Caption: At the Gadsden Public Library’s annual Harry Potter Birthday Celebration on Wednesday, July 31, children were able to build their own potions necklaces using water, food dye, oil and glitter.
By Sarrah Peters, News Editor
On Wednesday, July 31, people of all ages had a magical day at the Gadsden Public Library during its annual Harry Potter Birthday Celebration.
The library transformed into the Wizarding World of Harry Potter to celebrate the birthday of “The Boy Who Lived” with events from 12 to 5 p.m.
Staff and attendees dressed as their favorite Harry Potter characters. Costumes included Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Luna Lovegood, Molly Weasley and Lee Jordan. A costume contest was held, with entrants ranging from two years old to adults.
The day kicked off with a Quidditch Tournament in the Beautiful Rainbow Café. Quidditch is the popular wizarding game played while flying on brooms. To play without flying, the players used brooms to roll the Quaffle, or ball, into goals.
Younger attendees were invited to attend a potions class, where they learned about the science of combining basic ingredients, like baking soda, with acidic ingredients, like vinegar, to create chemical reactions like fizzing. The children were able to build their own potion necklaces by combining water colored with food dye with oil and a little glitter.
Older attendees were invited to participate in a Harry Potter trivia contest and a scavenger hunt, which, by using clues related to Harry Potter, allowed them to learn more about the library, including how to find books on nonfiction subjects like snakes or to locate the magazine and newspapers the library has available to patrons.
After the hunt concluded, attendees gathered for a birthday party, complete a cake styled after the iconic pink and green birthday cake that Hagrid gives Harry in the first movie.
GPL Teen Librarian Nicole Papa-Tudor said that the Harry Potter Birthday Celebration always attracts a lot of interest in the community and that the library will continue to host the event annually.