Several bright pink and orange flyers on display on the walls of Hunter North in March announced the campus presence of Dumbledore’s Army and invited students to join. All those avid Harry Potter fans should be glad to know that as of last semester Hunter houses Dumbledore’s Army, a club “devoted to all things Harry Potter.”

Janill Briones, 21, a psychology and animal behavior student, has declared herself Harry Potter’s number one fan. Briones, wearing a black sweatshirt and jeans, said that the club was designed to “discuss literary aspects of the [Harry Potter] books and to critique the movies.” Indeed, the students all wanted to create a club where Harry Potter fans could come and “have fun discussing the books and simply geeking out,” Briones said.

The club also has a Facebook profile to attract more members. Club members draw parallels between Harry Potter and real life. For instance, they discuss the correspondence among Harry Potter characters and American politics such as President Bush and Vice-President Cheney as well as comparisons between the second Wizarding War in the novel and World War II. They also discuss the allusions in Harry Potter books and films to literary classics and religion such as Harry as Christ, Voldermont as the Anti-Christ and Peter as Judas . The club meets on Tuesdays from 5:30 to 7 p.m. in Thomas Hunter Room 414 and Wednesdays from 2:30 to 4 p.m. in Hunter West 611. The club began meeting officially last semester.

It was born in August, 2007, the idea of Briones with help from three friends: Ellen Miller, 21, a film studies and math student; Samantha Briglio, 20, an English and media studies student; Esther Muslumova, 21 a media studies major. They are all executive officers of Dumbledore’s Army. Muslumova is the vice-president, Briglio is the secretary, and Miller is the treasurer.

Briglio, wearing a black and white dress, said she has loved Harry Potter since freshmen year in college. “It’s addicting for many reasons,” said Briglio who admires J.K Rowling’s intelligence in creating a stories with rich literary value and, yet, so appealing to popular culture. “The themes are contemporary,” Briglio said.

Muslumova wore a white shirt, jeans and a Dumbledore’s Army wristband. “Yes, yes, Shamika bought us the wristbands.” Shamika Cardozo-Acuna, 20, a religion and anthropology student, wore her wristband and a black and fuchsia shirt with jeans. “I could not help but join,” Cardozo-Acuna said. She also said, “I have known Janill (the club president) since high school. We would dress in Harry Potter and we still do so now.”

Almost unanimously, the club members said that the fourth Harry Potter was their favorite. “It was the turning point,” Muslumova said.

A meeting held on Tuesday, March 4, at 5:30 p.m. Vice-president, Muslumova was in charge and the topic was werewolves. All the officers were present along with Cardozo-Acuna, Kathaleya Kidkarndee, 18, an environmental studies major, Daniel Santiago, 20, who lives in Queens Village, Joshua Lopez, 21, a sociology major, and Andrew Joseph, 20, a math major.

The mood of the club was laidback. In the middle of the meeting Cardozo-Acuna asked permission to leave to get snacks and returned with Andrew Joseph. He could only stay for 10 minutes. However, those 10 minutes did it for him. Joseph, wearing a long sleeve brown shirt and a black sweater vest with jeans, joined the club “to go deep into behind the scenes of Harry Potter and learn more about the Background Knowledge,” he said. “On a scale from one to 10, I would like Harry Potter an eight and a half.”

Yet visitors who do not know the members will be cordially invited and treated well. “With the four of us together we might know pretty much everything about Harry Potter,” Miller said. “We all thought about creating [this club] at different times but I know that it wouldn’t have worked out if all four of us weren’t here,” she also said,

The club even has a mascot. She was referring to Joshua Lopez who is representing the fencing team. “It [Harry Potter] sparks my interest. I like the movies better than the books, though,” Lopez said.

In the end, Muslumova summed it up rather well for the club. “It’s just bloody brilliant,” she said.


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