On Saturday, March 25th, the HPA hosted the Hogwart’s Early Admission Program in the Small Hall at the Hollywood Public Library. This event was the kick-off of our Accio Book campaign, collecting books to donate to Beaumont Middle School and the HPA. Much like HEAP – Year One, we had a small but amazing crowd!
Attendees started the program by meeting with our resident wand maker, Mr. Rednavilo. (Olivander? Who? Never heard of him.) For our event, he hand-crafted special wands designed to test a prospective student’s magical ability. After being selected by their wands, each student had the opportunity to customize it to their tastes. Styles varied from the aggressively glittery to the geometric, and no two were alike!
After a rousing version of the Hogwarts school song, Katie led our Transfiguration Class. Teams were formed and assigned the task of transfiguring some clay into both every day and magical items. It was a beautiful cacophony. (Until the librarian came in and asked us to be quieter, as we were disturbing the muggles.) The first round was very close, and the second round was a tie, so we held a transfigure-off to determine first, second, and third place teams. Prizes included a number of magical items, including Portable Patronuses, vials of Felix Felicis, and Butterbeer Drops!
Last, we practiced our dueling. Students were asked to decipher a series of clues to determine the appropriate spell, and then outcast their opponent. Training wands were used, so no visits to Madame Pomfrey were required. When the duelers could not guess the clue, it went to the remaining students to attempt, to win House Points!
At the end of the program, the points were tallied as thus:
Slytherin – 4 Points (All given by the Deputy Headmistress…to the Deputy Headmistress.)
Hufflepuff – 21 Points
Gryffindor – 50 Points
Ravenclaw – 50 Points
We had our first ever tie! The students were overwhelmingly Gryffindor, so it was a strong showing by Ravenclaw to match them!
Most importantly, we collected a lot of books for donation, and connected with some new people who hadn’t heard of the HPA before. Accio Books will be continuing throughout April and May, but we could not have asked for a better start.
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