Muggles make magic in anticipation of Potter film

Collins Living-Learning Center residences have spent almost a week celebrating “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1,” which opened in movie theaters at midnight Friday.

The fifth-annual “Hogwarts Week” celebration, which featured movie showings and book discussions, was coordinated by senior Lisa Runion.

Runion, who said she has lived in Collins since her freshman year, has attended every Quidditch tournament and Alchemy lecture through the years.

“It’s not really about Harry Potter. It’s about bringing students together to foster a sense of community. Ten percent of the dorm showed up to the first event of the year,” Runion said.

This year’s first event on Sunday was the week’s opening ceremony, followed by a wand-making workshop and a showing of “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.”
On Wednesday, students partook in a “Muggle Studies” discussion, led by graduate student Miranda Yaggi.

Yaggi, who is studying English, said her hope for students interested in Harry Potter is what can be gleaned from the books themselves.

“It’s a lesson in reading and why reading matters,” Yaggi said. “It’s a model for good interpretation skills and going through the texts and looking for cultural tropes.”
Yaggi said she focused her lecture on the various mothering roles in Harry Potter.
“The more parents shape or misshape their child, the more they shape or misshape the world,” Yaggi said.

About 20 students joined Yaggi in her discussion of this idea.

The talk was then followed by a screening of the sixth movie, “Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.”

“It’s education beyond the classroom,” Yaggi said of the discussion. “A really powerful, formative event. Students are going to remember this decades after they’ve graduated.”
Freshman Danielle Eyler, who experienced her first “Hogwarts Week” this year, said she has attended almost all the events.

Eyler said she learned a lot about Collins and its residents during the week.
She also said that once the week is done she plans to re-read the novels.

“It really means a lot to me because it’s a connection to my childhood,” Eyler said of the novels. “I’m being enthusiastic about Harry Potter with all the new friends I’m making, and it’s given me a deeper understanding for the reading.”

“Hogwarts Week” will end Sunday with a Quidditch tournament from 2 to 4 p.m. in the Collins courtyard and the closing ceremony from 3 to 4:30 p.m. in the Edmondson dining room.