It’s 1991 and an 11-year-old orphan’s life is changed by the arrival of a letter informing him that he’s a wizard with a place at Britain’s school of magic. Thus begins the story of Wayne Hopkins - a pop culture-obsessed American kid who sees this as a sign that he’s a “Chosen One” like the heroes of all his favourite movies.

Of course, it turns out he’s just a side character in the story of the Chosen One we all know and love: Harry Potter. But “PUFFS or Seven Increasingly Eventful Years at a Certain School of Magic and Magic” takes a new look at the school years of the world’s best-known young wizard, this time from the perspective of Wayne and the students who aren’t ‘Braves’, ‘Smarts’, or ‘Snakes’... the Puffs.

Hufflepuff characters from Harry’s cohort at Hogwarts (like Hannah Abbott, Ernie Macmillan, Justin Finch-Fletchley and Susan Bones) are brought to the fore as Wayne’s classmates, while Megan Jones, a student named in the first book and never heard of again, becomes a central figure whose character arc drives a lot of the plot. And of course, you can’t have a play about Hufflepuffs without a handsome Cedric Diggory.

With decent doses of satire, swearing and sexual references, the play embraces the ridiculous for a 90-minute romp through seven years at Hogwarts (plus a 19-years-later epilogue, of course).

Eleven enthusiastic actors capture an array of characters. With a quick tweak of costume accessories, accent or body language they transition in moments and make each Hogwarts student, professor or ghost immediately recognisable.

Some of the attempts at audience engagement fell flat but the show generated a good amount of chuckles throughout with its caricatures and gentle mockery of the beloved books and movies.

While you don’t have to be a huge Harry Potter fan to enjoy this, a decent level of familiarity with the books (or at least the movies) is essential to understand the many of the jokes and moments of dramatic irony.

PUFFS is a fun 90 minutes for anyone who’s still waiting for their own letter from Hogwarts.