23 Harry Potter Party Essentials for 2025
Looking to use the Harry Potter franchise as the theme for your next party? This classic young adult franchise has been reigning in popularity for more than 20 years through multiple novels, movies and spin-offs.
Appealing to both kids and adults in equal measure, the Harry Potter universe offers much in the way of inspo for your next party or gathering, including fun party food options, decorations and activities that will make you feel like you are journeying into the heart of Hogwarts Academy.
Wondering how to create a Harry Potter party? We’ve rounded up some great ideas in terms of party elements and fun things to do at your Harry Potter party for both children and adults alike. These food, activity and decoration ideas would work great for any kids party or adult gathering, including fun 13th birthday party ideas or 21st birthday party ideas.
Jump to Section
- Top Harry Potter Birthday Party Ideas
- Best Ideas for a Harry Potter Themed Party for Adults
- Magical Harry Potter Party Decorations
- Harry Potter Party FAQs
Top Harry Potter Birthday Party Ideas
1. Costumes
Costumes are completely optional, but inviting guests to dress as their favorite Hogwarts figure can be a great way to help foster the theme. Ask guests to dress as characters, represent the color of their Hogwarts house or just dress in popular Harry Potter general colors and patterns.
2. Hogwarts Letter Invites
The perfect party starts with the perfect invites. In this case, that means Hogwarts invitation letters just like Harry received. You can list the details of the gathering as well as any important details regarding attire, activities and menu information.
3. Set the Scene
A great way to invite guests to your party is to set the scene as people arrive. Start your decorating at the front door, then add some of the great party decorations listed in the section below that help make your home or venue look like something right out of the books and movies.
4. Sorting Hat Activity
One fun activity to host at your Harry Potter party is the traditional sorting into the Hogwarts houses. You can do this with the traditional sorting hat from the story or have guests pick their houses in advance.
5. Movie Marathon
A great way to celebrate the books is to host a movie marathon of all existing or spin-off movies, complete with popcorn and other Harry Potter related snacks and drinks. This is a perfect way to plan a low-key inexpensive party with a short lead-up time.
6. Wand-Making
A wand-making station can be a fun way to get creative at your Harry Potter party. One great inexpensive way to facilitate this activity is to collect some interesting-looking sticks in your yard or on a walk.
Provide decorative materials like paint, glitter and other magical elements for participants to customize their wands.
7. Quidditch Game
Grab some inexpensive hula hoops and use them to create a modified game of Quidditch in your home or yard. Hang the hoops in the air and have players take turns launching brooms or balls through them for a fun and active Harry Potter party activity.
8. Food
Options for Harry Potter party foods are endless. For beverages, opt for fizzy butterbeer or pumpkin juice. For appetizers, use pretzel sticks and mozzarella string cheese to create tiny brooms. Other great options include the book’s treacle treats, cauldron cakes and honeydukes gumdrops.
9. Potion Making
Get some small glass or plastic vials and have guests make their own magical potions from the famous potions classes in the franchise. You can use distilled water with some glycerin that will help glitter stay suspended in the bottle longer. Or use beverages to make potions you can drink at the party.
Best Ideas for a Harry Potter Themed Party for Adults
10. Book Club Tea
Use your book club as a chance to read (or reread) all the Harry Potter books. Or host a book club tea and for the gathering, serve Harry Potter snacks and beverages above for a fun variation on traditional tea party food.
11. Escape Room
Use your adult Harry Potter gathering as a chance to set up a fun escape room or murder mystery to engage guests. Use elements and characters from the book or create your own offshoots of the existing universe to keep things surprising and fresh for die-hard fans.
12. Harry Potter Trivia Night
Test the knowledge of the Potter universe among your adult guests with a fun franchise-themed trivia night. You can create teams or play individually, using a Jeopardy-style game board with categories or just call out questions to have them write down responses to be collected after each round.
13. Boozy Butterbeer
Any Harry Potter party for adults needs some more adult-oriented beverages. Try a fun grown-up twist on butterbeer that adds butterscotch schnapps and vanilla vodka to the usual creme soda, butterscotch syrup and whipped cream concoction.
14. Quidditch Beer Pong
Set up some hoops made from craft store rings, wooden dowels and bottles on your game table with the typical beer pong cup triangular set-up. Participants try to land their ping pong ball through the hoops and into the cups.
15. Movie Drinking Games
These films lend themselves well to creating drinking games. Create rewards based on certain words or names uttered, certain plot points or whenever someone casts a spell to take a sip.
Magical Harry Potter Party Decorations
16. Floating Candles
Use sticky hooks and fishing line to suspend faux LED taper candles from your ceiling that operate with a remote for a fun nod to the Hogwarts dining hall. Dim or brighten the lights as needed. This is also a perfect decoration for the spooky season.
17. Haunted Mirror
Use an old mirror to create ghostly messages for partygoers to encounter around the house. This is an especially fun element to incorporate into a Harry Potter scavenger hunt, escape room or murder mystery. Write clues and messages pertaining to the game.
18. Hogwart Colors
Use the party as a chance to deck out your space in Harry Potter specific colors, whether it's the more general burgundy and yellow or colors specific to each Hogwarts House. Use these color schemes to choose your banners, tablecloths, plates and other party decor.
19. 9 ¾ Train Platform
Create a fun faux brick wall with printed fabric or inexpensive faux brick panels from a home store with a 9 ¾ platform to use as an entryway portal or a fun backdrop for a photo booth. You can also draw or paint faux bricks on a sheet of oversized paper.
20. Hogwarts Letter Photo Booth
Suspend envelopes with fun quotes from the books from the fishing line to look like they are floating. Use this as a cute photo booth background to take pictures of partygoers.
21. Cauldrons
Use plastic cauldrons of various sizes to hold party elements like punch or butterbeer, snacks like chips and other party foods on the table to create a magical and mystical setting that resembles Harry’s world.
22. Hogwarts Banner
Create a cute paper or fabric banner to welcome guests to the party. This could also be used as a fun decorating activity to do during the game to help guests get creative and inspired.
23. Moaning Myrtle
Print out some paper cutouts of Moaning Myrtle and place her likeness where guests won’t expect to find her, like in windows, on mirrors or even in the fridge or cupboards. Turn it into a game and challenge all the guests to find the cutouts for a prize.
Harry Potter Party FAQs
How Should I Dress for a Harry Potter Party?
Great options for Harry Potter attire include dressing as famous characters like Harry or
Hermione or using your Hogwarts House designation to dress in specific colors of your house. You could also dress in Hogwarts' distinctive black robes.
What Is the Ball Party in Harry Potter?
The franchise’s famous yule ball offers a chance to combine your Harry Potter fandom with a holiday gathering. Use the Harry Potter ball as a theme for your holiday parties with decorations, food and activities that are taken from the franchise.
What Is the Ghost Party in Harry Potter?
A ghost party or deathday party in the franchise is a party thrown by ghosts to commemorate their death, but you can use this as a fun twist on a traditional birthday party with a Harry Potter theme.
The great Harry Potter party ideas are perfect for your next celebration, be it a kids' birthday, a book club gathering, or a fun trivia night devoted to the franchise.
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