Story and photos by Pete Martens ‘30
Dive into a magical world with the Winter Term class, Muggles of Messing. Muggles of Messing is a much-loved class inspired by the Harry Potter series, taught by Middle School Librarian Bethany Kavanaugh. Students take part in Herbology, Potions, Dueling Class, Quidditch, Care of Magical Creatures, Astronomy, Quill Making, Thank-you Writing, and House Sortings. In each class, students use their creativity to make something special.
On the very first day of Muggles of Messing, students potted real Purple Heart plants in Herbology to grow throughout Winter Term. Each student could put stickers on the pots and color them. In Potions class the next day, Henry Preston ‘30 played with slime and glitter to create his very own underwater breathing potion. Students got to combine glitter, sparkles, shapes, and multicolored slime to create any potion they wished. Alice Tarver ‘30 said that “Playing with slime in potions class was a great way to spend time and create.” Also on the first day of class, students were sorted into the four houses of Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin based on their qualities.
In what many students would call the most exciting day of the course, students duel with their handcrafted, painted wands, yelling Harry Potter spells at each other to win house points. Dueling is a major part of the Harry Potter world, so to be able to duel, students got to create wands with dowel rods, glue, and paint. Fletcher Davis ‘30 said, “I read the Harry Potter books as a child and watched the movies a bit later, and I wanted to take this class because it brought the books to life.”
On the fifth day, just like in the series, students were able to document, learn, and produce a page in a book about magical creatures from Harry Potter. Care of Magical Creatures was a favorite of many because of the creativity involved. Fletcher created a page for the cute, gold-sniffing Niffler, a little mole-like creature. Many students created new creatures with backstories to present to the class.
To personalize their Muggles of Messing experience, students visited Stellarium.com and printed out their star chart for the day they were born. Like in Harry Potter, the students drew out the star charts to keep for themselves. On the third-to-last day of Winter Term, the main part of the day involved making quills out of bird feathers, leather, and ink wells. Using their newly-made quills, the wizards and witches wrote letters to friends and family just like in Harry Potter.
Throughout Muggles of Messing, students explored Harry Potter through creative challenges and crafts. As a summary of the class, Ms. Kavanaugh said, “Part of our MICDS Mission statement is learning through play, and in this class, you have a big opportunity to learn through fun activities about Harry Potter. But, I also sneak in little bits of learning when we are doing a special activity.” Students and teachers alike had fun learning and exploring in Muggles of Messing.