On Saturday, March 23rd, the Warwick Central Library turned into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. This was the first time the library had held this event, and it was received quite well by all who attended. The event was completely non-profit and organized by the library. The Warwick Veterans Memorial Middle School lent their parking lot to the library, and it was sure needed! The event brought in those of all ages from young to old (but young at heart).
Getting Our Hogwarts On BY TIARA ROCHON
The library released a newsletter weeks before, which included the many activities and encouraged everyone to dress in their wizarding robes. I and my friend Gabby both attended as Pansy Parkinson and Draco Malfoy from the book series. As big fans of the book (and later on the movie series), we can confirm that the event was truly a *magical* time for Harry Potter fans.
As you enter, you received a Marauder’s Map which listed the events of the day and the scavenger hunt clues. You can then enter King’s Cross Station where you enter the secret Platform 9 3/4 to take photos with props and Harry Potter themed photo booth pieces. You could then enter the main hall of the library where you saw multiple cardboard cutouts of various Harry Potter characters from the movies (mainly the ‘Golden Trio’— Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley, and Hermione Granger) and the Hogwarts house banners hanging against the wall.
You could then enter a separate room where the many crafts were occurring. You could DIY your own goodie bag with your house tie and badge, create a mandrake in its own pot, construct your own quill– then take a Hogwarts themed test on parchment paper. The crafts were quite simple yet fun to make for many of the kids. The event had brought in so many people, many were on the floor cutting and pasting because the tables had run out of the room.
If you had carried down the hall past the craft room you would enter the main section of the library where you could head to the “Quidditch Pitch” (a sport in which you fly on a broom hitting/tossing balls at other players and into hoops) for a demonstration by Rhode Island’s official Quidditch players, the Rhody Ridgebacks. Not only was there Quidditch lessons, but a wizarding duel performed by the ‘Imaginarium’ day camp group. In this room there were also some smaller activities like signing a book with a quill, pulling random spells out of a cauldron, creating a Death Eater mask, and a view of a makeshift Owlery upon a window.
Once you headed upstairs, you would enter the children’s section of the library. Here they decorated the fish tanks with stickers of the fishlike mermaids and Harry swimming through the “Black Lake” (from the fourth book, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire). Another nice touch that the library made was changing the library‘s pet tarantula into Aragog the spider (from the second book, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets). They had even added a small car that looked like the one that Harry and Ron had crashed into the Whomping Willow tree after missing the Hogwarts Express.
In the bookcases, you could view photos, articles, and trophies of the Tri-Wizard Champions, Fleur Delcour of Beauxbatons, Cedric Diggory of Hogwarts, Viktor Krum of Durmstrang, and Harry Potter of Hogwarts. On this floor, you could create your own proclamation by the sinister Dolores Umbridge, visit the Gryffindor common room, try several different wizarding candies and drinks (which, unfortunately, had run out by the time we had reached the floor). On the walls, you could view the flying keys, fluffy the three-headed dog, a hippogriff, Professor Umbridge’s wall of moving cat plates, and a cage of the brattish Cornish Pixies.
Overall the event was extremely organized and was a very enjoyable time. I had ended up staying the entire three hours for which it was open and didn’t want to leave when it ended. Seeing the volunteers and workers at the library dress up and interact with everyone was very lovely to see. You could tell that everyone had put a lot of hard work into creating the crafts, decorating, and just including the smaller fine details. I hope to see the Warwick Central Library host more events like this that people of all ages can partake in. I believe it’s a good way to have kids more invested in reading when it’s something that they have seen in films, or have witnessed in the Universal theme park for Harry Potter books/films. I plan on attending more public Harry Potter and fan events like this in the near future.
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