A week ago, 8-year-old Roxana Ghorashi was a stranger to the enchanted world detailed in the “Harry Potter” books and movies. 

Now, Roxana has played the magical sport of quidditch and mastered the mythical subjects of potions, divination and transfiguration. She even has her own wand and witches’ robes.

Roxana is one of 14 children in first through eighth grades attending a Harry Potter-themed day camp this week at High Plains Church Unitarian Universalist in Colorado Springs.

“Bringing a magic world to life is obviously challenging, but what’s neat is that a lot of these kids didn’t know [much] about ‘Harry Potter’ before the camp,” said Jessica Laike, director of faith formation at the church. “It’s introducing them to this whole new world and whole new culture.”

The church building became High Plains School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for the five-day camp. A collection of vials and jars held “magical” substances: a wisp of unicorn hair (golden thread), love potion (pink glitter in corn syrup) and troll brains (wet cotton balls and green food coloring). In the worship area, two dozen tea lights were strung to the ceiling with fishing line to represent the floating candles in Hogwarts’ iconic Great Hall. The altar was embellished with the seals of the four houses that campers were sorted into at the beginning of the week.

“We even got letters in the mail and tickets to Platform 9¾,” said 11-year-old Eva Baptist.

During divination, campers learned to read tea leaves and tarot cards. While studying potions, they witnessed the results of several science experiments, including the blast created by dropping Pop Rocks candy into Coca-Cola. Transfiguration lessons featured crafts, such as making candles and friendship bracelets.

“Creatively, the ‘Harry Potter’ stories are so rich,” said camp director Snoi Ackerman. “There are so many different activities you can tie into it.”

The curriculum was designed to teach team building and provide participants with some practical knowledge, Ackerman said.

Campers earned “house points” for good behavior. Each group has a service project, such as decorating cards for deployed soldiers or hospital patients.

On Wednesday, the children filled a grassy field outside the church for a modified version of the wizarding game quidditch. Three hula hoops, spray-painted gold and propped up with plastic stakes and duct tape, lined each end of the field. Two teams of campers darted around the arena “riding” foam pool noodles – makeshift broomsticks – and chasing after a red ball that had to be thrown through one of the hoops to score. The game would end if someone caught the golden snitch, a tiny bouncy ball tossed back and forth by a pair of camp counselors.

Inside, a woman who bore a striking resemblance to Hogwarts Professor Pomona Sprout was cleaning up stray leaves and twigs leftover from a herbology lesson. Parsley, sage, thyme, fennel and rosemary budded in clay pots.

Dianne McRae, a church volunteer and avid gardener, had just finished teaching campers how to make their own “spell bags,” each containing natural materials designed to serve a specific purpose. For example, she said, the sleeping spell bag contained lavender, catnip and rose petals.

“It gives them tactile experience of the things they read about,” said McRae, who taught the lesson dressed in a floor-length emerald skirt and black witch’s hat embellished with fern leaves and dangling fake spiders. “To be able to hold mint in your hand and smell it, to feel the goo in aloe vera – it enriches it for them.”

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Contact Rachel Riley: 636-0108

Kids play Quidditch during a Harry Potter camp at High Plains Church Unitarian Universalist on Wednesday, July 13, 2016. Photo by Stacie Scott, The Gazette

STACIE SCOTT

Ben Heimer, 8, Genie Waller, 8, and Dianne McRae, dressed as Professor Sprout, plant “mandrakes” during a Harry Potter camp at High Plains Church Unitarian Universalist on Wednesday, July 13, 2016. Photo by Stacie Scott, The Gazette

STACIE SCOTT

Eva Baptist, 11, fills her herb spell bag during a Harry Potter camp at High Plains Church Unitarian Universalist on Wednesday, July 13, 2016. Photo by Stacie Scott, The Gazette

STACIE SCOTT