Washington Week: Student Voices (O)

Potter fan club initiates new members
By Caitlin Burnham
Daily Collegian (Penn State)
02/05/2008

(U-WIRE) UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — A pointed, tattered brown hat was placed upon the head of Evan Allison (graduate-curriculum and instruction) as Three Broomsticks President Shaun Verrinder said "I see a reckless one here" and announced Allison's placement into the Gryffindor house last night.

The Three Broomsticks is a club with more than 50 members that meet to celebrate J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series through book discussions and other Harry Potter related activities.

Even though the book series has been completed, members still find topics to discuss, such as Dumbledore's sexual orientation and rumors that J.K. Rowling's son is urging his mother to write an eighth book, "serve for speculative discussion," Verrinder (junior-mechanical engineering) said.

At the beginning of each semester new members, like Allison, attend a meeting where they fill out a quiz and undergo a sorting ceremony.

The purpose of the sorting ceremony is "just to emulate what happens in the books" said Verrinder. Since the club doesn't have a magical hat that can "look inside your mind and tell you where you belong" according to a poem read by Vice President Elizabeth Kowalski (senior-electrical engineering), members are sorted based on quiz answers. The members are sorted into one of the four Harry Potter houses: Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin.

The houses make automatic teams for activities like trivia contests and they frequently have house meetings, Verrinder said.

Abby Assetto (freshman-information, sciences and technology), a member of the Slytherin House, said "basically these are all my new friends."

At this week's meeting, Assetto made a short speech explaining her qualifications to be voted "house champion."

The house champion represents his or her house at the Triwizard Tournament being held this weekend at the annual Yule Ball.

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