Ten Awesome Things About Ten Years of the HPA
On October 10, 2015, the Harry Potter Alliance celebrated its tenth birthday. From its festivities at GeekyCon in August, to its birthday party at NerdCon: Stories, to the HPA10 campaign that raised $106,600, the HPA has proven that it is bigger and stronger than ever. In honor of this achievement, here are ten things we love about the past ten years of the HPA:
- The HPA, with the support of Walk Free, thousands of Harry Potter fans, and J.K. Rowling herself, got Warner Bros. to switch all Harry Potter chocolate products to Fair Trade or UTZ.
- With the help of fan donations, they were able to send five cargo planes (named Harry, Ron, Hermione, Dumbledore, and DFTBA) with supplies to Haiti after the devastating earthquakes of 2010.
- They are huge supporters of wizard rock, and their theme song is on point.
- Their annual Accio Books campaign has brought over 250,000 books to libraries, schools, and community centers all over the world.
- They even have an Apparating library that makes appearances at conventions, where fans can swap books.
- They are excellent Quidditch players.
- Their campaign, Fan Works Are Fair Use, works to protect our right to create fan art, fan fiction, and other fan creations.
- There’s also Granger Leadership Academy, a weekend conference where people can learn how to become world-changers from the pros at the HPA.
- They helped create Esther Day in honor of Esther Earl’s birthday – the day on which you are required to tell a friend or family member that you love them, no matter how awkward.
- And they do all of this in the name of Harry Potter by “making activism accessible through the power of story.”
Happy tenth birthday, HPA! Can’t wait to see what you do with the next ten!
