A Recap of Potter Day 2010

Potter Day planning begins with an aimless walk in the Park. Silvia and I are annual pass-holders, as one would expect given that we basically live down the street from the original Happiest Place on Earth. So we stroll aimlessly, waiting for inspiration to strike. You can't force it, but eventually, after days of meandering, it dawns on me - an answer to the question I ask myself every year: how can I outsmart these kids?





The goal each year is to stump our Potter Day attendees with a reasonable degree of difficulty. And each year I show the clues I'm considering to the rest of the Squad, and the question we ask each other is "are these clues too hard?" Inevitably, each year, the results provide a resounding answer of "No."



This year my plan was to present a challenge wherein teams would be handed a set of clues but given no instruction as to what to do with them: The Horcrux Hunt. The object of the game was to figure out the object of the game. Silvia and I derived a great amount of pleasure watching steam come out of players' ears as they tried to decrypt our puzzles.



The first set of clues consisted of small, ovular images paired with short excerpts from the book. Combining the two led teams to a specific place within the Magic Kingdom, where they found a Squad member who gave them yet another clue - this time a double-sided square with esoteric imagery. Combined, these pieces formed a double-sided "Rebus" (latin for "thing") which, if correctly decrypted, told players where to go at what time and what to say to whom when they got there in order to complete the game.

The House which seemed to work together best was Ravenclaw, for more members of their House were able to complete the entire puzzle than any other.





And of course there were our roaming members of the Inquisitorial Squad who doled out coins to the cleverest of individual teams wielding trivia prowess. Although a tight competition among dozens of knowledgeable groups, the Bigonville Bombers alone achieved a perfect score, and took home the unique medals designed and fashioned by Silvia.



As I traveled from one of my stations to another I came across Ambar and Dom, aka Cho and Krum, aka "Team Sexy Seeker." A team called out the password, "Roonil Waslib!" and flagged them down for questioning. To my immense delight I found Cho and Krum quizzing players with Scottish and Bulgarian accents, respectively - they were sticking to and staying in character.



It would be hard to conveive that any participants had as much fun that day as Team Sexy Seeker; and that's not even considering the fact that both of them found special friends that day. Dom informed me later I would have to kill him to keep him off the 'Squad next year.



On paper alone we had over 230 participants this year. Given how many people were not documented, we most certainly had over 250, practically doubling last year's attendance. I wonder how many will show up for 2011, and if we'll even be able to handle you lot.





I normally allow myself a few Potter-free days after getting through one of our annual November events. This year's gathering was so successful and so positive that we were brainstorming for next year that very night at the Hearthstone Lounge. My plans for November 6th, 2011 are more ambitious than anything we've attempted before... But if we pull it off, it could be, dare I say, magical.

~Zoe Necrosis



P.S. These photos are courtesy of Kako Photography. See the entire set of 2010 photos on Facebook here.