re not into drawing your own labels, PBTeen has printable Harry Potter potion bottle labels, which you can print on sticker paper and adhere to old glass bottles and jars.
Harry Potter drinking game
Since Harry Potter is old enough to drink now, I created a Harry Potter drinking game to play while you watch the films! Grab your goblet, fill it with butterbeer or your favorite libation and start the movie marathon. The rules are simple; each time something on the game board happens onscreen, you take a sip. When Harry catches the Golden Snitch at a Quidditch match, you must finish your drink.
If you like drinking games, make sure to save my Marvelous Mrs. Maisel drinking game. Please drink responsibly!
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If you’re more into the Fantastic Beasts film series, you could throw a magical vintage dinner party instead! Check out my 1920s dinner party ideas:
