Wingardium Leviosa!

Harry Potter fans flew in on their broomsticks and piled in on desks and the floor of Mr. Kincer’s math class for the first official meeting of Tomball High School’s Harry Potter Alliance  last week.

The refreshment table was cleared and the cupcakes were gone in seconds. Once club president/ headmaster Daniela Edmeier got everyone’s attention, the room went through a rapid fire introduction of everyone’s names and houses – Slytherin, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw.

She then went through a short power point about the HP Alliance and its mission: “to educate and mobilize young people;” work to alert the world of the dangers of global warming, poverty and genocide; and working for equal rights regardless of race, gender or sexuality.

It’s much less magic, much more activism.

She continued on to explain that Tomball’s chapter is one of 50 all over the world, all working together on one global project and each chapter with a project for bettering their own communities. Last year, all the chapters raised enough funds to send five planes of medical supplies to Haiti. The planes were named Harry, Ron, Hermione, Dumbledore and DFTBA (“Don’t Forget to Be Awesome”). Her presentation ended in a chorus of Harry Potter Puppet Pals: Mysterious Ticking Noise.

The next meeting will be Wednesday, Sept. 22. A vice president, secretary, treasurer and historian will be elected. Bring your t-shirt designs and chapter name ideas. Tomball High School’s Harry Potter Alliance is also on Facebook and the chapter is part of the global website, TheHPAlliance.com.