“Cup of tea?” Lupin said, looking around for his kettle. “I was just thinking of making one.”
“All right,” said Harry, awkwardly.
Lupin tapped the kettle with his wand and a blast of steam issued suddenly from the spout.
– Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
We wish afternoon tea were a thing in America (we’re also still pining for the subjunctive, as you may have noticed). We’ve tried to initiate teatime on more than one occasion, but we’re just not organized enough. When 3 or 4 p.m. rolls around, we’re flagging. We need caffeine, but we’re too tired to break out the fancy china along with clotted cream and scones. We’re more of a soda and a bag of chips lot around here, unfortunately.
Of course, if we had something fancy to serve it with, some reason to take a break (excuse us for using the word “break” there), we might be more likely to do it up proper. Take this Harry Potter tea set, for instance. The teapot and sugar bowl are both emblazoned with the Hogwarts logo. And each of your four guests will jockey to get to the cart first to ensure their preferred choice of house teacup is still left. (The saucers are house agnostic, fortunately.) It’s best if you invite one guest from each house, but that’s not a requirement. Just be aware that if you invite four Slytherins, things could get ugly.
