When Toronto’s Minister of Magic made her announcement, it was to rapturous applause from a room full of witches and wizards. Even the Dark Lord was on hand to revel in the good news.

The Minister, known to the non-magical Muggle world as 23-year-old York University student Alessandra Di Simone, says she jumped up and down with excitement last week when she learned that a four-year campaign by socially minded Harry Potter buffs finally convinced entertainment giant Warner Bros. to source its entire line of wizard-themed chocolate from ethical producers.

The crusade was driven by members of the Harry Potter Alliance, an international network that rallies members in 45 countries around the social values it says Potter promotes. Di Simone heads the lone Toronto chapter of the Alliance. The “Not In Harry’s Name” campaign focused on poor working conditions faced by cocoa farmers, who often survive on around 40 cents a day according to the International Labour Rights Forum. Child labour is also widespread in the industry.

The Alliance argued that Warner Bros. failed to live up to Harry Potter’s message of social justice by using chocolate that was not fair-trade certified. Fair-trade goods require producers to meet social and environmental standards such as paying fair wages and banning forced labour.

Warner Bros. distributes the films based on J.K. Rowling’s wildly successful books about a spirited gang of students who routinely take on their evil nemesis Lord Voldemort. The corporation has also created a spin-off line of candy including Chocolate Frogs, used in the Rowling books to cure attacks by soul-sucking dementors.

Di Simone says she was one of the first to sign the initial petition circulated by the Alliance four years ago, asking the company to use ethical chocolate. A later version of the petition, ramped up after Warner Bros. seemed unresponsive, attracted some 400,000 signatures. Celebrity supporters included Evanna Lynch, who plays the clever and whimsical witch Luna Lovegood in the Potter movies, and Mark Williams, who portrays the Muggle-loving Arthur Weasley.

After founding the York University-based branch of the Harry Potter Alliance in 2012, the city’s Minister of Magic said she had no difficulty getting members on board with the “Not In Harry’s Name” campaign.

“It was just, ‘Where to do I sign?’” Di Simone recalls.

But Rowling’s own intervention gave the cause an important boost, too. According to Alliance spokesperson Lauren Bird, the author asked Warner Bros. executives to meet with the group last summer about their concerns. Then, in a December letter, the corporation committed to using 100 per cent fair-trade certified chocolate for all Harry Potter products by the end of 2015.

“It was kind of like the best Christmas present ever,” says Bird.

No magic was used to secure the victory. Instead, Bird says the Alliance relies on “the power of story, as well as the intrinsic enthusiasm and community spirit of fans, to … mobilize them toward social action and learning about different social justice issues.”

That, Bird argues, represents an important new model of activism for young people who might not otherwise have an outlet for it.

Di Simone, who identifies most with the dreamy Luna Lovegood, agrees.

“I’ve always been very introverted. I never had a lot of friends. I never really participated in anything extracurricular. So I wanted to do something that would kind of give me a space to meet other people, and talk with other people, and make a difference.”

“I find one of the biggest things about the Harry Potter community is that they’re just amazing. You throw anything at them, and they will help you.”

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Which is why the Minister’s announcement at the chapter’s annual Yule Ball drew cheers even from the darkest of wizards.

“The Harry Potter series is about so much more than love and acceptance,” says Di Simone. “It’s all about equality and fair conditions.”