Hogwarts as an HBCU? Leave it to Black TikTok!
If it’s one thing about TikTok users — and more specifically Black TikTok users — just know they are always going to go all out. Whether it’s a dance challenge or a woman in a yellow dress, the commitment to the trend is commendable. The app’s newest trend, however, has turned one of the world’s favorite magical campuses into an HBCU, and truly, social media users can’t get enough of it.
Black History Month may have just ended but Black-Tok definitely went out with a bang. Black Harry Potter fans have taken to the app to reimagine Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as an HBCU. They have even changed the name of the fictional school to Hogwarts Agricultural and Magical University with the nicknames of Hogwarts A&M or HAMU.
Tiktoker @thejonnybrown broke down the phenomenon a little further, sharing which house some of our Black civil rights leaders belonged to. “The history books are already rewritten, Martin Luther King Jr. was a Hufflepuff and Malcolm X was in fact a Ravenclaw,” he mentions.
Who knew that a story about a half-muggle, a half-wizard boy would turn into a trend like this? All happening 26 years after its initial release! Harry Potter fans have all come out of the woodwork to help push the narrative.
Why Exactly Is Hogwarts Even Trending?
The Harry Potter fans will never let you forget that they are HP fans, but this sudden popularity surrounding the fictional tale is out of the ordinary. That is thanks to the newest video game that muggles and wizards alike have been spending their money on.
“Hogwarts Legacy” is an action role-playing game, produced by Warner Bros. Games and Avalanche Software. The game was released mid-Black history month on February 10th. It’s safe to say that fans were excited. The game’s arrival spurred the highest traffic in the “Harry Potter” community on Fandom in more than seven years.
As of February 22nd, “Hogwarts Legacy” has seen over 267 million hours played.
This new spark in the Harry Potter community has had fans excited all over again. In the game, players are assigned a house based on the sorting hat’s analysis of their character. From there, players begin their journey. Then began Tiktok’s takeover of the fictional world.
Players in the game took to social media to gloat about their houses. Many users seemed to take a liking to Slytherin although some were a part of Hufflepuff, Gryffindor, or Ravenclaw. Others defended the status of their houses and how great it was to be a member. Then came Black-Tok.
The Rise Of HAMU
The debates online of who has the better house and user’s house pride seemed as if they were in their own sororities and fraternities. Similar to D9 organizations, each house light-heartedly said they had the best brother/sisterhood. From there, TikTok users posted videos of them strolling in their hypothetical common rooms and frat parties.
Many Black users hopped on the trend, some even adding their own unique spin to it. As it continued to grow, users sprinkled in that this is now an HBCU campus and they are battling it out on the yard to defend their honor. Of course, it couldn’t just stop there with our people.
This fictional HBCU now has a website, homecoming dates, a band, a majorette team, and even merch!
This isn’t the first time social media fantasized about Hogwarts as an HBCU. Back in 2015, way before TikTok rose to fame, users took to Twitter to live out their magical HBCU fantasies. Using the hashtag #IfHogwartsWasAnHBCU, users shared the changes they would have made if the magical school switched its roots. Even down to the type of spells they’d add.
HAMU is all everyone is talking about and it has taken over everyone’s timelines. But, it all comes down to one very important question: you going to homecoming this year?