School of Witchcraft and Wizardry at the University of Alberta

Witches and Wizards did abound at the annual School of Witchcraft and Wizardry held at the University of Alberta on October 27^th of 2018. Over 2000 young magic practitioners threw on a cloak, made a wand, and headed on over to learn about the real magic that all of us muggles get to experience… SCIENCE!!!

Students and their parents were treated to a wide variety of experiments and experiences. No flying broomsticks? No problem, as chemical reactions sent soda bottles higher than any Nimbus 2000 could ever dream. Can’t find a three headed dog? Oh well, at least you could visit snakes, kittens and other cute and cuddly animals. For those of us who don’t receive our mail via owl, live owls were still present to learn about and even touch if we were lucky.

Most importantly, families were treated to an entire room of fantastic parasites! A wide variety of tapeworms, nematodes and trematodes made some students delighted, while others looked as though these worms were something straight out of a recipe from professor Snape’s potions class. For the most part, everyone who came by was fascinated by what was on display in the jars, took time to ask fantastic questions, and promise all the HPI members there that they would cook their food very thoroughly before eating it. In addition to seeing parasite samples, kids got to fling a bean bag giardia at a hole in a beaver in our brand-new giardia infection bean bag toss! Finally, the kid’s parasitic creativity was unleashed as they got to design their own parasites, most of which were so terrifying they would make “youknow who” himself scared. Overall, a fantastic day!!!