A Harry Potter house sorting and costume extravaganza took place in the Liberal Arts building Sunday night.
A table full with the likes of peanut butter Snitches, salamander tails (chocolate covered Twizzlers), house team cupcakes and Butterbeer (cream soda and butterscotch) was the norm as students filled the main level of the building.
The newly formed USI Quidditch team hosted the event to sort its new team members into houses and encourage new students to get involved with the team. Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin are all separate houses within the fictional school Harry Potter attends, Hogwarts. Each house has specific qualities that are exemplified through their members as well as its own Quidditch team.
A sorting ceremony takes place in the novels when a student arrives at Hogwarts for the first time. The Sorting Hat, an old wizard’s cap, decides which house the students belong to by magic.
“Students sign up and have the option of choosing their house or the hat will magically choose one for them,” said Mary Keck, English instructor and faculty adviser for Hufflepuff house.
About 40 team members were placed under the sorting hat and sorted into their houses Sunday night, with Gryffindor and Slytherin leading in popularity.
“It’s interesting seeing the people that are self identifying as Slytherin,” said Anthony Rintala, English instructor and faculty adviser for the often disliked Slytherin house,. “They’re not the people you’d expect from the characters in the movies and books.”
Amy Montz, Quidditch team’s faculty adviser and English assistant professor, said she was pleased with how many students attended the ceremony.
“This is a great turn out,” Montz said. “I think the advertising, especially on BlackBoard really worked.
The Student Government Association (SGA) sponsored the event with the Quidditch team applying and receiving a start up grant from the SGA to advertise the team, fund the sorting ceremony and purchase official Quidditch sport rule books.
“We really couldn’t have done any of this without them,” said Amber Seibert, founder of the USI Quidditch team, sophomore English major.
Now that its existing members have been sorted into their houses, the four house teams can begin to practice.
“We will start practicing and playing in the spring and hopefully have this good of a turnout,” Seibert said.
The team is an intramural league this year with the goal of eventually playing other college’s Quidditch teams and going to the World Cup, an annual intercollegiate event.
The next team meeting is 8 p.m. Nov. 20 in Rice Library room 0018. The team stresses that not everyone interested has to physically play Quidditch. Cheerleaders, referees and spectators are some of the other spots available to those involved.
New members are still being accepted all the time, always, Seibert said.
Freshman undecided major Cara Hoskins, who came to the event dressed as character Bellatrix Lestrange, was not a member of the Quidditch team when she arrived.
“I’d love to get involved (with the team) now though,” Hoskins said.