On Friday, April 13, California Baptist University’s A.J. Staples Room transformed into the “Room of Requirement” for the Creative Writing Club 3–6 p.m.
The Creative Writing Club sponsored a Harry Potter House Cup event which allowed CBU students to be sorted into Hogwarts houses, play Quidditch, take their Ordinary Wizarding Level and Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Test examinations, win prizes and partake in Harry Potter-inspired food and beverages.
Anna Hart, creative writing club president said, “We wanted to do Harry Potter, because a lot of students on campus like it. It was between the Hunger Games and Harry Potter, but we were afraid the university wouldn’t let us do the event. So we tried to consolidate the Christian perspective.”
Reading material and information about Christian responses and interpretations were available at the sign-in table, with suggestions like “Harry Potter and the Bible: The Menace Behind the Magick” by Richard Abanes, “What’s a Christian to Do with Harry Potter” by Connie Neal and “Fantasy and your family” by Richard Abanes.
CBU English professors David Isaacs and Jennifer Newton have both written papers on Harry Potter.
“It’s [Harry Potter] about friendship, love and growing up,” Hart said.
Upon arrival, students were sorted into Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw by selecting a slip of paper from the Sorting Hat.
Once sorted, they sat at their corresponding tables for the Welcome Feast, which included Hagrid’s Rock Cakes, Beauxbaton Mandelines, Cauldron Cakes (miniature brownies), Pumpkin Creams, Dragon Scales (tortilla chips), miniature red velvet cupcakes with Harry Potter decorations, Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans, Snitch Truffles, Butterbeer (Cream Soda with Butterscotch syrup and whipped cream) and Elixir of Life (water).
Due to rain, Quidditch was altered. The game took place on the patio of the James building near Fortuna Fountain. The houses were broken up into two teams: Gryffindor and Hufflepuff against Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each team had 7 players: one seeker, one nurse, one keeper, two chasers and two beaters.
Seekers searched for the golden snitch in the form of nine golden Peeps snitches, keepers guarded the team’s goal, chasers scored goals, beaters took out the other team’s chasers and the nurses healed chasers who were out.
Scoring a goal gave the team 10 points, and each peep found was 25 points. Gryffindor and Hufflepuff won 145–135.
Students then returned inside to take their O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. exams, which consisted of playing Scene It: Harry Potter, a 49 question multiple-choice quiz and several trivia questions cards.
Ravenclaw won Scene It, junior Jacob Walters won the multiple-choice quiz with 48 correct answers and junior Kenny Wible was the last one standing in the trivia card game.
Graduate student Allison Krickl said the event “was very creative and fun.”
