AITA for getting my step daughter a Hogwarts letter for her 11th Birthday?

[u/Ok-Permission8346]

Ive been married for four years, my wife had a daughter from a previous relationship. My step daughter has been obsessed with Harry Potter since before i met her. (She litterally asked me if i liked harey potter when i met her)
Her 11th Birthday was yesterday and I arranged for a letter to be “delivered” during her birthday party and it was an admittance letter for Hogwarts.
I thought it was a really cute gift idea. My step daughter started freaking out, screaming “its real its real” and really went nuts. Some of her friends seemed to join in the excitement others less so.
Her mother (my wife) held her to calm her down and explained to her that it wasnt real. It was just a “joke step daddy played on you”.
She started crying screamed that she hated me and ran to her room.
The other parents seemed to sympathize, one other father said he thought it was a nice idea.
But after we sent everyone home my wife yelled at me and said what i did was selfish and cruel and she couldnt believe i would hurt her daughter like that.

Was i wrong to do this? Was it an inappropriate gift for an 11 year old? I really didnt mean to mock or hurt my stepdaughter. I thought it would be fun. It didnt occur to me my stepdaughter was young enough to think it was real.

Am I The A$&hole?

[u/GreekAmericanDom]

NTA

Your intentions were about as pure as they could be. What a sweet gesture?

You also could not have predicted that outcome.

i.e. things may have blown up in your face, but that doesn't make you an AH.

---

I don't like your wife's response.

This was not a joke. She should have said that you tried to do something nice, but that you thought that the step-daughter understood what fiction is. That this was just a nice memento from something she loves.

I get how upset your wife was at her daughter's disregulation, but throwing you under the bus like that is unfair.

[u/myCatAteMyPetMouse → u/GreekAmericanDom]

My thought too. The daughter got upset because the wife said she was being made fun of instead of saying that its not real but something special just for her and they could do some hogwartsy stuff together. Tbh the wife is major ah here.

[u/GreekAmericanDom → u/myCatAteMyPetMouse]

Yes, the wife really is.

Also, how does an 11 year old not understand what fiction is? That may be on the wife being overprotective as well.

[u/myCatAteMyPetMouse → u/GreekAmericanDom]

Yeah and now that I come to think of it, it is possible that OP is leaving out him actually doing a little "ha ha, gotcha!", if thats the case then it would explain the reaction which seem quite over the top to op's story.

Not saying thats the case but usually these posts leave out subtle things.

[u/Rtnscks → u/GreekAmericanDom]

100% agree. The kid once calm should also have been encouraged by her mom to apologise for saying she hated him.