’Tis the season for spotting Halloween decorations in people’s front yards that are just as elaborate as ones used for Christmas.

(It’s also the time of the year for other spooky things like winds blowing roll carts and tree branches into the street, but that’s another story.) 

An example of a neat and creepy front yard Halloween display on Monticello Avenue. Photo by Madelyn Edwards.

Obviously, neighbors who put up Halloween decorations are doing so for fun and for free, but at least one family uses the holiday to benefit the Dallas Children’s Advocacy Center. 

Enter the Schaubs. For the seventh year, they will produce an elaborate and interactive Diagon Alley from the Harry Potter movie and book series from 6:30-9:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 30 through Saturday, Nov. 1 in the Swiss Avenue Historic District at Bryan Parkway and Beacon Street. Families can visit Diagon Alley for free. They can also bring new, unused board games, fuzzy blankets and unwrapped gifts to donate to the advocacy center or donate an item to the center off its Amazon Wish List. 

Adam Schaub and his family are big Harry Potter fans. Adam remembers reading the books when they started coming out alongside his wife, Robyn. When their children were old enough, they introduced them to the movies. 

This year’s Diagon Alley will be open 6:30-9:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 30 through Saturday, Nov. 1 in the Swiss Avenue Historic District at Bryan Parkway and Beacon Street. Photo courtesy of Adam Schaub.

It should be noted that some fans have moved on from the series after author J.K. Rowling made known her prejudices about transgender people and has used her money and influence to advance transphobic causes. If you feel icky about supporting anything Potter-related, don’t worry — because Diagon Alley is held for free, there is no licensing agreement or money going to Rowling or Warner Bros., which is responsible for the movie and TV adaptations. 

“We were wondering if attendance would go down if people were like, ‘I don’t want to associate with that,’ but really, we’re just focused on the neighborhood kids and doing something for them, and so this is a way for us to bring joy to the community and to help out the community,” Schaub said. “It’s a magical world, and we’re trying to get away from some of that (controversy and reality) by having this display for people to go to and enjoy, if only for a day or so.”

This project started after one year at Schaub’s former workplace when his coworkers dressed up like Harry Potter characters and decorated their cubicles as Diagon Alley stores for Halloween. Schaub gained props from this experience so he decided to continue bringing the wizard shopping district to life in his backyard. He found that his neighbors, especially children, loved the experience, and they look forward to it every year. 

“Sometimes kids will dress up like a Harry Potter character and not even know that we’re here, and they’ll walk into our backyard and be totally amazed that they’re suddenly in Diagon Alley,” Schaub said. “That’s why we do it.” 

The house-elf Dobby makes an appearance at the Schaubs’ Diagon Alley. Photo courtesy of Adam Schaub.

Schaub’s wife eventually suggested that they add a fundraiser to the Halloween display. They’ve featured Children’s Medical Center and Dallas Public Library before switching to Dallas Children’s Advocacy Center. Schaub said this is fitting for the theme to encourage donations to the center that stands up for abused children since Harry Potter’s titular character starts off the series in an abusive home. 

“She’s like, ‘Well, if we’re going to have to do all this work to set it up, then let’s do it more than for just Halloween,’” Schaub said, recalling a conversation with his wife. “The first time, we only did it on Halloween, and it was all built out of cardboard, basically, and so it didn’t last. And so then the next summer, we built more, and each year, we keep adding on more and more stores and things. And so it’s quite a production.”

Children come to the Schaubs’ Diagon Alley and get candy from Honeydukes, homemade wands (painted chopsticks molded with hot glue) at Ollivanders, a small toy from Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes and and a “gold” coin from Gringotts Wizarding Bank. (These are real stores from the Harry Potter universe, by the way.) 

“There’s a couple places in the display where they can use those wands, with a little help, to turn off and turn on candles, and so they learn to do magic,” Schaub said. 

Stores from Diagon Alley are featured in the Schaubs’ display, and some are interactive. Photo courtesy of Adam Schaub.

If that’s not enough, they also have a flying owl in the experience and a dragon sitting atop the bank. Schaub said a lot of attention to detail goes into bringing Diagon Alley to life, which they dedicate their whole summer to, and Easter eggs for hardcore Potter fans are included. 

“We’ll see families come in, and then 30 minutes later, they’ll come out, and we’ll be like, ‘You were in there the whole time?’ And they’re like, ‘Yeah, we stopped, and we looked at every little thing,’” he said. 

This year, some of the shops have been rebuilt, and other features have been added to make the experience more animated and dynamic, Schaub said. 

Find more information about the Schaubs’ Diagon Alley on Facebook and Instagram.