So I had meant to post every day this week, but I was so crazy getting things ready for the party on Thursday that I literally had no spare time.

Tuesday – I showed Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. No one came. Which is fine, because it didn’t require too much effort to hit the play button.

Wednesday – We made wands again, but this time I advertised for ages 9 & up because they would be starting from the beginning. I think I had about 25 people, between kids and adults. I did require younger kids to come in with a parent, because the craft requires too much for younger kids to do alone. We started at 2 and most people arrived at that time. Others came later, which actually worked out better since that meant not everyone was clamoring for the glue guns and hair dryers at once. The kids made some really cool wands. I put out some “phoenix” feathers and “fairy” glitter so they could put them inside the wands for the magical core – it was a last-minute idea. Some kids had feathers sticking out of the bottom or tops of their wands, giving them a tomahawk-handle effect, but they were cute nonetheless. I set up a spray painting station outside and made trips back and forth. The crazy part is that the program was from 2-4 pm and the last people left at exactly 4 pm. That was also the same time it started pouring outside. Talk about good luck!

Thursday – Finally, the day of the Harry Potter party arrived! I was up until 1:00 am making chocolate frogs and chocolate-covered pretzel wands so I was pretty tired. But everything went well. I dressed as Luna Lovegood, complete with radish earrings, a butterbeer cork necklace, Spectre Specs, and a school outfit with a blue striped tie I found at Marshalls. When the kids arrived, they took treat bags and filled them with candy from Honeydukes and Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes. They also sampled Butter Beer and Pumpkin Juice (made with real pumpkin!) Then they took turns being sorted (and I don’t have pictures of this because I was doing the sorting, but there should be some great pictures in the local paper.) Each person sat in the chair and wore the sorting hat. (The sorting hat and other props were purchased with money from our LSTA Teen and Tween grant. Then they picked a card from a bag to find out which house they were in. After that, we made a craft (Quiditch Broom pencils) and then I read from Tales of Beedle the Bard. And though the girl from the newspaper looked a bit horrified as I read “The Tale of the Three Brothers,” the majority of the kids were older and have read and seen all the books and movies. And I rather enjoyed reading it 🙂 I also read the one about the fountain. Then I put in HP and the Sorcerer’s Stone for the kids who were still there. I have to thank everyone who has ever had a Harry Party and blogged about it. Now I will pay it forward. I’ll put up some more pictures when I get some. At least all the work wasn’t for just one day, since I can celebrate Harry’s birthday every July 31st!!

Saturday – Just saw Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2!! My husband and I went to the 10 am show (because we don’t like crowds) and it was a great movie, despite the missing and/or changed parts from the book. It was still fun to see it on the big screen. And I got emotional more than once! I’m a little sad that it’s over, but at least there will be new fans every year as kids discover the books. And as a children’s librarian, I will make sure that happens.