Young Harry Potter fans turn St. John's library into Hogwarts

One by one, the young wizards flew through the door, dressed in their finest robes and wielding their most powerful wands.

A spell had been cast on the Marjorie Mews Public Library in St. John's, transforming it — for one night only — into Hogwarts from the famed Harry Potter book series.

"You're at Harry Potter Book Night!" said Christina Walters, library assistant and event organizer. "It is actually a free event sponsored by Bloomsbury UK. They sponsor it worldwide."

This is the third year for the event at Marjorie Mews Public Library, and Thursday night's was the biggest so far. Dozens of kids showed up, many in Potter-themed costumes, and many very excited.

"We're Potterheads — people who love Harry Potter," said Jenna Oliver. 

"I love Harry Potter", said Emmajane Donnan. "Because it makes you use your inagination."

Casting spells in Latin

This year's Harry Potter Book Night was packed with magical activities: a Prisoner of Azkaban photo booth, an enchanted-item scavenger hunt, a sorting ceremony and trivia battle, and a class in casting spells from an actual visiting professor.

"I picked two spells from the Harry Potter stories," said Milo Nikolic, a classics professor at Memorial University and an expert in Latin.

Nikolic explains that many of the spells featured in the Harry Potter series are derived from Latin. For example, the "accio" spell that Harry frequently uses to summon his broom is Latin for "I call" or "I fetch."

"J.K. Rowling is a classicist. She has a degree in Latin." said Nikolic. He hopes that literally cloaking a Latin lesson in the fun of Harry Potter will spark the children's interest in the ancient language.

"Hopefully, by the time they come to university, they will remember their spell master, and they will register for one of our Latin or ancient Greek courses."

'The library is so much more than just books'

Christina Walters spent most of the evening playing quizmaster for a Harry Potter trivia challenge. The young wizards proved to be experts on the subject, and Walters had to resort to bonus questions to decide a winner. (In the end, Hufflepuff squeaked ahead of Slytherin to claim victory.)

Walters said the fun of Harry Potter Book night leaves a lasting spell on the children.

"They come to the library, and they have a really fun, positive experience, and they get to see that the library is so much more than just books," Walters said.

"We have seen a lot of kids who discovered the library purely from Harry Potter Night."