Horcrux Hunt Escape Room Part 7: Hogsmeade, Peverell Ring

As noted in the overview post, our horcrux hunt party had (3) locations with (2) horcruxes per location. This allowed for the large number of guests to be broken down into smaller groups and rotate between locations.

Each group was given a clipboard with blank paper to take notes, and a blacklight flashlight.

For the party overview, see THIS post.

The Hogshead portion of the party was in our basement. It consisted of Honeydukes, the Owl Post, the Forbidden Forest, and our bar was the Three Broomsticks. The basement contained the Peverell Ring & Nagini horcruxes.

... and it, arguably, held the two most difficult challenges.

Peverell Ring: Math Challenge

The Peverell ring first made an appearance in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. The ring was seen in Dumbledore's pensive, owned by Morvolo Riddle, a descendent of Salazar Slytherin. The ring had the Deathly Hallows symbol carved into the stone. 

We later learn, in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, that the symbols of the Deathly Hallows was central to the 'Tale of the Three Brothers' in Tales of Beedle the Bard. 

In the 'Tale of the Three Brothers,' the Deathly Hallows symbol's central line symbolizes the Elder Wand, the circle symbolizes the resurrection stone, and the triangle symbolizes the invisibility cloak. Each of the brothers in the fable acquired their gift from Death himself, and the story was rumored to be a story of three real brothers, the Peverell brothers (the Peverell Ring stone was the fabled Resurrection stone).

We tied our Peverell Ring hunt to the Deathly Hallows and the 'Tale of the Three Brothers.'

The key to this particular horcrux hunt was the Three Broomsticks sign...

Horcrux Hunt Escape Room Part 6: Hogsmeade, Nagini

As noted in the overview post, our horcrux hunt party had (3) locations with (2) horcruxes per location. This allowed for the large number of guests to be broken down into smaller groups and rotate between locations.

Each group was given a clipboard with blank paper to take notes, and a blacklight flashlight.

For the party overview, see THIS post.

The Hogshead portion of the party was in our basement. It consisted of Honeydukes, the Owl Post, the Forbidden Forest, and our bar was the Three Broomsticks. The basement contained the Peverell Ring & Nagini horcruxes.

... and it, arguably, held the two most difficult challenges.

Nagini: Dates Matter Challenge

Nagini was Lord Voldemort's pet snake. Though we weren't given the backstory of how or when he became a horcrux, the books did include several cameos of Nagini throughout the storyline.

Our hunt for Nagini started with a Little Hangelton newsletter which announced the death of Frank Bryce, the groundskeeper of the Riddle house. Voldemort commanded Nagini attack Frank Bryce in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

Horcrux Hunt Escape Room Part 5: Hogwarts, Tom Riddle's Diary

As noted in the overview post, our horcrux hunt party had (3) locations with (2) horcruxes per location. This allowed for the large number of guests to be broken down into smaller groups and rotate between locations.

Each group was given a clipboard with blank paper to take notes, and a blacklight flashlight.

For the party overview, see THIS post.

The Hogwarts portion of the party was our living room (Gryffindor Common Room) and dining room (Great Hall). It contained the Ravenclaw Diadem & Tom Riddle's Diary horcruxes.

Tom Riddle's Diary: Enigma Challenge

The story of Tom Riddle's diary is primarily told in book 2, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

[Spoiler Alert if you haven't read book 2]

In Chamber of Secrets, Harry learns that the Slytherin founder of Hogwarts, Salazar Slytherin, created a hidden chamber in the school:

"Reliable historical sources tell us this much. But these honest facts have been obscured by the fanciful legend of the Chamber of Secrets. The story goes that Slytherin had built a hidden chamber in the castle, of which the other founders knew nothing. Slytherin, according to the legend, sealed the Chamber of Secrets so that none would be able to open it until his own true heir arrived at the school. The heir alone would be able to unseal the Chamber of Secrets, unleash the horror within, and use it to purge the school of all who were unworthy to study magic."

Harry found the hidden entrance to the Chamber of Secrets in Moaning Myrtle's girl's bathroom. The 'horror within' was a Basilisk, a giant snake. Slytherin had an affinity with snakes, as he was a Parseltongue, a wizard who could communicate with snakes. We later learn that the powerful venom of the basilisk is one of the few magical substances powerful enough to destroy a horcrux. Harry used a fang from the defeated basilisk to destroy the Riddle diary.

Horcrux Hunt Escape Room Part 4: Hogwarts, Ravenclaw Diadem

As noted in the overview post, our horcrux hunt party had (3) locations with (2) horcruxes per location. This allowed for the large number of guests to be broken down into smaller groups and rotate between locations.

Each group was given a clipboard with blank paper to take notes, and a blacklight flashlight.

For the party overview, see THIS post.

The Hogwarts portion of the party was our living room (Gryffindor Common Room) and dining room (Great Hall). It contained the Ravenclaw Diadem & Tom Riddle's Diary horcruxes.

Ravenclaw Diadem: Logic Puzzle Challenge

Very little was known of the Ravenclaw diadem in Harry Potter. Harry assumed he was looking for a relic that was related to Ravenclaw, and in the end, he obtained its whereabouts from Rowena Ravenclaw's daughter (the Grey Lady, the Ravenclaw ghost). 

This did not give us much of a story to follow for our hunt, so I played heavily on the Ravenclaw theme, 'Wit Beyond Measure.'

The Diadem hunt began with a logic puzzle that I designed:

Last week, one student in each of the four Hogwarts houses was reprimanded by a Hogwarts professor for an infraction and had house points deducted. There are 5 clues to help you solve the puzzle. Wit beyond measure will unlock the horcrux!

Can you work out the name of the student, the infraction, the professor who deducted points and how many points?

Hint: House points are the key you need!

This piece was openly displayed with a logic puzzle worksheet.

Horcrux Hunt Escape Room Part 3: Diagon Alley, Slytherin Locket

As noted in the overview post, our horcrux hunt party had (3) locations with (2) horcruxes per location. This allowed for the large number of guests to be broken down into smaller groups and rotate between locations.

Each group was given a clipboard with blank paper to take notes, and a blacklight flashlight.

For the party overview, see THIS post.

The Diagon Alley portion of the party contained the Slytherin Locket & the Hufflepuff Cup horcruxes.

Slytherin Locket: Decoy Locket Challenge

We are introduced to the Slytherin Locket in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. If you aren't brushed up on your Harry Potter, I have included a brief outline below.

[Spoiler alert if you haven't read the books...]

• Professor Dumbledore used the Pensive to introduce Harry to the Gaunt family, the descendants of Salazar Slytherin, who inherited the family locket.
• Tom Riddle's mother, Merope Gaunt, sold the locket to Borgin & Burkes, where Hepzibah Smith later purchased it.
• Tom Riddle later killed Hepzibah for both the locket and the cup, and made them both into horcruxes when he became Lord Voldemort.
• Dumbledore eventually found where the locket was hidden, in a seaside cave where Tom had tormented his fellow orphanage children when he was on a field trip under Mrs, Cole's charge. He took Harry with him to help find the locket, with the intent to destroy the horcrux.
• Dumbledore was subsequently killed, and Harry learned that the locket they found in the cave was a decoy - someone with the initials R.A.B. had stolen the real horcrux locket and replaced it with a fake. 
• Harry later found the real locket was acquired by Delores Umbridge.

SO... Our hunt began with a Ministry of Magic Incident Report from Bob Ogden who was dispatched to the Gaunt home. The report referenced the Slytherin Locket, which led the group to understand that they were looking for the Locket horcrux.

Horcrux Hunt Escape Room Part 2: Diagon Alley, Hufflepuff Cup

As noted in the overview post, our horcrux hunt party had (3) locations with (2) horcruxes per location. This allowed for the large number of guests to be broken down into smaller groups and rotate between locations.

Each group was given a clipboard with blank paper to take notes, and a blacklight flashlight.

For the party overview, see THIS post.

The Diagon Alley portion of the party contained the Locket & the Hufflepuff Cup horcruxes.

Hufflepuff Cup: Gemino Challenge

In Harry Potter, the Hufflepuff Cup was found in a Gringotts vault. The vault had the Gemino Curse applied to it, causing its contents to be constantly replicated. With this in mind, we had our first step of the hunt for the Cup to be a 'Gemino Curse' applied to its locks. 

Horcrux Hunt Escape Room Part 1: Overview & Menu

After Little Tomato's Harry Potter party this summer we had several friends 'subtly' mention that they would love to see the party decorations in person. Husband and I decided to plan an adult party around Halloween in the Harry Potter theme. As the party activities at Little Tomato's party were all very 'child oriented' we started brainstorming ways to make the party more adult. Being the giant puzzle nerds that we are, we settled on creating an Escape Room in the Harry Potter theme.

Horcrux Hunt Party

The overall party theme was a hunt for horcruxes. Harry Potter has a total of (7) horcruxes, counting Harry. Our party hunt was for the (6) horcruxes that weren't Harry. 

Our guest list was just under 30 guests, so we set up three separate 'locations' and hid (2) horcruxes in each location. This allowed us to split up the party into three manageable groups to not overwhelm any one area.

We also felt that it was important that each horcrux would be solved differently. If all six horcruxes were solved in the same formulaic method, the party would get dully repetitive. Each horcrux had its own theme and we tried to tie it to the story as much as possible.

The Horcruxes were a laminated picture of the horcrux, as it allowed more flexibility on where they could be hidden and we could have three copies for each of our three groups to collect. Horcrux design found HERE.

I will be following up with separate posts that breakout the Horcrux Hunt details per room. Once the posts are up, I will hyperlink the associated section in this post as well... stay tuned for the Escape Room details!