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On Friday March 24th, the librarians made their final rounds in closing the ZSR for the weekend and the house elves -um- ZSR Ambassadors arrived to transform the library into Hogwarts for Harry Potter Clue Night.

Off duty Hogwarts Professor Rebecca May greeted students as they signed in. Ollivander’s wand shop (the circulation desk) offered participants a wide variety of handmade wands, and the Great Hall (atrium)  had a sorting hat (of course first years would need to be sorted), interactive Hogwart’s house surveys, a photo booth, and plenty of snacks for the evening. Sorting Hat Keeper Renee Berry helped students get House pins. The sounds of practicing spells and taking photos filled the atrium with a sense of excitement. Over 70 WFU students waited patiently for the first round of Clue to begin.

You may not have heard, but something terrible happened to Professor Trelawney. Clue participants arrived to help us solve what happened.

Rooms throughout the library formed the game setup, and ZSR Ambassadors served as guides for each team of up to five players. Using the clues and maps given to them by the guides, the participants scaled the floors of the library, making stops in each room where the potential murder of poor Professor Trelawney could have taken place. Players enjoyed butter beer at Hagrid’s Hut, owl mail at the Owlery, buttons in the Astronomy Tower, books in the restricted section with the permission of Professor McGonagall (thank you Megan Mulder), and dessert in the Room of Requirement with Molly Keener, the keeper of the busted Mirror of Erised. With the upmost enthusiasm (many participants were wearing costumes), Harry Potter fans of all kinds turned an ordinary Friday night into an immersive and exciting game experience.

Harry Potter Clue Night had double the team sign ups than expected. ZSR partnered with RSA and Student Union to give students the most immersive experience possible. To follow up the event we sent participants an assessment to see how we could improve for next time. Although the responses were overwhelmingly positive, next time we hope to have teams have a staggered arrival time so that teams don’t have to wait as long. ZSR Ambassadors spent weeks leading up the event making decorations and customized game kits than can be reused next time!

A huge thanks to all of the librarians, ZSR Ambassadors, RSA members, Student Union, and participants that made this event unforgettable. More pictures can be found at the ZSR Flickr site.

-Joe Julian, ZSR Ambassador