Calling all muggles: Arts & Letters Bookstore to celebrate Harry Potter’s birthday July 29

Muggles and wizards alike are invited to the most magic-filled celebration in all of The Wizarding World — and in Hood County.

The Arts & Letters Bookstore, 113 E. Bridge St., will be celebrating Harry Potter’s birthday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, July 29.

Harry Potter, the main protagonist from the best-selling book series by author J. K. Rowling, will be celebrating his 43rd birthday on July 31 this year.

Brandy Herr, inventory manager and “Harry Potter expert” at Arts & Letters Bookstore, came up with the idea in 2019 to hold a birthday party for “The Boy Who Lived.”

“I'm just the resident Harry Potter girl," she explained. "Anytime someone comes in looking for Harry Potter, I'm like, ‘What house are you?!’ I'm the nerd about that.”

Herr — who identifies as a Ravenclaw — sets up the free event each year, complete with wizard-themed treats and a costume contest.

“We're going to have a whole bunch of like themed snacks and treats,” she explained. “Square Café is making cupcakes and butterbeer cookies, and we're going to have a little activities giveaway and a Fantastic Beast scavenger hunt throughout the store.”

The costume contest will allow attendees — both kids and adults — to dress up as their favorite “Harry Potter” character.

"We’ll have a separate costume contest, so you don't have to worry about competing with adorable little kids,” Herr said, with a chuckle. “You'll sign a release, we'll take your picture, and then we'll post it on our Facebook page in the adult’s or children's category. Whoever gets the most likes on their photo will win the prize.”

As the costume contest will take place via Facebook, participants can arrive at any time during the event.

Herr said her favorite part about the party every year is being able to see the creativity and effort that people put into their costumes.

"You get lots of Hermiones and Harrys, but I love the adult costumes because they really (go all out),” Herr said. “One year, we had a woman came in and she had this really nice cloak and had a stethoscope around her neck. She was a physician at St. Mungo's. Then there was another one where she was a professor, and she just had a really cool prop book, so I like seeing the unique takes on the different characters.”

During the party, guests will also be able to pre-order the new MinaLima edition of “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Askaban,” out in October.

“It’s gorgeous,” Herr said. “The MinaLima edition is basically like an interactive pop-up edition. There’s beautiful illustrations, but then some of the pages have pop-up elements where you can lift the flaps.”

Attendees can also take a picture under the staircase at Arts & Letters, similar to Harry Potter’s residence of the “cupboard under the stairs.”

"We actually have a storage closet under the stairs and it's just a big white blank space, so I came up with the idea of a Harry Potter painting on the door,” Herr said. “Owner Roxanne Laney came up with the idea to do a sorting hat underneath, so we have that as a permanent fixture and people love taking pictures with that."

For more information on the bookstore and its events, follow the Facebook page at Arts & Letters Bookstore or call 682-936-2824.

“I’m excited to see the costumes and the enthusiasm that people have in getting to share a common interest,” Herr added. “I love seeing the smiles on everyone’s faces and seeing the depths that people go to for the costumes and being involved. I love seeing that coming together of at all.”