How To Throw The Best Harry Potter Halloween Party

If you're in charge of a Halloween party this year, it clearly needs to be Harry Potter-themed. Because, really, Halloween and Harry Potter go together like butter and beer. As a proud Harry Potter Party Planner myself, I know some of the charms and spells to make sure your party goes off without any Muggle issues popping up. So get ready: this Halloween you're going to throw the best party anyone outside of Hogwarts has ever seen.

The difference between throwing a Harry Potter-themed party and a normal Halloween party is, however, significant. You're going to need to pay more attention to detail and magic. You're also going to need to bring out the scarier elements of Harry Potter, like the Forbidden Forest filled with spiders and the many different types of Horcruxes. This is no kids' party — butterbeer included.

Gather your roommates, friends, and everyone willing to help, because turning your living space into the wizarding world is no easy task. Grab your wand and put on the Harry Potter soundtrack to get you started. Next, follow these 10 steps to creating the best Harry Potter Halloween party you'll ever attend. (Magic not included.)

1. Send Out The Special Invites

If you can't seem to gather up enough owls to send out invites, don't worry — just run down to the store and get some stamps and envelopes. You can style the invitations like Hogwarts acceptance letters, or even like Howlers yelling at your friends to come to your party. (Or you can be lazy like me and just invite people through Facebook.)

2. Make Sure Your Costume Is On Fleek

This one is a little obvious, but since this is a Halloween party, your costume is one of the most important details! Whichever Harry Potter character you're going for, whether it's Classic Hermione, quirky Luna, twisted Belatrix, or even Headmaster Dumbledore, make sure to spend a lot of time perfecting it.

3. Carve Or Paint Pumpkins Harry Potter-Style

Before the party begins, carve some pumpkins to look like Harry Potter or have magical spells written on them to greet your guests at the front door. If you want more scary details, try carving a Dementor or the Basilisk. Dare I even suggest carving He Who Must Not Be Named?

4. Plan The Menu

One of the best parts about a Halloween party are, of course, the food options. I certainly got carried away with making chocolate frogs, Hogwarts house cupcakes, and potion puddings at my party. As an added bonus, throw in some of these creepy Halloween recipes too — or some Bertie Botts Flavor Beans.

5. Make Magical Drinks With House Color Cups

Butterbeer and pumpkin juice are a given, and there are multiple recipes, in case you want an alcoholic version. You can also try Harry Potter-themed shots, or these enchanting cocktails. Make sure to pick up red, green, blue, and yellow solo cups for everyone to drink with their house colors!

6. Play Quidditch Pong

Even if Beer Pong isn't your calling, you have to admit this Quidditch Pong looks like a ton of fun. If you're planning on having the movies on in the background (which you definitely should), you could also play a casual version of a Harry Potter movie drinking game.

7. Decorate Your Ceiling

Hang flying keys, floating candles, and even letters from your ceiling in order to create a magical atmosphere. You could even attempt to recreate Hogwarts during Halloween with festive pumpkin lights draped around the room.

8. Make Some DIY Wands

With some wooden sticks, a hot glue gun, and some paint, you can create enough wands for all of your guests to use and drunkenly duel with. There's nothing like looking around the room and seeing everyone with a wand in hand.

9. Turn A Wall Into A Photo-Op

You're going to want to document this amazing night, so make sure when you're planning out your decorations, include a fun photo-op! You could do this by making a Wizard sign like this, or dedicate one of your walls to becoming Platform 9 3/4.

10. Go All Hermione With The Details

When it comes to Halloween decorations, you can't skip out on the fake spiderwebs or the orange and purple twinkle lights. And when you're throwing Harry Potter into the mix, it all comes down to the mini potions scattered across the table and Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Jelly Beans filling your candy bowls.

Adding a Ministry of Magic sign, or even a Moaning Myrtle to your toilet seat, will surely be a conversation starter and a detail everyone will remember.

Since it's necessary to have multiple witch hats at a Halloween party, you need to make sure you also have a Sorting Hat at the ready, as well.

The more details, the better. Get creative and bring in all of your favorite elements from Harry Potter. Oh, and remember to have a really great time, Dumbledore style.

Images: Brandi Korte/flickr; Giphy