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Best friend ever turns apartment into Hogwarts

She didn't get her Hogwarts letter till she turned 28, but it was worth the wait.

 

Aja Romano

Internet Culture

Posted on Jan 3, 2015   Updated on May 29, 2021, 8:44 pm CDT

Redditor Katie, a.k.a. SoButtons, got the best birthday present ever on Tuesday when her longtime best friend transformed her entire apartment into a magical world filled with Harry Potter-themed surprises. 

According to Katie, her absent-minded husband had a habit of perpetually forgetting her birthday, which may have fed into her bestie’s desire to make sure the occasion was impossible to miss.

The solution? Transform Katie’s entire apartment into Hogwarts, with details from J.K. Rowling‘s dense magical universe bursting from every room.

The party, celebrating Katie’s 28th birthday, came complete with attention to details big and small. Like the obligatory influx of Hogwarts letters, which Harry first receives in a flurry originating from his fireplace. To recreate the effect, SoButton’s BFF dangled letters from her living room ceiling. 

Other Hogwarts-related details included an homage to the Moaning Myrtle’s haunted toilet and the shifting staircases in the castle. 

Plenty of details didn’t make it on camera. Katie noted that in addition to the Moaning Myrtle toilet, her friend wrote the chilling message from Chamber of Secrets on the mirror in red: 

The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the Heir, Beware.

The Fat Lady, Gringotts Bank, Platform 9 and ¾, and the escaped wizards of Azkaban prison also made an appearance. And Katie’s birthday cake came courtesy of Hagrid’s typo-laden birthday cake from the first book. 

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And of course, since no Harry Potter theme would be complete without a few Death Eaters around, or at least accused Death Eaters. 

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You can see even more pictures from the big event on Katie’s Imgur gallery. Or stop by Reddit and congratulate her—on turning 28, and having one awesome best friend.

Photos via Imgur

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*First Published: Jan 3, 2015, 12:00 pm CST