Wizards, witches and muggles all gathered to the Harry Potter Club’s first Yule Ball in the Maucker Ballroom Jan. 30.

Senior theatre design and production major and the Harry Potter Club president, Michaela Savage said the goal was to host an event where students could “have a good time that is safe, open and just a little bit nerdy.”

You didn’t have to be a fan of Harry Potter to come to the Yule Ball, just a fan of dancing.

According to Savage, the idea for the Yule Ball preceded the resurrection of the Harry Potter Club, which had been disbanded.

She discussed with the officers how it would be fun to break out the high school prom dresses again and go to a formal college dance.

“Then when you have three Harry Potter nerds put together a Yule Ball,” Savage said. “Its obviously the best option for a dance. Later, we decided that we should bring back the Harry Potter Club.”

The ball started off small in regards to attendance but eventually grew in numbers as the night continued.

For future Yule Balls, Sebastian, a freshman business major, suggested getting the word out sooner. Even with the slow start, Sebastian was excited to be in attendance.

“It’s just really fun in general,” Sebastian said. “[I] just hope I can do it again. I really like dances in general.”

Taylor Horvatich, a sophomore communications and electronic media production and performance major hoped to have “a good experience with friends, because they’re all super shy.”

Plenty of work went into preparing the ball, from research to budgeting to music and location.

The process of putting together the ball was very involved. The club had to compile a budget, apply for funding, and then conquer the decorations, according to Savage. She explained how the club scrambled to make the final touches on the ball.

“Even just days before the ball,” said Savage. “We [were] still working on making the decorations and getting everything finalized.”

Savage also discussed how she would like to see the ball become an annual event.

“It would be something to look forward to and something fun that everyone can go to,” Savage said. “We have even been talking about collaborating with other clubs/organizations on campus so that it can be an even bigger, grander and more special event.”

The Harry Potter Club has hosted a UNI Wizards Tournament in the fall and will be working on putting together a Quidditch team later this year.

“We are also exploring the ideas of Care of Magical Creatures and Defense Against the Dark Arts,” said Savage. The Care of Magical Creatures event would be along the lines of going with a group to volunteer at the humane society. Learning different forms of self defense would be an event that follows the subject of Defense Against the Dark Arts, according to Savage.

If you would like more information or are interested in joining the Harry Potter Club, check our their Facebook page, their Twitter page (@UNI_HarryPotter) and Instgram (UNIHarryPotter). Meetings are held every other Thursday at 6:30 p.m. with locations announced via social media.

Savage wanted to let everyone know that you don’t have to be a hardcore fan to attend.

“We started a Harry Potter club so its no surprise we talk about Harry Potter,” said Savage. “However, we try to appeal to a lot of people who are all on different levels of nerdy.”