Harry Potter Horcrux Hunt Party Activity (& Printable)

Raise your hand if you’re a Potter-head! Little Crafter is a huge fan of the series, so he wanted to celebrate his 11th birthday with some Wizarding World fun. One of the activities I planned for his party was this Harry Potter Horcrux Hunt, and let me tell you, it was a huge hit! Keep reading to see how easy it is to put together and to grab the free printables for your own Horcrux Hunt.

Spoiler Alert! This post contains information about what the seven horcruxes are, so if you haven’t finished Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows, you’ve been warned!

Materials for Your Horcrux Hunt

To create the scavenger hunt, I found seven objects around the house to represent the seven horcruxes. Here’s what I used.

Tom Riddle’s Diary: a hardcover book with a “diary” label on the spine
Any old book should do as long as you label it with a piece of paper and some tape or glue dots.

Marvolo’s Ring: a ring with a faux gemstone
I used a wire ring I made a few years ago, but any ring you have will do the trick.

Hufflepuff’s Cup: a trophy (the other side says ‘World’s Best Dad’…shhhh!)
Any type of cup-shaped trophy or even a fancy cup will work.

Slytherin’s Locket: a necklace
Mine is not really a locket, but it was the closest thing I had.

Ravenclaw’s Diadem: a tiara
If you don’t happen to own a tiara (in which case, I’m so sorry), you can create one using wire or even cutting a crown of construction paper.

Nagini: a toy snake
Most kids probably have some type of plastic toy snake laying around that you could use, but neither of my boys did. So, I used polymer clay to create my own mini Nagini. I just rolled the clay into a long thin shape, then coiled it up.

Harry Potter: a Harry Potter figure or doll
We used a LEGO Brikhead, but you can use whatever type of figurine you have on hand.

Creating Your Horcrux Hunt

The trickiest part was figuring out how to make sure the kids knew they’d found the right artifacts. I have lots of books, rings, and necklaces, and there are tons of Harry Potter figures around the house, so it was crucial that the seekers knew they’d located the horcrux item and not a fake. I also wanted to do the hunt in a way that multiple groups could search for and find each artifact, so we needed a way to keep the items in their hiding places while giving the kids a way to let us know they found each one. The solution I came up with was to create a special tag to attach to each horcrux. I punched seven tags from antiqued paper and labeled each tag with the name of one of the items and a four-digit code. The codes were combinations of numbers and letters that would assure me the seekers had really seen the tags.

Before the party, I hid the items around the house. Then, I split the kids into groups to look for them. Each group had a copy of the printable with instructions and a list of the items they were searching for. As they located each item, their job was to record the code on its tag without removing the item from its hiding spot. The first group to return their paper to me with all seven codes correctly recorded won a prize (Harry Potter buttons).

DOWNLOAD THE HORCRUX HUNT PRINTABLE HERE.

To use the printable, just download and save it to your device. Then print out as many copies as you like (I recommend using decorative antique style paper). You can use the codes I created, or invent your own. I’m pretty sure that Potter fans of all ages would enjoy playing along. I’d love to hear if you give it a try! Let me know in the Amy Latta & Friends Facebook group. See you there!