In case you didn't know, JK Rowling released a new book in the Harry Potter series, called "The Cursed Child," eliciting the need for a late night launch party on the very eve of Harry Potter's birthday! It was just like the good ol' days. I myself can still remember working from 8 p.m. - 1 a.m. at the BYU Bookstore's launch party for book 6, "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince" like it was yesterday. My little HP fans and I ventured way into downtown Denver to the Tattered Cover Bookstore, prepared to party like it was 2005 again.
The bookstore was HUGE-- three floors, and they offered tons of free things to do. We went to Flourish and Blotts first, to make our very own spell books.
Next we went outside for quidditch try-outs behind the store. Lucy and Zach were the Gryffindor team, and both of them had some great shots and ended up winning against Hufflepuff! Zach said this was his favorite activity.
Next we checked out the Potions class, where they made Expanding Slime using powdered unicorn horn (baking soda), and toad's blood (mouth wash) for a super foaming experiment. Lucy loved it.
My favorite was downstairs in Gringott's Wizarding Bank (in the children's section) where they had a treasure hunt. They had hidden coins each with a secret code written on it, and we had to locate all the coins to decode the message. It was hard! We ended up not being able to find 3-4 of the coins, but thankfully we were still able to decode the secret message: "Happy Birthday Harry Potter!"
As you completed each of the different tasks/activities, the professor in charge would give you a ticket to collect candy at Honey Duke's. Since we completed all 6, Zach and Lucy got to pick 6 pieces of candy!
They had a little Starbucks inside that was serving Butter Beer and chocolate frogs, and all night the line was soooooo long! We finally just sucked it up and stood in the 45 minute line to get our yummy Harry Potter treats! The Butter Beer was awesome and worth the wait!
By this time it was after 11 p.m. and my little wizards were exhausted. Zach zonked out about 5 minutes into the ride home. They had such a good time though!
On Harry's real birthday, July 31st, we decided to celebrate by making Hagrid's birthday cake from the first book. I think it turned out pretty good-- even spelled like Hagrid himself. HAPPY BIRTHDAY HARRY!
