Hogwarts Will Always Be There to Welcome You Home

Written by: Emily Humpherys. Media by: Charley Phillips.

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Graphic by: Charley Phillips
Graphics by: Charley Phillips

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There always seemed to be something very familiar about the tree directly in front of Synder Hall, just like there seemed to be something familiar about the lights hanging in chapel and the way the floors faithfully creaked in Burritt.  Speaking of my favorite residence hall, when Fall stops flirting with Summer and realizes what’s good for him, the radiators will begin to hiss and clang.  Maybe it’s just old building magic, but maybe it’s a basilisk.

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I’m no stranger to romanticized connection or to my thoughts living in other worlds entirely, but I still can’t get passed the sneaky, subtle magic of Greenville College.  Magic always seems to happen during the in between: at train stations that exist between two platforms, in ceremonies that exist between not married and married, and definitely at schools where students live for four years between 18 and 22, or “life” and “real life” as I’ve heard it explained.

Wonder what President Filby's favorite flavor is.. Source: harrypotter.wikia.com
Wonder what President Filby’s favorite flavor is..
Source: harrypotter.wikia.com

There is magic here if you have eyes to see.  We have our very own forbidden forest – have you walked in it?  Our headmaster is BRITISH and I hear the password to his office is “jellybeans.”  Don’t you get the sense that some professors are a little bit wizard-ish?  Have you eaten a meal at Ruth Huston’s table?  How does she make all of those sides and courses?  She must be Molly Weasley!

It all seems a little unreal because GC people are in between people; they are border people.  They’ve had some of that incarnational magic worked on them, and they just want to invite you to the table.  The people that have eyes to see this magic are the ones looking for a place to belong and become.

Magic is transformational at its core.  It swoops in, other worldly, and invites us to journey, but not without sharing pumpkin pasties in the great hall (DC), practicing at the Quidditch pitch (athletic fields), or going to class in the dungeons (the basement of Whitlock MWF at 8:30 am with my faithful Cor class).  It also doesn’t invite us to journey alone, so get back to your common rooms and find your friends!  There’s life to be lived here.

Source: harrypotter.wikia.com
Source: harrypotter.wikia.com

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P.S. The tree directly in front of Synder?  The whomping willow for sure.

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