How Your Squad Can Be Harry Potter for Halloween

Halloween, for Harry Potter fans, should be renamed, “Another Chance to Dress up in all your Hogwarts Gear,” because, let’s be honest, that’s what it really is. All of your costume ideas tend to be Harry Potter costume ideas. Even though you debate what you’ll be each year, and maybe write a list of options once it hits September (this is normal, right?), you always end up dressing as a character from J.K. Rowling's series, because of course.

Some years you plan ahead, so every aspect of your costume will be perfect. You special-ordered and DIY-ed all the Harry Potter merchandise to create your replica Hermione-at-the-Yule-Ball outfit, and you looked amazing.

But this year, for a last-minute costume idea, you can get your whole squad involved. After all, why keep the HP love to yourself? Rather than everyone just dress as Hermione, you can make good use of that box of Hogwarts scarves in your closet and the wands you bought at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter (or, you know, made out of a stick found in the front yard) to do an epic group Harry Potter costume.

So if you need an easy-to-create, creative, and overall enchanting way that your whole squad can dress as HP characters, here are some ideas to get started.

The Hogwarts Professors

Snape. McGonagall. Sprout. Hagrid. Trelawney. And more. There are so many options for great Hogwarts professors outfits (or even Hogwarts staff — Filch and Mrs. Norris, anyone?), and as long as you have something resembling wizards' robes (I like using my high school and college graduation robes), you've got the majority of the costume already.

Death Eaters

It is Halloween, so if you're searching for a costume that's more spooky than sweet, why not have your whole squad go as Death Eaters? You just need some black clothes, and one friend who's good at art to draw the dark mark on all of your arms. Boom! Your squad is Voldemort's squad.

Beauxbatons Students

This is one of my favorite squad costume ideas: Beauxbatons students. I've seen people hand-sew the pretty blue uniforms of the French wizarding school, but you could also DIY it with a blue dress, blue blazer, and some heels. I'm thinking an all-squad trip to Forever 21 would do the trick.

An Entire Quidditch Team

Whether you go as the Gryffindor Quidditch team — with great character options, such as Fred and George, Angelina Johnson, and the one and only Oliver Wood — or a more obscure choice (Chudley Cannons FTW), your whole squad can definitely get in on a Quidditch team costume. Keep it simple by dressing in t-shirts decorated with the name of the team, or go all out by putting together full Quidditch uniforms. Either way, y'all better carry around broomsticks all night, 'cause that's what takes this costume to the next level.

The Peverells and Death

This costume relies on props, and fans know which ones I'm talking about: a wand, a cloak, and a stone. You can find two out of three of these things outside (stick = wand, stone = well, stone), and as for the cloak, I recommend using something glittery for an AVPM wink. If you have four people in your squad, the fourth person can dress up as Death with some skull face makeup and an all-black ensemble. If you have three people in your squad, I recommend having two people dress as the brother with the stone and the brother with the wand — and just tell everyone the third brother is under the invisibility cloak.

Hogwarts Ghosts

There are a million options for ghost costumes, from Moaning Myrtle to Nearly Headless Nick to the Grey Lady. If you've got a squad full of independent spirits who want to look super different — maybe one person wants to be crazy and dress as Peeves, and someone else wants to be creepy and cover themselves with silver blood like the Bloody Baron — but you all still want to coordinate, this is the squad costume for you.

Voldemort's Horcruxes

Here's another costume for people who like props: Horcruxes. You've got the locket, the diary, the diadem, Harry, Nagini, etc. I'd be friends with people who showed up in this costume, for sure.

A Bunch Of Different Harrys

Remember when all the HP characters took polyjuice potion and turned into Harry? If your entire squad really wants to be the chosen one, but you can't decide who gets the honors, you could all go as him.

Magical Creatures

There are more characters in Harry Potter than just the humans. You've got Aragog, centaurs, merpeople, house-elves, owls — there are a million different choices for the magical creature-obsessed squad.

Spells And Potions

If you want to get really creative, why not go as some spells and potions? Dress in all gold and be liquid luck, stick hearts all over you and be amortentia, or wear a bunch of keys and be Alohamora. It's very open to interpretation.

The Marauders

If your squad is a solid four-person group (but one member of your group is kind of sketchy and might betray you), you could be the Marauders. Whether you go in Animagus form or just in school robes, this one's a great throwback to Hogwarts' past.

The Next Generation

If you and your squad are still holding out for J.K. to write another series, and you don't really mind the name "Albus Severus," have some fun speculating about the Hogwarts of the future and dress as the next generation of HP kids.

Images: Warner Bros (13)