LIVE OWLS (and a snake)!!!

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Come see live owls from Hawk Creek Wildlife Center this Thursday, September 24th, from 7:30 to 8 pm in Nevins Theater!

The wildlife experts at Hawk Creek are traveling to our campus to present their “Harry Potter’s Owls” program, featuring three live owls as well as a snake (Nagini needs some representation, too!). Come to this Care of Magical Creatures demonstration to see them in person and learn about the lore and legend of owls–and how it stacks up against the feathery reality.
At 30 minutes, this event is shorter than our Hogwarts U. lectures, so be sure to show up on time so you don’t miss it! Many thanks to the Pre-Vet Club for working with us and making it possible to bring this event to campus, as well as the Student Affairs office for assisting with funding via the Student Life Enhancement Fund.
OWLS!

Two new talks added to the Hogwarts U. roster!

 
We’re very pleased to introduce a new Hogwarts University professor! Ana Gauthier will be presenting two lectures in the Hogwarts U. series.
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Ana Gauthier
Hogwarts House: Ravenclaw
Favorite Subjects: Charms, History of Magic, and Care of Magical Creatures
Patronus: Wolf
Defense Against the Dark Arts Lecture – “Accio Leadership Skills: Lessons in Leadership Theory from Harry Potter”
Muggle Studies Lecture – “My Patronus is Gloria Steinem: Feminism in Harry Potter”
 
Ana’s talks, on Monday, September 28th and Thursday, October 15th, respectively, are described as follows:
Defense Against the Dark Arts Workshop – “Accio Leadership Skills: Lessons in Leadership Theory from Harry Potter”
Monday, September 28th  •  12:00 pm  •  Judson Leadership Center
This workshop will explore classic leadership theories and styles through the lens of Harry Potter, using the characters as examples of varying styles, and levels of leadership development. We will examine the Social Change Model of Leadership, the Leadership Challenge, Kohlberg’s Morality Scale, and Chickering and Reisser’s Vectors of Human Development. Brown bag lunch workshop.

Muggle Studies Lecture – “My Patronus is Gloria Steinem: Feminism in Harry Potter”
Thursday, October 15th  •  7:30 pm  •  Judson Leadership Center
This workshop will examine Harry Potter through the lens of feminist literary theory, as well as examine the actions of the characters to see where they displayed feminist ideals of equity and equality.  Come find out how your favorite characters truly were champions of equality, and who will take home the feminist house cup!

Hope to see you there!

This Week: Movie Showing and Muggle Studies Lecture

Thank you to everyone who braved the dementor weather on Sunday and filled Dr. Emmons’s talk past capacity!
We’ve had a Potions class and two Herbology talks so far in our Hogwarts University series. This week we’re offering a new subject: Dr. Beth Johnson will be presenting a Muggle Studies class entitled “But It’ll be Fascinating to Study Muggles from the Wizarding Point of View!” From the description of her talk on our libguide:
Hermione’s opinion on why she should want to take Muggle Studies, even though she’s Muggle-born, still resonates outside the Harry Potter World.  Here, our magic is science, and social science has been researching the impact of the Harry Potter series on readers’ attitudes and behavior since the series established itself as a cultural icon. For example, psychologists have found that reading Harry Potter books reduces people’s prejudice toward disadvantaged people and minority groups. This talk will share some of the amazing findings from studies on the Muggle fans of the books and invite listeners to participate in discussion of the implications of those discoveries.  
Dr. Johnson will be speaking this Sunday, September 20th, at 4:00 pm in the Herrick Library Seminar Room. On the same day, the Alfred Village Farmer’s Market will be running their special Hogsmeade Market, with events and vendors themed around the world of Harry Potter. We recommend making a day of it by browsing the Hogsmeade Market and then coming to hear the talk!
Does Sunday seem too far away for more Harry Potter? Fortunately for you, Herrick will also be hosting a showing of the movie Discovering the Real World of Harry Potter. This critically-acclaimed documentary explores the myths and legends that inhabit the real world of Harry Potter, including gods and goddesses, ghosts, alchemy, and much more. The film showing will be at 8:00 pm in the Book End Lounge at Herrick Library, Thursday, September 17th.
In brief: Movie on Thursday, lecture and market on Sunday. Come on by!
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Harry Potter Trivia and Herbology 101 this weekend

Life at Hogwarts University rolls on as we settle into September. This weekend, test your wits against those of your peers at the Harry Potter trivia night in Herrick Library on Saturday, September 12th, starting at 8:00 pm. Work in teams to fight for the glory of victory–as well as some pretty sweet Harry Potter themed prizes. (If any of you have seen the participants in the scavenger hunt walking around with their exciting loot, expect more of the same from this event!)
For those of you who want to keep up with your Hogwarts studies: Haven’t gotten enough Herbology lessons yet? Come take Herbology 101 with Alfred University’s own Professor Sprout: Dr. Cheryld Emmons, Professor of Biology, who specializes in plant breeding, genetics, and the phenology and biodiversity of local flora. Herbology 101 will be a hands-on workshop in which participants will learn how to identify plant species. The lesson will be held at 4:00 pm this Sunday, September 13th, in the Scholes Library second floor classroom.
Hope to see you there!
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Herbology Lecture, Thursday, September 10th, 7:30 pm

Hogwarts University classes are in session! We wound up having more people than could fit in the room for our first talk of the series with John D’Angelo; if you missed it, you can still join on this week. We’re having back-to-back Herbology (I’m assuming with the Hufflepuffs). First up, Kevin Ferst is speaking on Thursday evening on the topic of “Counteracting Spells Using Classic Chinese Herbal Formulas.”
From his description:
We will investigate several spells from the world of Harry Potter through the prism of Chinese Medicine and offer up classical Chinese formulae as the antidote.
He has already mentioned several very interesting parallels between Chinese herbal medicine and spells in the world of Harry Potter, so I’d encourge everyone to come!
The talk will be held at 7:30 in the seminar room in Herrick Library; library workers at the circulation desk will be happy to direct you if you’re not sure where to find it. Stay tuned to hear about our second Herbology class this Sunday!
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Potions Lecture Tomorrow, Thursday, September 3rd, 7:30 pm

The opening reception was a blast! Thank you to everyone who showed up. If you couldn’t make it, there are still Hogwarts acceptance letters (including our full schedule of events) available at the Scholes front desk, and you can come see the exhibit anytime.
You can also come to our first lecture tomorrow! Dr. John D’Angelo will be speaking on the topic of “What If Magic Were Real?” From his talk description:
With rare exceptions (like polyjuice potion), potions with the capabilities of those in Harry Potter exist in real life. Other forms of “magic,” such as summoning spells, the Imperius Curse, and even flying are not 100% fiction. Together, we will journey through some descriptions and explanations of some of the “magic” that surrounds us daily, and which we rarely notice.
The talk will be held at 7:30 in the upstairs classroom; library workers at the circulation desk will be happy to direct you if you’re not sure where to find it.
Come begin your Hogwarts education!
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Opening Reception, Tuesday, September 1st, 4:00 pm

Be sure to come by the Scholes Library this coming Tuesday, September 1st, for the official Harry Potter’s World opening reception!
Come see the “Harry Potter’s World” exhibit that’s traveled here from the National Library of Medicine, the curious items from our collections that we’ve pulled out of Special Collections to accompany it, and the Harry Potter themed displays we’ve put up in the entryway. Come meet members of the Quidditch Team and learn about what they do, grab your own Hogwarts acceptance letter (if you don’t have one already), and, of course, eat food.
Delicious, Harry Potter themed food. We’ll have butterbeer, chocolate frogs, cauldron cakes, fruit jellies, and much more.
Hope to see you then!
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"Harry Potter's World" Juried Art Exhibit

We are officially accepting submissions for the juried “Harry Potter’s World” art exhibit, to be hosted in the Scholes Library’s pop-up gallery!
Students, staff, and community members are all welcome to submit their artworks for consideration. We’re being fairly flexible with the theme here, so exercise your creativity in the way you see fit! You may want to submit a work of art that literally depicts something from the world of Harry Potter, of course–there’s so much visually interesting material to choose from. Perhaps you have an idea for an alternate cover design for one of the books; there are many other examples that might provide inspiration. But maybe you want to get more conceptual with it, and that’s great, too! There are all sorts of fascinating themes, such as invisibility, metamorphosis, alchemy, or flight.
Whatever you choose to create, we just ask that you bring it to the Scholes Library with the submission form by October 1st. You can read the official information–and get the submission form–on our libguide, here: http://libguides.alfred.edu/content.php?pid=674228&sid=5585884
Hope to see some interesting works coming in soon!
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Horcruxes Hunted on Saturday

This Saturday, a group of incoming freshmen familiarized themselves with the campus in a new and challenging way–by tracking down horcruxes in the Horcrux Scavenger Hunt, the first event of the Harry Potter’s World series.
Arranged into five (randomly named) teams–The Bludgers, The Grangers, The Snapes, The Broomsticks, and The Lupins–these students raced each other around Alfred University, using a set of seven clues to track down the hidden horcruxes, based on the magical artifacts from the sixth and seventh Harry Potter books. To get credit for finding each horcrux, they had to take a picture of the entire team with it and send it to the hogwarts@alfred email account. From where we sat at mission control on that beautiful sunny day, it looked like a blast! Ultimately, the Broomsticks took first place, with the Bludgers and Snapes coming in close second and third respectively.
In the order in which the horcruxes were found in the original books, we present to you the horcrux hunters of Alfred University:

Tom Riddle’s Diary

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Tom Riddle’s diary was turned into a Horcrux while he was still at Hogwarts, sent back to Hogwarts castle by Lucius Malfoy, and destroyed beneath the dungeons of the Hogwarts castle. We hid ours on the front doors of Steinheim Castle, where it often proved a challenge for team members to squeeze themselves in for the selfie.

Marvolo Gaunt’s Ring

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From the creation of the Resurrection Stone in the 13th century to its placement in a gold setting as it was passed down through the family, Marvolo Gaunt’s ring was a piece of jewelry with a lot of history. We decided to hide it next to the book Jewelry Through the Ages in the Scholes Library.

Salazar Slytherin’s Locket

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This turned out to be the trickiest one by far! In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, when Dumbledore and Harry finally succeed in retrieving a locket from the cave where Voldemort hid it (at great cost), they discover that it’s a fake, and that a note has been left by someone who switched it out with the real horcrux, intending to destroy it. We wanted to add in some of that sense of crushing despair, so put our own note from “R.A.B.” up on the swimming pool doors, directing students to follow yet another clue to the real locket.

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And hopefully, a sense of great elation when teams actually found the real locket on the Powell Campus Center.

Helga Hufflepuff’s Cup

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There’s always time for a good pun, right? Harry, Hermione, and Ron have to break into Gringotts bank to retrieve Helga Hufflepuff’s cup. We told students to go looking by the BANKs (you see?) of Kanakadea Creek; specifically, the back of the Village Bandstand!

Rowena Ravenclaw’s Diadem

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Never let it be said that library events are all about sitting around and reading! Tom Riddle found Rowena Ravenclaw’s diadem in an Albanian forest, so these students had to trek all the way up to the trailhead at the edge of the woods.

Harry Potter

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The Brick has had the words “Platform 9 3/4” painted on it all summer (maybe longer?), so obviously it had to be a hiding place. We decided to stick the Harry Potter horcrux under the old arch to bring to mind passing through the brick wall at the station.

Nagini

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This horcrux has found you! (And how unfortunate for you that it has.) We tucked Nagini in the stacks at Herrick, near the book Snakes in Question.

Congratulations to our winners, and to all the participants! Students: if you see the sweet Harry Potter swag they won and would like your own, keep an eye out for future Harry Potter’s World events. Events like, the trivia night, for instance, or the art exhibit, might involve some similar prizes…

Introducing Our Hogwarts Professors

“Yer a wizard, Harry!”
Happy birthday to Harry Potter! In Rowling’s books, July 31st, 1991 was the day that Hagrid showed up to introduce Harry to the wizarding world. It seemed like July 31st would be a fitting day to introduce you, our readers and patrons, to the professors of Hogwarts University. This is our line up of speakers for the Harry Potter’s World series, roughly in their order of appearance on the schedule. You can find the full schedule of events–including the Opening Reception and Halloween Ball!–at our site here: http://libguides.alfred.edu/harrypotter
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John D’Angelo
Hogwarts House: Gryffindor
Favorite Subject: Potions
Patronus: Monkey
Potions Lecture – “What If Magic Were Real?: Modern Technology, Love Potions, Veritaserum, Elixirs of Life, Liquid Luck, and Liquid Death”
Thursday, September 3rd  • 7:30 pm  • Scholes Library Second Floor Classroom
 
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Kevin Ferst
Hogwarts House: Hufflepuff
Favorite Subject: Herbology
Patronus: Porcupine
Herbology Lecture – “Counteracting Spells Using Classic Chinese Herbal Formulas”
Thursday, September 10th • 7:30 pm  • Herrick Library Seminar Room
 
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Cheryld Emmons
Hogwarts House: Hufflepuff
Favorite Subjects: Herbology and Potions
Patronus: Owl or snake
Herbology Lecture – “How to Identify Plants”
Sunday, September 13th • 4:00 pm • Scholes Library Second Floor Classroom
 
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Beth Johnson
Hogwarts House: Ravenclaw
Favorite Subject: Muggle Studies
Patronus: Rat
Muggle Studies Lecture – “But It’ll Be Fascinating to Study Muggles from the Wizarding Point of View!”
Sunday, September 20th • 4:00 pm • Herrick Library Seminar Room
 
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David DeGraff
Hogwarts House: Ravenclaw
Favorite Subjects: Charms and Flying
Patronus: Adelie penguin
Arithmancy Lecture – “Time Turners and Time Travel are Totally True”
Sunday, September 27th • 4:00 pm  • Herrick Library Seminar Room
 
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Danielle Gagne
Hogwarts House: Slytherin (despite the sorting hat’s attempt to put her in Hufflepuff)
Favorite Subjects: Muggle Studies, Care of Magical Creatures, and Dark Arts
Patronus: Elephant
Charms Lecture – “Invisibility”
Thursday, October 1st  • 7:30 pm  • Scholes Library Second Floor Classroom
 
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Bridget Riley
Hogwarts House: Ravenclaw
Favorite Subject: History of Magic
Patronus: Cat
History of Magic Lecture – “The Hereford Mappa Mundi: Features and Creatures”
Sunday, October 4th • 4:00 pm • Scholes Library Second Floor Classroom
 
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Laurie McFadden
Hogwarts House: Gryffindor
Favorite Subject: History of Magic
Patronus: Leopard
History of Magic Lecture – “If These Walls Could Talk”
Thursday, October 8th • 7:30 pm • Steinheim Castle
 
 
And, for the heck of it, and because you’ll be hearing a LOT from me in the coming Harry Potter-filled weeks/months, here’s me, your “Harry Potter’s World” coordinator and local Ravenpuff:
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Eva Sclippa
Hogwarts House: Ravenclaw (with Hufflepuffian sympathies)
Favorite Subjects: Potions and Care of Magical Creatures
Patronus: Pterodactyl