All of us wish to make our childish fantasies become reality. Matthew Cortland is doing exactly that in crafting the world’s first “Wizarding Pub,” where the fantastical elements of your favorite works of literature—like Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings, and more—enter our world through the everyday magic of science and design. And you’ll be drinking, which if used correctly, is its own form of modern magic.
Cortland, a proprietor and former reading teacher, will launch a Kickstarter for The Cauldron, as he’s calling it, this June to raise the funds necessary to transform our Muggle drinking world as we know it. He aims to raise the hefty amount of $500,000 to launch the pub, though backers will receive various levels of rewards for their contributions.
Cortland got the idea to simulate magic with technology while designing a mobile app in a master’s course, as he told Mashable. Referencing the Weasley Clock in the Harry Potter books—a clock which tracks the location of various members of the Weasley family instead of time—he realized that so much of what we refer to as magic already exists, or could exist, in our world.
A generation of people have come of age while wishing that the magical world is real and dreaming that they can enter into it. Now as adults, we are positioned to make that dream a reality. The Cauldron will probably appeal most to adults who grew up reading about the magical world through fantasy books and movies, and who want to finally step into it with a pint of mulled mead or wizarding cocktail in hand.
Elements like candles floating via magnetism, voice- and touch-activated wands, and touch sensitive technology refilling pints of beer will fuel the magic. But if The Cauldron sounds too Harry Potter-themed in your mind, Cortland and his team doesn’t mind adjusting. Through editable Wikis and Wizarding Hackathons, they will aim to make the technology fans wants into reality.
The Cauldron is also labeling itself as the first Literary Pub and wants to become a destination for school trips and author events alike. In other words, The Cauldron won’t just be a pub; it’ll be a community.
As Cortland told Mashable, “If even a small percentage of the millions of geeks out there decide that they want this idea to happen, we will blow our goal out of the water.”
You can learn more about The Cauldron and donate early on their website here.
