So you want to venture into the Hobby of Costuming too? Congratulation! You have taken a Great step in fulfilling your free time and I'm sure you'll find it beneficial in the long run if you truly put your heart into it.

        For a start, please keep this Costuming Mantra in mind:

        Unless you have BIG bucks to burn, there is NO easy way to get a Prefect Costume or Armor or Props. Each of us, regardless of how big our budget is or how good our sewing/knitting/Prop Making skill are, have to go through a series of searching far and wide and making use of all our resources over a period of time (think MONTHS & YEARS) to get a great looking Costume. Moreover, there is a saying among the serious Costuming Community:

You Get What You Pay For

        This means, under Normal Circumstances, if you pay little for something, then you shouldn't be angry if you receive below par quality items.

        But of course, this doesn't means that paying Big Bucks will give you Great Items IF the one you are purchasing the item from isn't experience in the Making/Assembling of a Costume (and hence don't do proper research) or Reliable enough, or you provide insufficient resources to them on the look of the costume.

        RESEARCH! RESEARCH! RESEARCH!

        Remember that regardless of whether you are making parts or whole of the costume on your own, or getting someone else to do it for you, you MUST do sufficient amount of Research Physically and Online, to get to know the Breakdown of the Costume and its parts, and the rules of thumbs/leniency of parts used among serious Costumers and Props Maker. Many Costumes used in the Harry Potter Movies is characterized by different Design, Color Scheme, Color Tone/Shade etc and may differ from movie to movie (the most drastic one being between HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRET and HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN)

        By doing Proper Research beforehand, you may also be able to get Tips, Shortcuts and Leads to how to get or make the various parts you need for your Harry Potter Costume, especially nowadays where MANY people had done their own proper researches on the various types of the costumes used in all 5 Harry Potter Movies.

        Remember, ASSUMPTION IS THE MOTHER OF ALL COCK-UP/ERROR!

ACCURACY vs CUSTOMIZATION

        Due to your Budget and amount of Time you got at hand to get your Harry Potter Costume done, you must also decide whether to make the costume as Accurate to the original as possible OR substitute/eliminate certain parts OR even do some personal Customization.

        As seen in the previous Harry Potter Movies, especially in HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN, certain part of the School Uniform is not necessary to be worn during certain time of the day (Indoor) or Lessons, or can be substitute with something else without anchoring the wrath of Serious Accuracy Anal Harry Potter Costumers.

        One thing for sure, remember that there are many, many other Students studying at Hogwarts so it's okay to do a Random Student and each of them may dress differently or wear certain accessories that is allowed to be worn at Hogwarts. A Necklace here or a Ring there or a House-Color Tote Bag is okay.

        NO ONE have the rights to critic you over the state of your costume UNLESS you're asking for it (aka you pissed the person off OR Boasted your Inaccurate Costume is SUPER ACCURATE or is Screen-Used when it isn't).

        Now that you are almost ready to get your Costume/Armor done, here are some links to Tutorials on how to make or modify the various parts needed to complete the costume, or places Locally and Online, to purchase them. Should you refer to just rent a Harry Potter-like costume for a "One-Night" Stand, do check out the list of Costume Shops that carry such costumes.

Good Luck!

A 10 Steps Guide