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In scenes inspired by Hogwarts from the Harry Potter fantasy
series, the students mix potions, tame magical creatures roaming
the nearby forest, explore hidden basements and visit local
taverns.
Poland's Czocha Castle on Thursday opened its doors to 130
would-be witches and wizards for a four-day live-action role
play (LARP) inspired by the hugely successful books by J.K.
Rowling.
Some 130 participants from 17 countries, ranging in age from 18
to 60, have traveled to the fairy-tale-like castle in western
Poland for the $375 event, where they take on the role of
students and teachers -- and ghosts.
In a set-up diverging from Rowling's fictional world, where the
young Potter learns about wizardry at Hogwarts while fighting
off the dark arts, students are sorted into houses, such as
Durentius, Faust, Libussa, Molin and Sendivogius.
They are given wizardry school books and follow a curriculum
made up of classes such as "Physical Defence", "Magical Theory"
and "Geomancy".
"When doing a game like this, we try to simulate a pretend
magical college. So it means some people play professors, some
play students," Claus Raasted, organizer and game master at the
College, told Reuters during preparations ahead of the event,
adding there were rules in place to simulate magic.
"It's very simple. You point your wand at somebody, and say, "Silencio!".
And then if you think that's cool then you become silent, and if
you think that's boring, then you think, "Oh, that spell didn't
work". Or maybe you don't understand what's going on and you do
something completely different."
The event's organizers, Poland's Liveform and Denmark's
Rollespilfabrikken, stress the LARP does not includes the use of
the Harry Potter stories and is based "in a universe of our own
making", with different characters which participants develop.
"I am very much dead. My character died 150 years ago ... My
role is more of a guide and I guess it's mainly a support role
for the other players," one participant, his face painted white
for the role of ghost Kalle Frolund, told Reuters.
The first such LARP was organized at Czocha in November and
quickly grabbed the attention of Harry Potter fans worldwide.
Two are taking place in April and another is planned for later
this year. For many, the four-day event is a dream come true,
Raasted said.
"I think we can safely say that pretending to be a witch or
wizard is something that appeals to everybody," he said.
(Reporting by Karol Witenberg and Reuters Television; Writing by
Marie-Louise Gumuchian; Editing by Larry King)
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