Group of muggles base charity around wizard culture

A group of “Harry Potter” fans decided over plates of fries at Market Central that they wanted to give back to the community to honor the book series that had given so much to them. 

By combining their passions for J.K. Rowling’s fantasy novels with their desire to help others, three co-presidents created Pitt Project Potter, an organization that fuses “Harry Potter”-themed service projects and philanthropy to raise money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. St. Jude is a foundation dedicated to finding cures for and preventing catastrophic pediatric diseases. The group became registered with the Student Organization Resource Center last month.

“We were surprised that there wasn’t a ‘Harry Potter’ fan club already on campus, but we wanted to do more than just give other fans a place to nerd out. We wanted to add a cause,” said Lola Adebiyi, co-president of the club. 

Adebiyi, a neuroscience and pre-med major, along with fellow sophomores and co-presidents Amy Tavares, a psychology major, and Alaa Mohamed, a sociology and pre-med major, hope to officially launch the club next semester, which has not accumulated any startup costs thus far. 

Though the group is relatively new with only three members, the founders have already started spreading the word through social media and are devising a number of other advertising tactics. The cover photo on Pitt Project Potter’s Facebook page plays off the series’ most popular taglines: “We solemnly swear that we’re coming to the University of Pittsburgh.”

Some of their ideas to gain publicity include writing on sidewalks with chalk and posting “undesirable” posters, Adebiyi added. These posters feature criminals wanted by the Ministry of Magic (the governing body of the magical world) in the series, and are equivalent to “most wanted” posters in the muggle, or non-magical, world.

According to Tavares, the club will mainly hold fundraisers, biweekly meetings and volunteering events.

The club plans to raise funds with events that mirror its theme, including “Harry Potter” movie nights, auctions for “Harry Potter” merchandise and a Yule Ball, which is a traditional gala in the series held on Christmas Day that celebrates the Triwizard Tournament, a contest between the three largest European wizarding schools. At Pitt, muggles, or non-magical people, will be invited to the Yule Ball, as well.

The club will also sort members into houses, Mohamed said, which is similar to how the Sorting Hat in the books determines to which house — Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw — first-year students at Hogwarts will belong during their stay at the school. Then, members can earn points for their houses based on meeting attendance and assistance at events. 

“We think that the friendly competition will motivate members to raise more money and participate more,” Mohamed said. “At the end of the year, the house with the most points will win the house cup.”

In terms of short-term goals, the club members plan to appoint students to positions as officers and heads of houses. According to Tavares, the final day to send in applications for a leadership position is April 11.

Anthony Deluca, a junior pre-med and emergency medicine major, is running for the position of activities liaison, which includes responsibilities such as helping the president with fundraising ideas and other activities.

“The ‘Harry Potter’ series was a part of my life since I was in second grade and ran around my house with a cloak and a broom,” Deluca said. “It helped me through a lot of hardships as a child. A true world to escape from all the bullies and other childhood obstacles.”

Lori Campbell, lecturer and academic advisor in the English eepartment, is the faculty advisor for the club. Campbell teaches and studies subjects including fantasy, romance, myth, folklore and the gothic imagination, so the club is “a natural tie-in with [her] teaching and research interests.”

The club’s appeal to the generation most familiar with the “Harry Potter” series, Campbell said, will contribute to its success.

“Students who are interested in the club now have grown up with Harry and his friends,” she said. “That kind of thing will continue with each new group of incoming college students.” 

The three co-presidents agree that the club should stay relaxed and fun and function as a place where “Harry Potter” fans can discuss the books and movies with other people who appreciate them. They want to keep their passion for the series involved with their leadership of the club.

Mohamed, who was born in Egypt, moved to the United States in 2001 when she was 6 years old and credited the “Harry Potter” series with helping her adjust to living in a new country.“I had trouble learning the language and feeling comfortable,” Mohamed said. “It wasn’t until I started reading ‘Harry Potter’ that I began to excel in English.”