Professor Brian Corrigan is a Muggle. Or at least that's what he
wants us to believe.
For the uninitiated, such a term is Harry
Potter-speak for "non-magical folk." And as his students play an
intense match of Quidditch (the wizarding sport prominently featured
in J.K. Rowling's novels) there seems to be a glaring absence of
flying broomsticks.
This is only on purpose, says Corrigan. He wouldn't want the 44
members of his Harry Potter research team to disturb the student
population of North Georgia College & State University.
"This can be watched by Muggles. And when you get out of sight of
Muggles you can play the real game," he says dryly while hustling
along the Quidditch sidelines.
The game is technically called Corrigan Quidditch and is a variation
of ultimate frisbee with "magical" twists thrown in. The players aim
for a series of hoops on opposite sides of the field and the
objective is to nab the ever elusive Golden Snitch (a bouncy ball,
in this case) which has the power to win the game.
While it's the sport to play in Potter
world, Corrigan says it also gives his students a chance to "blow
off steam” from the surprisingly rigorous studies of his nine-week
course.
"We're putting in eight- to 12-hour days," he says.
The class is titled Harry Potter and the Legion of the Night and it
is an extensive effort to compile the sprawling stories of J.K.
Rowling into what will become "The Encyclopedia of Harry Potter."
"Impermissible Gryfindor!" shouts an excited Corrigan while watching
the match.
His students, who have been divided into the four houses of Hogwarts
(Potter's alma mater), seem to know exactly what that means.
Besides being sorted into houses, the class has also been separated
into several job specific groups, each with their own Potter-ish
moniker.
"The group that we call Dumbledore's Army, which is a mix of all the
houses, is actually reading every book individually and going line
by line and pulling out all the salient details," says Corrigan.
“They're actually extracting the books themselves into encyclopedia
entries."
Another group, deemed the Anaimagi, is comparing the books to their
slightly different British counterparts and the movie versions.
This will present a unique technical challenge when the newest movie
is released in theaters.
"We're going to have to have some type of head lamp or something to
take notes in the theater," says Gryfindor team captain James Wolfe.
"The Animagi have got to go back and see it at least five more times
each," adds Corrigan. "They have to get their notes directly from
the cinema."
The Auror group is studying a separate library of 500 books which
may or may not have inspired Rowling in her writings
"It deals with all aspects of psychology, myth, folklore, geology,
geography, religion, history, you name it," says Corrigan. "And
they're doing all of the background research into what informs the
books."
A team of artists known as the House Ghosts is also busily churning
out illustrations for the completed work.
The editorial staff, which is deemed The Order of the Phoenix, is
overseeing the entire project.
"We get all the work coming to us, which we have to go over with a
fine-tooth comb," said English Department secretary and Potter
student Valerie Fambrough.
Currently this flurry of research is building up to the big day when
the final book in the Harry Potter saga will be released.
Then the studies will take off with snitch-like speed.
"Book Seven comes out [July] 21st, which actually gives us two weeks
to do the work, to read it and digest it," says Corrigan.
He hopes that once the encyclopedia is complete, the book will
become a new part of the Potter world.
"My agent in New York is shopping it right now. We're hoping to hear
in the next few weeks," says Corrigan. "The publishing world moves
slowly but there is interest in this."
In the meantime, the English professor will continue to direct his
class of hard-working, but non-magical, Muggles.
Or are they? When asked flat out, Fambrough's response is less than
convincing.
"Well, we are in the sense that we are trying not to make the campus
at large uncomfortable," she says with a wry smile. "So yes ... for
all intents and purposes.”
