This was originally published to my blog, The Rumpus...
No doubt many of my readers have read and enjoyed the Harry Potter books. Remember the final sequence of the fourth book? Harry is one of four champions in the poorly-named Tri-Wizard Tournament, and the final ordeal is to plunge into a magical labyrinth. In the labyrinth, nothing is as it seems. The walls shift, the atmosphere plays tricks on him, and his sense of direction abandons him at inopportune times. Not only that, but the other competitors keep running into each other, slinging spells and hexes at each other in an effort to grab the Tri-Wizard Cup. It’s an all-out four-way battle between wizards, and that’s pretty much what Wiz-War is.