Breakout! makes its mystifying return to the Forum on the 12th October, this Thursday, with its Harry Potter Party: a magical event that will transform the rock, pop and indie spot into a Hogwarts-worthy celebration.

The Trident spoke to the event’s organisers and DJs, Josh Watson and Luke Osborne, who gave us some exclusive info about how the night’s going all out. From confetti cannons, a prize-giving fancy dress and merch giveaways from The Killers and Wolf Alice, this is a night Harry Potter fans just can’t miss!

I heard it’s your 5th anniversary, so Happy Birthday! Decided to celebrate it with a bit of magic and mystery, then?

Thank you; it’s a big year for us! Well, we ran a HP night last year and it was well received — and really fun — so we thought it would be a great way to welcome freshers to Breakout. We’ll be having other themes for each Breakout this year, and we can’t wait for them!

I see on your Facebook page that a big part of your party is the fancy dress competition: what sort of costume is gonna give one student an edge over the other?

Making an effort wins prizes – it doesn’t have to be the most flashy or the most expensive costume, but if we can see you have thought about the details of the costume then we’ll probably love it. Obviously, spending most of the time on the dancefloor in front of the DJ booth helps ‘cos it’s the only way we’ll see your costumes!

As you said, some students have never been to Breakout! before: what can you offer students no other club can?

We love getting musical requests and give everyone a chance to submit requests via the event page before an event. We also are probably the most diverse night at the Forum Hertfordshire, as we play a lot of different genres and the occasional cheesy hit.

A whole load of people tend to come to these events, so that must be a lot of music requests. On that note, how many tickets have you actually got on sale?

We hold the nights in the Attic, to keep it intimate, so there are only about 300 or so tickets per event.

So, people better buy those tickets online soon, then! Before I go, though, I’m curious: who’re your favourite characters, and why?

Luke: I really like Luna Lovegood, ‘cos she’s strange and we all love a weirdo.

Josh: Snape is my fave, and most other peoples too, because Alan Rickman was amazing and the character gave zero f**ks – which I am a big fan of.

Witches and wizards of the University of Hertfordshire can get their invitation to this spell-tastic welcome back party on the SU website, and muggles (non-students) can use the Forum website.

Not got much time to make a costume? Try George at ASDA’s costume range, which includes a Harry Potter-style robe — something a little DIY can transform into a robe of any house if you make your own patch like in this video. Need something to cast spells? Here’s an Instructables tutorial that can make you an incredible looking wand with just a glue-gun, paper and paint.

Be sure to follow The Trident and Trident Media on Facebook, and on our Twitter @TridentMediaUK. Also, don’t forget to check out the Facebook event for the Harry Potter Party for more info about the night!