Sunday, April 9, 2017

Harry B-day- 11th Birthday Party for Ilana")

Hi everyone- Chana here!

The Goldbergs of number 7 Yavne street were proud to say that they were perfectly normal thank you very much. Well..."perfectly normal" may be a little but of a stretch. You know what? Lets just get straight to the story.

On Friday we celebrated a very special occasion- a child discovering her true magical heritage- aka Ilana's 11th birthday. As you may or may not know, in the Harry Potter series Harry discovers he's a wizard and receives a letter inviting him to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry on his 11th birthday.

All children obsessed with Harry Potter anxiously await this birthday, hoping that they too will receive an owl with their own Hogwarts letter. Sadly, most are disappointed and have to come to grips with being a mere Muggle (I personally am still waiting for my letter, but that's neither here nor there).

Our family has had to grapple with three non-magical children so far, but on Ilana's birthday everything changed and we can now proudly announce that: "You're a wizard, Ilana!" (said in Hagrid's voice).

On that sunny morning, Ilana came downstairs and was greeted with an owl carrying a mysterious envelope.

In true wizard fashion it was addressed to: "Ms. Ilana Goldberg. The second bedroom on the second floor".

Upon opening it, she discovered an.....ACCEPTANCE LETTER TO HOGWARTS!!!! It also had a class schedule, a list of supplies she would need for the coming school year, and a map of the school.




Upon further inspection, Ilana discovered that platform 9 and 3/4 was conveniently located just a few steps away (in fact, it was where our front door had previously been- but that's magic for you!).

The Gryffindor common room (complete with a portrait of the Fat Lady and a password required to enter),


the Great Hall (set with a welcome feast containing assorted treats from Honeydukes),



and the Forbidden Forest and Whomping Willow (which was totally off limits to students of course!) all rounded out the magical experience.




Unfortunately, upon entering the bathroom, Ilana discovered that "The Chamber Has Been Opened". Fortunately, there was a portal to the Ministry of Magic nearby.



Round glasses  and lightening bolt scars were given to all (Voldemort was very busy designating many "chosen-ones". or it might have been face-paint. same dif).  Ilana then stopped by Olivanders wand shop, and picked up a wand which would be necessary for the magical year of learning ahead of her.

And received her broomstick--a Nimbus 2006


When Ilana entered the Great Hall, she was called up to the sorting hat to find out which house she would be in. Although the Sorting Hat had a hard time making a decision it finally pronounced: "GRYFFINDOR", in a ringing voice. The hall erupted in cheers, and candies sent straight from Hogsmeade (including jelly slugs, Bertie Botts every flavor beans, fizzing wizzbees, and candy golden snitches) were distributed to all in celebration.




the feast included spring rolls, which we heard were a favorite of  the "ickle firsties"


Headmaster Albus Dumbledore rose to address the students, the candles hanging over the tables of the great hall glinted in the starry night ceiling: "As I welcome you all back for another year of learning and hijinks," he began, "I would like to take extra care to thank a few of our extraordinarily dedicated staff members."

"Miss Penina Goldberg", he continued, "for your hard working in creating the magical world that we have gathered in today, I would like to award 50 points to Gryffindor."

"But Professor", piped up a snide voice from the audience, "staff members can't win points for their houses. That's not fair!"

"Quiet Malfoy," snapped Dumbledore, "nobody asked your opinion anyway!".
"Anyways," he continued, once more beaming at the audience, "I would also like to thank professors Ellen and Shalom Shachne and award them 50 points to Ravenclaw and Gryffindor respectively."

The hall once more erupted in cheers, students jumped onto the tables clapping and stamping their feet. Dumbledore raised his hand for silence. "Lastly," he said, eyes twinkling over his half-moon glasses, "thank you to Miss Ilana Goldberg for growing up into such a wonderful 11 year old- the person you are becoming is truly someone magical."

Ilana smiled around at the fellow students and teachers at Hogwarts who were like her family (or maybe they actually were her family. It would explain why they had gone to all that trouble to make her a Harry Potter party).  She couldn't wait to find out what her next day at Hogwarts would bring.


note: we got a lot of these great party ideas from: http://centsationalgirl.com/2014/02/20-harry-potter-party-ideas/





2 comments:

  1. This is such a sweet thing. I love that you’ve done the whole thing yourself. She looks like a proper wizard out of Hogwarts, especially at the end. I am also organizing a birthday party for my girl in one of the Seattle venues and I’m doing a wonder woman birthday party for her.

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