MAGICAL activities delighted youngsters at a south Cumbrian school as part of the worldwide Harry Potter Book Night.

Sacred Heart primary school, on Lumley Street, Barrow, joined thousands of schools and groups around the world to celebrate the work of J.K. Rowling.

Pupils dressed up as their favourite wizards and witches from the books, donning cloaks and scarves to look just like their fictional heroes.

The Barrow event was organised by librarian Tracey Needham, who said: "It's been brilliant and the children have really enjoyed it.

"They've really enjoyed the owls and it's great to have them here. Because the theme this year is fantastic beasts we've got a class in the library doing dragon eggs, where they've got to identify different eggs."

As part of the event, the pupils were joined by Emily Quick, owl carer at the Owl Sanctuary, who brought a number of the birds along.

She said: "It's gone really well and they all seem to have enjoyed meeting the owls.

"They all look amazing in their costumers and I think owls fit in brilliantly with Harry Potter and fantastic beasts.

"This is the first year we've been to the book club but we've been into the school a few times to talk to them about the owls.

"We always enjoy coming and the owls are used to coming into schools and seeing everyone."

The school was transported to the land of magic for the event, with classrooms magically transformed.

It is the fourth year the school has taken part in the annual event.

Mrs Needham said: "We've done a room out as Hagrid's hut where they're making things, and we've got animals up there too like Nifflers and some snails.

"We've got the Owl Sanctuary who've come in to show them the owls and talk about looking after them. They're really enjoying it.

"We've even made a dungeon under the stairs for potions class, where they're making a potion to try and bring Scabbers the rat back to life, to revive him because he's been a bit tired."

The night was celebrated all over the world once again, with this year's theme of Fantastic Beasts celebrated by more than 13,000 registered parties.

Mrs Needham praised the idea, and hopes it will inspire another generation of young readers.

She said: "This is the fourth year we've run it now and the children get really excited about it every year. We do other activities from the library like themed infant tea parties.

"I've done a Gruffalo tea party and a Paddington one for the little ones, and a spy party for the older ones just before Christmas where they were cracking codes and everything.

"It is all about keeping them interested in reading for pleasure.

"It's keeping reading at the forefront and creating a buzz about it all the time.

"They were all saying last week that it was nearly here. They were really excited."

The evening began when the Sorting Hat decided which Hogwarts house each pupil belonged to, with young Gryffindors, Slytherins, Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs, with the youngsters tasked with earning house points throughout the night.

As well as the children, staff at the school got into the spirit of the night with their own costumes.