The Yule Ball, “where students of Hogwarts will socialize with their foreign guests from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang to celebrate Christmas and the Triwizard Tournament,” according to the Warner Brother’s website, enchanted Stony Brook students in real life.
The elegant ball, which takes place at fictitious Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, found its way to Stony Brook University through Dumbledore’s Army, or DA, a Harry Potter-themed club on campus.
But this Yule Ball didn’t take place to celebrate Christmas or the Triwizard Tournament.
The point of the Yule Ball was to get DA on the map. One of the goals of the club is to start doing charity work under the parent organization the Harry Potter Alliance, said Katlyn Addison, a sophomore Asian and Asian American Studies major.
Dumbledore’s Army wants to “help give back to people with the magic of Harry Potter,” she said.
As for the ball itself, it was “one of our first big events,” Addison said. “Originally we wanted to have a sorting ceremony,” but that was kept to just within the confines of the club itself. Instead, DA threw a ball.
Their goal: at least one hundred people. That goal was met and surpassed for sure. During its peak at around 9 p.m., there were approximately 150 people dancing Friday night away in the HDV/GLS center in Kelly Quad.
The ball, which began at 7:30 p.m., was decorated with 16 tables—four tables for each of the houses in Harry Potter, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Slytherin and Ravenclaw.
The entertainment featured were The High C’s, Stony Brook’s all-male a cappela group.
Things got a touch awkward when dinner was over and the High C’s stopped, so DA pushed through and began the music part of their evening.
The lights remained on, for the a little while longer anyway, as students tried on a sorting hat, and the popular YouTube video, “Harry Potter in 99 Seconds” played. The video basically summarizes the seven Harry Potter books in 99 seconds and has almost 5.5 million views.
What really kicked the night off? What other song could possibly start off a dance at a science fiction or fantasy themed party? “Time Warp” from The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
It loosened the crowd up to really get the dance party going, and Stony Brook students accepted the invitation to begin dancing.
Now, it was a semi-formal event, so some took this more seriously than others. Arguably the best dressed there was Christine McAndrews, a forensics major who preferred that her college remain unnamed.
She’s a huge Harry Potter fan and was invited by her friend. What really drew attention to her was her elaborate “Hermione dress” that Hermione wore to the Yule Ball in the film. It was “made for me by Alex London,” she said. He’s an up and coming designer who was just featured in fashion week, she said.
However, this event isn’t only for die-hard Harry Potter fans. Cathy Tang, a sophomore chemical engineering major said that she “hasn’t read any of the books.”
She was just looking for a good time with her friends, which is something the Yule Ball seemed to achieve as students danced the night away without complaint.
