NORTHFIELD — Dressed in a witch’s hat, Ann Linge moved from table to table, asking questions about all seven Harry Potter books, like “In which book do we first meet Luna Lovegood?” and “In which book does Harry free Dobby?”
With each question, a hush fell over the room at Dickinson Memorial Library as the six trivia participants scribbled their answers on scroll-like sheets of paper.
“It’s kind of amazing to me how much they remember,” Linge said of the young Harry Potter fans.
Trivia was a routine part of the Harry Potter book club, which met at the library on the first Saturday of each month this year to enjoy Harry Potter-themed snacks, crafts, music and book discussion. But on Friday, to round out their season of meeting, the club spent the night in the library.
“It’s great to be in the library,” said Linge, one of the club’s founders. “It makes it much more intimate.”
Though organizers don’t currently have plans to continue the club next year, Linge said “if there was enough interest, we might do it again.”
After the library closed at 6 p.m. Friday, the children enjoyed pizza before playing Harry Potter-themed Bingo, whereby character’s names are on the card squares and Linge offered clues to help the children deduce each mystery character.
Then, Linge placed clues around the library that the children searched for during a “Horcrux and Hallows” scavenger hunt. She crafted a “Marauder’s Map” of the library to help them find their way.
Lastly, the group screened parts one and two of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows,” getting into pajamas to settle in for the night.
When Linge first started the club two years ago with her two mutual friends, Deb Potee of Northfield and Pauline Dean of Brattleboro, Vt., she planned for the club to be a book discussion for adults, but quickly found a number of local children were interested too.
Ten-year-old Sarah LaRocque said her favorite part of the club was the crafts, recounting how she made a wand from a pencil, a potion bottle and a monster notebook with a furry cover and binding.
“I don’t want it to end!” added 10-year-old Juliette Potee.
Reach Shelby Ashline at: sashline@recorder.com
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