For members of Muggles Spreading Magic, the mischief is never completely managed.

Muggles Spreading Magic is The University of Alabama chapter of the Harry Potter Alliance, an international nonprofit organization devoted the J.K. Rowling’s beloved book series as well as to civic engagement.

Founded in 2005, HPA uses parallels from the “Harry Potter” world to “educate and mobilize young people across the world towards issues of literacy, equality and human rights,” according to HPA’s mission statement.

But why use Harry Potter to work for a cause?

“It really makes it more approachable,” Emily Bradford, a junior majoring in English and the head of the club’s Ravenclaw House, said, “Especially for people that may think volunteer work or community service seems boring or like too much work.”

President Monica Day, a sophomore majoring in social work and co-founder of Muggles Spreading Magic, said the popular novel series and the virtues of its characters hold near-universal influence and significance with the college-age demographic.

“Like a lot of people my age, we had the privilege to not only just enjoy ‘Harry Potter’ but to grow up with it. To me, it’s not just something I enjoy but it’s something that is a big part of my life. It is something that transcends age, gender, sexuality, political affiliation and religion,” she said in an emailed statement. “That’s why I believe ‘Harry Potter’ works so well as a model for charity work– the messages of Harry Potter [are] of friendship, love, hard work and acceptance, and the idea that it’s those ideas that truly show good triumphing over evil.”

Day said the aforementioned “evil” for UA HPA this year is illiteracy in West Alabama.

“This semester we have focused largely on raising awareness for literacy,” Day said. “We’re in the works of throwing a rather large book drive and in talks with [the Alabama Department of Human Resources] to hold a panel for kids to present them with the idea of HPA and get them excited about reading and education.”

The club will also host its first Yule Ball, named after a celebration featured in the series’ fourth book, on Nov. 30, with proceeds going to the West Alabama Literary Council and its efforts to stock Habitat for Humanity homes with books. Day called the Ball the club’s “largest and most ambitious event.”

The group’s lofty goals belie its relative infancy. After making preparations since last year, Day and co-founder and vice president Noelle Brake officially founded the University’s HPA chapter at the beginning of this academic year.

“I’ve always been a huge ‘Harry Potter’ fan, and in the summer of 2011 I went to LeakyCon, which is a ‘Harry Potter’ convention that was located in Florida at the time,” Day said. “I remember being astonished at the amount of people that where there and how passionate everyone was about this story. It was there that I learned about the Harry Potter Alliance, and it was that experience that inevitably led to the conversation that started this all.”

Conversation is a crucial facet of Muggles Spreading Magic’s regular operation. The club meets every Tuesday at 7 p.m. in 120 Lloyd Hall to discuss and formulate current and future projects, as well as participate in Potter-themed crafts and games, all with the aim of working more effectively together.

Just like the magical world’s Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the club is organized into four houses, each with its own Head of House.

“Each house is in charge of looking for and coordinating their own projects and presenting them to the rest of the club so we can all work together; they kind of work like committees within the bigger group, and are more specialized,” Victoria Nunnelley, a sophomore majoring in economics and the club’s art director and treasurer, said. “We are also planning on eventually having house points as well.”

The club’s work already holds the approval of every Potter fan’s ultimate Head of House: series author J.K. Rowling.

“The HP Alliance is, without doubt, the purest expression of ‘the spirit of [Hogwarts headmaster] Albus Dumbledore’ yet to emerge from the ‘Harry Potter’ fandom, and I am honored and humbled that such great things are being done in Harry’s name,” Rowling said in a letter to HPA founder Slack displayed on the organization’s official website.