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Want a magic wand? (Duh.) Then don't miss Cobb's Harry Potter exhibit

The Hogwarts Express arrives at Hogsmeade station during a preview of Diagon Alley at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando, Thursday, June 19, 2014, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
The Hogwarts Express arrives at Hogsmeade station during a preview of Diagon Alley at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando, Thursday, June 19, 2014, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
By Ben Brasch
Dec 21, 2016

There’s a fantastic Harry Potter exhibit in Cobb County.

The City of Smyrna announced on its Facebook page that the "Harry Potter's World: Renaissance Science, Magic and Medicine" exhibit would be coming to the Smyrna Public Library. And it has.

The traveling exhibit shows how a world comprised of British people in robes waving wands at cloak-wearing British people made out of smoke is actually rooted in Renaissance traditions.

The display uses materials from the National Library of Medicine to take a look at how those practices (of the Renaissance, not of people who travel through fireplaces) helped shape Western sciences like alchemy, astrology and natural philosophy, according to the city.

The show started Jan. 23 and will run until March 4 at the library, 100 Village Green Circle.

Here’s how you can go beyond the exhibit:

Earn a Certificate of Magical Thinking ("open to ages 4 through 104") 
You can learn as part of Hogwarts' Extension and Outreach Program for Muggles. Pick up a curriculum packet at the museum's front desk and earn 5 credit hours by March 4 to receive a Certificate of Magical Thinking along with a wand from Ollivander's Surplus Wand Supply for Muggles.

Harry Potter Game Day (ages 5 and older)
1-5 p.m. Jan. 29 
Celebrate International Puzzle Day with Harry Potter-themed card games, board games and, of course, puzzles.

Care & Feeding of Magical Creatures 
2-3 p.m. March 4  
Learn about reptiles, their biology, their habitat and their place in the food web. See a live snake and enjoy a snake craft project at this event sponsored by Friends of Smyrna Library.

About the Author

Ben Brasch is the reporter tasked with keeping Fulton County government accountable. The Florida native moved to Atlanta for a job with The AJC. If there's something important to you going on in Fulton, he wants to know about it. Help him better metro Atlanta by dropping a line, anonymously or otherwise.

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