It’s even got a new name, HAMU, or Hogwarts Agricultural and Magical University, which has resulted in a new trend across TikTok!
The latest game to spawn off the incredible Wizarding World of Harry Potter is Hogwarts Legacy, which had an initial release date of February 10, to awaiting fans. The action-packed game has multiple locations familiar to Harry Potter fans, including the Forbidden Forrest and Hogsmeade, etc. The game played entirely in a third-person perspective, has delighted fans since its release, and it’s now beginning to get a more cultured reimagining by some of its players. It’s even got a new name, HAMU, or “Hogwarts Agricultural and Magical University”, which has resulted in a new trend across TikTok!
The original idea of HAMU, formally known as Hogwarts, spurred from a Slytherin common room meme with the attached audio of “Mo Bamba” by Sheck Wes, the reigning theme song that’s been used in a majority of the videos. Thousands of comments were posted with opposing houses relating to various HBCU and Black traditions, thus creating a storm of videos by Black TikTok creators across the platform. One of the most popular trends that have spawned is the “dis-stroll” videos, drawing inspiration from Historically Black Sorority and Fraternity Organizations, also known as the “Divine 9.”
Mel Mitchell, a content creator herself, had been making videos from the point of view of a Black teacher at Hogwarts last year and dived right into the bigger trend of HAMU. Mitchell, a third-generation Florida A&M University graduate said in her interview with BuzzFeed, “Hogwarts as a whole was a world that was created where we were very much an afterthought. But here, we just Blacked it up.” In addition, she talked about her experience growing up around HBCU culture and the positive impact it’s had on her life, “The best years of my life were on an HBCU campus, and it’s so important that Black people create their own spaces and cultivate each other.”
Creating their own space is indeed what happened next. Some organizers of HAMU took it a step further, creating an actual website and a fictional staff of Black heavy hitters in the realm of film and music. Within the online portal, visitors are able to shop an assortment of HAMU accessories, provided by many Black-owned businesses worldwide and official merchandise. There’s even a tentative plan to have a TikTok meetup at Orlando’s Universal Studios from August 25-27. This event will serve as HAMU’s Homecoming celebration, complete with a cultured version of the infamous “Yule Ball”.
HAMU, though only a month old or so, has solidified itself as a culturally significant wave for Black Harry Potter fans around the world that have felt out of place or tokenized by their white counterparts.