The Lawrenceville School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

         The Lawrenceville School of Witchcraft and Wizardry—known as the most prestigious school for wizards and witches in North America—rivals Hogwarts, its British counterpart. Even as a relatively new course, the Defense Against Dark Arts has recently been voted as the singular class every student must take during their time at Lawrenceville. In the class, students are taught how to defend themselves against curses and hexes, which have experienced an uptick throughout campus in recent weeks. Nikitha Das ’26 exclaims that her favorite part of class is “studying the dark magical creatures,” with her favorite creature being the Wampus cat, which she frequently observes fending off thieving squirrels from the food shack. She enjoys learning about their magical abilities, which include “hypnosis and legilimency.” Jeffery Streeter P’26, the Alchemy Skills in Potions class teacher, argued “Potions is even harder than Honors Chemistry.” That statement speaks volumes! To prepare for taking Potions class, he says students should absolutely “take Honors Chemistry and basically every single science class beforehand.” Potions class is definitely one of the hardest but most entertaining classes!

         Just last week,the first Quidditch game was a home opener against Hogwarts, and it was a close one. Students, wearing all red, gathered at the Violich turf, holding up colorful posters and loudly cheering for their favorite players. Much to the students’ dismay, Hogwarts was scoring goal after goal, totaling to a score of 140. While it seemed like Hogwarts was too far in the lead to catch up, player Sienna Soemitro ’26 brought Lawrenceville back in the lead by catching the Golden Snitch. Emerging victorious against far-more-experienced Hogwarts players, Soemitro received Athlete of the Week at school meeting. She explains that as the seeker, the hardest aspect is “maintaining balance on her broomstick,” with distractions such as the opposing team’s beaters flying after her.

         While Soemitro did not eat the Golden Snitch like Harry Potter, she did eat some mud when she fell off her broomstick. In spite of her ankle sprain and her teammates’ low hopes, she saw the scoreboard of zero-140 and mustered up her energy and spotted the Golden Snitch. Hearing the commotion behind her, Soemitro knew that she needed to give her all. She immediately jumped back into the game and bumped the opposing seeker off balance, giving her enough time to pass, but the lead did not last long. The Golden Snitch was flying left and right, up and down. Soemitro bolted towards the Snitch, swerving a bit off balance, but caught it! The crowd roared and Lawrenceville won their first Quidditch game, just scraping by with a score of 150-140. As the clapping erupted, Stephen Murray H ’54 ’55 ’63 ’65 ’16 P ’16 ’21 excitedly shouted “150 points to the Stephens House!”

         In the past few years, Quidditch has been making its way into students’ attention. More students have expressed interest in trying out. If you deem yourself as a great broomstick rider, now is the time to sign up for the Lawrenceville Quidditch Team. As Lawrenceville’s graduation requirements include taking a magic class all four years, consider finding your niche. Whether it be herbology, magical creatures, or astronomy, there are a variety of classes for every student’s level. The heart of Lawrenceville lies in steady support for young witches and wizards, guiding them through magic while building values of House, Heart, and Harkness.