Calling all Muggles, Half-Bloods, Purebloods, and Squibs!

Palo Alto High School’s Associated Student Body will host the school’s first ever “Paly Hogwarts Week,” a three-day long event inspired by the Harry Potter series, from April 29 to May 1.

The event spans Wednesday through Friday and will feature several school-wide Harry Potter-themed activities, including a Quidditch tournament, trivia games, a Tri-Wizard Tournament and several dress-up days.

“I’m a huge Harry Potter fan and while I was the Spirit Commissioner last year, I wanted to start a new spring spirit tradition,” senior class president Maya Ben-Efraim said. “I have been dreaming of a Hogwarts Week for a long time now.”

ASB assigned each grade a “House” for the week, and different colors will represent each “House.” Seniors will represent Gryffindor with scarlet and gold, juniors will wear emerald and silver to represent Slytherin, the sophomore Ravenclaws will wear blue and bronze and the Hufflepuff freshmen will wear yellow and black.

On Wednesday, the first day of Hogwarts Week, students are either encouraged to compete in the Tri-Wizard Tournament or simply represent their House by wearing its colors and other paraphernalia. Two boys and two girls will be randomly selected to participate in the tournament. According the ASB Hogwarts week master document, the stations in the Tri-Wizard Tournament include a “Levitating Beach Ball,” “Maze Race,” “Flying Sponge Race” and a “Polyjuice Potion Tarp Race.”

“It [the Tri-Wizard Tournament] will be similar to the Spirit Week relay race where there are multiple sections with different tasks to be completed at each section,” Ben-Efraim said. 

The Quidditch Tournament will take place on the last two days of the event. The House teams will each consist of 20 randomly selected students. In the semifinal round on Thursday, April 30, the Gryffindor House team will face off against the Hufflepuff House team, and the Slytherin House team will battle the Ravenclaw House team. The two winners of the preliminary rounds will advance to the final round on Friday, May 1. The second day of Hogwarts week will also feature a trivia competition during lunch.

On the Friday, the final day of the event, ASB encourages seniors are encouraged to wear college gear, or attire and garments representing post-high school plans.

“I am so excited to finally see [Hogwarts Week] happen,” Ben-Efraim said.