Here are specific photos of the decorations for Year Five at Hogwarts. I had a LOT of fun brainstorming on how exactly I could include as many classrooms as possible, along with what other props I could make to add to the authentic atmosphere.




First of all, my front door was left completely normal to keep Hogwarts hidden from the neighboring Muggles, but as soon as the door was opened, everyone walked into the foyer complete with the bowl sconces hanging from the wrought-iron style brackets. The sconces were made of miniature aluminum pie tins spray-painted black, then with three tealights in each sconce. I found the black chain and brackets at my local hardware store, and I LOVE the look!

All my boring, white walls were covered with flagstone gossamer I bought online at Shindigz.com. I bought the flagstone gossamer for the wall covering originally for Halloween 2001 at my old apartment & used it for Halloween 2002 as well as the original Hogwarts Celebration for Harry's Birthday, too. Since I bought the 100 yd roll & used about 65 yards originally, I luckily had JUST enough leftovers for the duplex, since I had moved out my apartment where I originally used the gossamer on the walls. I was able to recycle a lot of large sections from the apartment without doorways or other holes, since I had planned ahead and made the sections as continuous as possible for use in future locations. The main living room of the duplex this time was all "new" gossamer that I also handstitched together at the seam, since unfortunately the largest roll is only 5' wide and I have 8' tall walls of course. As of Halloween 2003, the same roll has been used for 5 parties (and hopefully will be for more in the future!), so I consider the ~$200 a worthwhile investment over time! The gossamer was hung horizontally with foam mounting tape at the top edge by the ceiling. The foam mounting tape comes off the walls easier than staples do, so it works great. Since the gossamer only comes in five-foot widths, there was a seam three feet up from the floor to cover the entire wall. The boring white "popcorn" ceilings were covered with plain black gossamer, but since the tape will not stick to the variable popcorn texture, I had to staple to the ceiling. Of course, you might recognize some props from my Halloween collection...might as well use everything I have to create a Hogwarts atmosphere!



I transformed my china cabinet into the Hogwarts Trophy Case by using old trophies and medals of mine and my dad's mixed in with some plastic trophies, including the House Cup and the Quidditch Cup for the party winners. I printed the Hogwarts crest and added it to the banner on the top shelf, and I had found the party banner with all the House crests, so that was included along the back of the second shelf.




In the corner near Divination was the Potions Classroom. Note the handmade copies of "Most Potente Potions" and "Magical Drafts and Potions" at the front corner of the table.

With the exception of the dry ice in the metal cauldron, everything was safe to consume. Each bottle had a parchment tag identifying its contents, with the magical contents on one side, and the real contents on the other side of the label. I provided recipe cards for everyone to create their own potion, including name and function, but this year we were too busy playing Nerf Quidditch to get enough potion recipes to vote on a winner...darn!





Near Potions was Professor Trelawney's Divination table, complete with a handmade copy of "Unfogging the Future," a crystal ball, a teacup with tea leaves ready to be read, of course some tarot cards...and for this photo, even Sybill herself! ;) The tablecloth topper is a scarf I bought in Russia in 1990, the crystal ball is a thriftstore globe lighting fixture set on a candleholder, and the tarot cards are the Haunted Mansion Holiday tarot cards from the Disneyland redecoration of the Haunted Mansion in 2001! Well, they are copies printed out by me since the cards are now collectibles, but they are the same images on the cards...





On top of the piano across from Divination and Potions was Professor McGonagall's Transfiguration Classroom. The handmade books and chalkboard were made for the original Hogwarts Celebration. I had paused the Harry Potter movie DVD to copy down the chalkboard instructions so I could replicate them. The chalkboard itself is a piece of corrugated cardboard with black butcher paper (matte side for the chalk, shiny side down) and wallpaper border that looks like mahogany crown molding for the frame. It is hanging with fishing line (monofilament) from two hooks in the ceiling. I had also been given an official Mirror of Erised (note the description at the top) but the mirror glass was cracked, so I removed the glass & added a sheet of foil instead. Since it was small but I wanted it in a prominent place, it was placed at the end of the Transfiguration on top of the piano.




This time since I finally had a backyard, Herbology was outside, taking advantage of as many of my patio plants as possible. In the corner of my outside patio was the Herbology Classroom, which also housed the fruit and vegetable appetizer platters. I had a plethora of silk and real plants, and I grouped all my patio plants around the table to be the rest of the "greenhouse." Tropical-looking vines were draped around, the inflatable scarecrow owl was sitting (well, leaning?) on a miniature greenhouse, and not only is there a copy of "One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi" for reference, but also the all-important "Magical Water Plants of the Caribbean."



This year the Defense Against the Dark Arts Classroom was on top of the big-screen TV, not only with copies of "The Dark Arts: A Guide to Self-Protection" and "Curses and Countercurses," a string of skull beads, a full-size foam latex human skull, a small inflatable Egyptian mummy, and various gargoyles with plenty of white candles for additional protection..but also a real human spine! My great-grandparents were both chiropractors so this is a "family heirloom" now. It doesn't hurt that my mom is a teacher so has kept it around for sure... ;)



The Blue Lady guarded the entrance to the downstairs bathroom, right off the foyer. Her eyes followed you everywhere you went! (I decided against using the Fat Lady painting anywhere because I did not want to restrict the party to Gryffindors only.)