Best Last Minute Harry Potter Halloween 2020 Costume Ideas
Here are the best last-minute Harry Potter costume ideas for Halloween 2020. Though the Covid-19 pandemic has changed the way fans of trick or treating can celebrate this year, there's no reason not to still get dressed up. And Wizarding World fans can enjoy the opportunity even without leaving the house.
JK Rowling's Harry Potter world is a veritable treasure trove of costume ideas thanks to the colorful spectrum of imaginative characters. The wizards, witches and the more outrageous creations of the Wizarding World were always key to Rowling's world-building beyond the triumvirate of heroic characters. The magical world also holds very dear feelings for fans who grew up immersed in the stories around Diagon Alley, Hogwarts, and beyond, so naturally, there's a familiarity element that makes it a great source for dressing-up possibilities.
But Harry Potter fans don't need to go all out to transform themselves into Boggarts, giants or werewolves to show their fandom. Here are the best last-minute options for Harry Potter Halloween costumes.
Requirements: A long black hooded cloak/coat or dressing gown, a skull mask, a cardboard cone and a wand.
While the later Harry Potter movies introduced the more ornate metal Death Eater masks that made Voldemort's notorious followers look a little like heavy metal royalty Slipknot, the Goblet Of Fire showed them in more old-fashioned black cloaks and skull masks that appeared to be made of bone. Fans looking for the later look will need a blank mask (usually available easily from craft stores) and some silver and black paint for decoration. The older look is a lot more simple, provided local stores have Halloween masks still available and you have sturdy card to make a pointed cone hat. For the facial element, anything skull related that can be worn as a mark over the top half of the face works. Lots of Harry Potter fans will already have their own wands, but they're easy enough to fashion from a stick and teamed up with a surly attitude, they can be the crowning detail of a Death Eater costume.
Requirements: A sack, a sock, something to make it floppy ears and a cake.
While Dobby's tragic death at the end of The Death Hallows Part I was one of the Harry Potter series' most authentic emotional experiences and is best left consigned to the past, it did give the loveable House Elf his big hero moment. Fans wanting to show their love at Halloween have a fairly simple pathway to do so thanks to his simple but iconic sartorial choices. Dobby's look essentially starts and ends with a burlap sack (though any sack large enough to cover everything works), bare legs, arms and feet, and a bald head for those brave enough to really commit to shaving it. Ears can be fashioned from cardboard (or luncheon meat, possibly). The added details of a sock to signify freedom and a cake to throw at abusive aunties are the real magic touches.
Requirements: Craft paper, a shrill voice, and whatever you want to wear.
The costume element here is simple because the Harry Potter element isn't something wearable in the traditional sense. So the wearer can combine the Howler part with any normal outfit (though it probably works even better with a Hogwarts uniform). For the key Howler element, make a letter out of card or craft paper based on the design used in The Chamber of Secrets movie, cutting the edges into fangs, add a red tongue and stick to a red folded envelope "mouth". Then fasten to a ribbon and wear on top of your head, screaming light-hearted abuse at Muggles about stealing their fathers' cars.
Requirements: Over-sized men's pajamas (preferably striped) and cushions.
Professor Slughorn's usual Hogwarts outfit is a good choice provided you have access to robes and a middle-aged man's wardrobe, but there's a more imaginative opportunity presented by his first scene in The Half-Blood Prince movie. In that sequence, Slughorn transformed himself into an armchair to hide from Dumbledore (and any Death Eaters looking to recruit him). Obviously, transforming into an armchair is a hard costume, unless you have a spare piece of furniture to cut holes in to get inside. But Slughorn's mid-transformation stage is an even better choice. Get a pair of over-sized men's pajamas - specifically some striped ones, preferably - stuff them with cushions in the limbs and belly and put them on and you can recapture that special movie moment.
Requirements: White or beige t-shirt and shorts/trousers and some Sharpies
Time to think outside the box. Who says you need to be an animate character to show your Harry Potter fandom at Halloween? For this Marauder's Map costume, you'll need some light-colored clothing that you're not unhappy to destroy, Sharpies to write and draw on them and good handwriting. Turn yourself into a Marauder's Map by drawing the internal corridors of Hogwarts with footprints and the names of Harry Potter series characters walking around. Use red and black ink for authenticity's sake.
Requirements: A white shirt, tie, and wand and lots of ginger hair dye. Bad jumper or dress robes optional.
Any Hogwarts student costume is an easy go-to for Halloween costumes, even without the long dark robes. A white shirt and colored tie (preferably matching one of the Hogwarts houses) should cover it and for an added touch, turn yourself into a Weasley family member by gamely dying your hair ginger. A hand-me-down robe is a great added touch, as Malfoy so astutely observed, so don't worry about buying anything new.
Required: Lots of golden paint and some cardboard.
For very pressed fans looking to be a little more left-field choice for Halloween but who don't necessarily have costume equipment, a human-sized Golden Snitch is a great option. Simply paint yourself and your clothes gold from head to toe and fashion a small pair of wings to stick to your back.
Requirements: Nothing.
Just don't turn up to whatever socially distanced party you're invited to and pretend you were wearing the Hallow all along.