What do a goat, a set of twins and Quidditch all have to do with each other? The Christmas Dance. To be more specific, these quirky components helped three Xavier juniors ask the wizards of their dreams to this year’s Yule Ball.

Martha Ryan was the first of the trio to ask her friend Burke Tierney to the dance. Martha and Burke met five months ago through their club sport of choice, crew. She decided to break away from the typical “guys-ask-girls” scenario by taking the initiative to send Burke a beautiful card decorated with a hand-painted golden snitch. “I never actually said anything in person, but he read the card and said yes,” said Ryan.courtesy of Martha Ryan

Next up was Alex Murray, who asked Burke’s twin brother Ryan Tierney, also on crew. The two met at a regatta, where Alex was cheering on Martha. Alex decided to go with a Harry Potter theme as well, with a poster reading “I’m seeking a date to the Christmas Dance, and you’re a keeper,” fully adorned with Quidditch-related drawings and just enough golden glitter to make Ryan say yes. Murray said, “It involved a lot of glitter, sneaking around to surprise him and the eventual reward of seeing him smile at it.”courtesy of Alex Murray

Last but not least, Care Anton asked her boyfriend Riley Morrison, senior at Brophy. Her idea was to ask him creatively with a goat dressed up in an adorable Christmas outfit. “My initial idea was not adequate, and I just had to go all out for this dance. That’s when I decided to go with the goat,” said Anton.courtesy of Care Anton

The task of finding a goat proved to be easier said than done. After hours of Google searching and asking friends, she finally found one belonging to a lady residing near her boyfriend’s house. As Morrison took out the trash on a Friday afternoon, he was greeted by his girlfriend, a cleverly-worded poster and a delightfully festive goat. Anton said, “He absolutely loved it, and I’m so glad that I got the opportunity to ask him in such a fun way that he liked so much. It was fun to ask him instead of him asking me because he did such a great job asking me to Homecoming that I wanted to do something awesome for him, too.”