The illusion was featured as part of the setting for the Indiana Memorial Union Board’s second Yule Ball event, inspired by an event of the same name in J.K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,” the fourth book in the series.
The night began with break dancing, ballroom dancing and ballet performances by various student groups.
Travis Stevens, an assistant director on Union Board who helped coordinate the event, said the performances helped reduce the awkwardness that often occurs at the beginning of dances.
The event this year also included the Harry Potter Society, the IU Cinema Guild and the Ballroom Dance Club. These organizations met weekly to coordinate various programming aspects and performances.
“The performances loosened people up and let them know a good time was ahead,” Stevens said.
Molly Liss, who said she and two friends attended the event for the opportunity to dress up and because they love Harry Potter, said she appreciated the elements of the popular series infused into all aspects of the night.
“The ballet dancers were dressed up as girls from Beauxbatons,” she said.
In the world of Harry Potter, Beauxbatons Academy of Magic is a peer school to Hogwarts — known for its beautiful witches — that attends the Yule Ball at Hogwarts.
The witches of Beauxbatons were not the only characters in attendance.
Members of the IU Student Cinema Guild were asked by Union Board to attend the ball dressed as other popular Harry Potter characters.
A student in heavy robes and a white beard, dressed as Hogwarts Headmaster Albus Dumbledore, wandered through the dance floor and was frequently stopped by other students for pictures.
Another student in dark robes and a jet-black wig, dressed as Hogwarts Potions professor Severus Snape, spoke with a British accent to students who stopped him.
Student Cinema Guild officer Alex Gaby, also a theater and drama minor, said he loved attending the ball dressed as Snape.
“Snape is definitely my favorite character,” Gaby said. “He has the most complexity of all of them, I think.”
Gaby said he enjoyed having other attendees ask to take pictures with him and the chance to act as Snape would.
“Everyone kind of looks at you, and you can be sarcastic and cold with people, because that’s how Snape is,” he said, adding that the British accent he spoke in was fake.
Adam Fialkowski, Union Board’s director of late-night programming, said he hopes to incorporate even more magic into next year’s Yule Ball.
“I’m thinking we should have a couple more sporadic performances during the night,” he said. “We didn’t really announce what was happening at the beginning this year either, but next year I think we’re going to be a little bit more creative.”
Gaby said he would likely be down for more dancing.
“Snape probably wouldn’t dance, but screw it, I did it anyways,” he said. “It was really fun.”
