This Teacher Turned His Classroom Into a Magical Hogwarts Destination

School is officially back in session, but for some lucky Oregon students, they’ll be returning to their studies like wizards thanks to a teacher who transformed his classroom into a magical Hogwarts commonroom.

Kyle Hubler, a math teacher at Evergreen Middle School in Hillsboro, Oregon, decorated his classroom like a Hogwarts study abode, complete with designated tables for the different houses, quills and inkwells, loads of books, a Pensieve, and a sign marking the door to enter as Platform 9 and 3/4.

As if these details weren’t enough to summon the spirit of Harry Potter and the gang, according to The Huffington Post, Hubler also sorted his students into houses during the first week of school by giving personality tests.

For Hubler, the Harry Potter theme is more than just a fun decorating idea — it’s an opportunity to make students feel comfortable during their middle school years.

“I love Harry Potter because of the impact it had on me as a kid,” Hubler said. “Being a kid can be tough sometimes ― there were times when I felt weird and that I didn’t belong to any circle of friends, and reading the books was a way to escape that and feel like I did belong.

In fact, Hubler said that many of the themes and ideas in the book have helped him be a good teacher.

“As I grew up, I became more skilled in socializing and developed stronger connections with friends, but the lessons in the books about acceptance, loyalty, and integrity stayed with me and inform a lot of the philosophy I have in my approach to teaching and how I interact with my students,” he said.

See Hubler’s Hogwarts classroom in all its glory below.

Write to Cady Lang at cady.lang@timemagazine.com.