70+ Harry Potter-Themed Artist Date Ideas

I’ve put together a list of enchanting ideas for your next Artist Date inspired by the Harry Potter universe, organized year by year from first to seventh. This might be my favourite list yet—there are so many great things to do here. Take a look.

First Years

· Grab a pen and some paper. Find somewhere peaceful to sit. Write a letter to someone.

· Get the train to somewhere new.

· Visit old building or castles.

· Go book shopping. Maybe pick up something in the nonfiction section on a brand new subject.

· Potions: Create your own cocktail or mocktail.

· Visit a really old pub. Take a book or something you’re working on. Or just have a drink and something to eat. No smartphones!

· Read:
- by candlelight
- in an old library
- by a lake
- by an open fire

· Think of something that’s bothering you in your life right now. Dream up some new spells or potions that would help you with them. Get creative. Have fun. Let your imagination run wild.

· Write a ghost story.

· Research any hauntings or old ghost stories in your neighbourhood. If there aren’t any, make one up.

· Take a new class. Maybe something you never thought you’d take.

· Invent a new sport.

· Take a look at the objects in your home. Some of them are magic! What can they do?

· The Mirror of Erised: What’s your deepest desire? Dig deep. Now spend time writing about or drawing it.

· Go for a (safe!) forest walk.

· Learn how to play chess.

· Solve a riddle. Invent your own.

· Put together a photo album (a physical one, not on your phone).

Second Years

· Go to a book signing or author event.

· Make up an old legend about where you live or where you’re from.

· Write a news article about the sighting of a witch, wizard, or magical creature.

· Get imaginative: What exactly is the function of a rubber duck?!

· Repot or propagate some of your plants—if they scream, please wear earmuffs.

· Transfiguration: Repurpose one your unused possession into something you might use.

· Polyjuice: Have a fancy dress afternoon. Dress up as someone or something.

· Think up a new magical creature. Take inspiration from old folk tales, or start from scratch.

· Start a diary for yourself.

· Start a diary for an imaginary character—this is particularly useful if you’re writing a book.

· Wherever you are right now, there’s a hidden chamber beneath you somewhere. How would someone find it? What would they find inside?

· Read under the bed covers with a torch. No phones!

· Take a sleeper/overnight train or bus trip.

· Invent a new school subject, magic or not.

· Care of Magical Creatures: Volunteer at an animal sanctuary or rescue centre.

· Divination: Play around with palm reading, tarot (again, great for writers), tea leaves, or keeping a dream diary.

· Go on a zip wire.

· Daydream: What would your boggart be? How would you make it funny? Draw it. Make it. Write it.

· List all of the happiest thoughts you have that would help you conjure a Patronus.

· Buy a piece of art from a charity shop. “Restore” it. Make it your own.

· Pick up a nonfiction book at random. Turn to page 394.

· Go to a strange old village that you’ve never been to before.

· Visit a traditional sweet shop.

· Draw a fictional map of your own.

· Time Turner: Think back to a particularly fond memory. Get into the sensory details of what was so great about it. Draw it. Write it.

Third Years

Fourth Years

· Go camping.

· Attend a live sporting event.

· The Tournament: Enter a creative competition—whatever your main focus is right now, find some competitions or contests you can enter.

· How would you have won the Triwizard Cup? How would you have tackled each trial?

· Dance. Learn something new, or just throw on some music and get moving.

· Take a bath.

· Write a fictional gossip column.

· Go lake swimming—somewhere safe, like a lido, or somewhere you know well.

· Find and explore a hedge maze.

· Write a prophecy for yourself. Make it positive, ambitious, and uplifting!

· Visit London.

· Wear an all pink outfit.

· Dumbledore’s Army: If you could start a new club, what would you choose?

· Commit to learning a brand new skill.

· Draw a family tree. Your own, or make one up.

· Write about a holiday or trip you went on.

· Go and see some fireworks.

Fifth Years

Sixth Years

· Write a villain origin story.

· The Chosen One: Freewrite or draw—what are you The Chosen One for in your life? What is your True North?

· What potion would you make if you could?

· The Quibbler: Create your own magazine or newspaper from scratch. What would you call it? Write some articles, take some pictures.

· What does Amortentia smell like to you? Make sure you get to smell them today or as soon as possible.

· Marginalia: Get scribbling in the margins of whatever you are reading.

· Try something that you’ve always written off as “too difficult" or “not for you”.

· Pensieve: What back some old home movies.

· Do not burn down The Burrow. That makes no sense.

· Ask an older relative for stories from before you were born.

Seventh Years

· Polyjuice: Borrow some clothes from a friend. Try on their style for the day.

· Start a new collection of something that fascinates you.

· Dig up some old projects—stories, drawings, crafts. Finish one of them today or as soon as you can.

· Visit a place you’ve not been to since you were a child.

· Come up with an old children’s story/parable/fable.

· Find a strange antique shop. See what you can find.

· The Room of Hidden Things: Rummage through your attic, storage space, or messy drawer. What had you forgotten about?

· Write a letter to your past self.

· Write a letter to your future self, 19 years from now.