Harry Potter lives on...

... at least in the seven volumes sitting on the bookshelves of everyone who was sitting around our dining room table this afternoon.

Our Harry Potter lunch was great, absolutely perfectly great. The table looked amazing, with all that black and silver and purple, and the extra touches (Polyjuice Potion, Butter Beer, Essence of Dittany) were unexpected surprises.

Speaking of "unexpected surprises," our friend R brought her Tarot cards and gave us all a reading (she's been doing that for years and takes it very seriously), and she even took the time to dress up in her Renaissance costume, to make the card readings more mystical. She also had a bag filled with Harry Potter candies for all us (Bertie Bott's EveryFlavor Beans, Jelly Slugs, and Blood Pops).

It was amazing to see the transformation in R, and I think it was the flouncy, flirty, layered Renaissance dress that did it...... somehow, that dress (blouse and skirt, actually) changed R from a seriously proper lady into a carefree and magical girl. All these years that R and C have been coming to our Halloween parties, neither of them has ever come in costume. Of course, I had to tell R to keep her Renaissance costumes in mind when she receives our invitation for this year's Halloween party.

Today's menu was fun as well....... we started off with a tossed salad and small cranberry/date muffins. Then the dinner plate had a sampling of four foods--- C & R's potato salad and zucchini pie, my deviled eggs made with tuna and avocado, and my Greek spinach pie. We had Butter Beer and Polyjuice Potion to drink (as well as plain old Muggle-water). For dessert, K & B brought a delicious Pistachio Cake from one of the downtown bakeries....... delicious tasting, and so beautifully decorated.

My husband's Harry Potter Trivia Quiz was a big hit...... there were ten questions, which I thought was enough when he asked me if he should do more---- and wouldn't you know it, everyone was looking for more than one page of questions, so his suggestion of 25 questions wouldn't have been over-the-top, as I had thought.

The Harry Potter gifts that I used to decorate the table were perfect.... Harry Potter bookmarks and pens, plus special gifts picked out for everyone--- a Harry Potter charm bracelet for R and myself, Harry Potter necklaces for K and B, a mug for C, and Harry Potter's wand for my husband (which came with batteries, so it makes wand-like sounds)....... I figured he could incorporate that into a costume for Halloween, should he decided to be a wizard. (If not, the wand would make an interesting pointer for a business meeting.-- Just kidding.)

Everyone got here at 2:30, and the party didn't end till nearly 8:30...... so I'd say we did Harry Potter proud. Lots of surprises in those Tarot card readings, but I won't go into everyone's details. What happens at the party, stays at the party.