Eight years ago, my high school friends forced me to watch a children’s movie about a young boy who finds out he’s a wizard. Seven books, seven movies, and five midnight releases, not to mention two graduations, two cities, three apartments, and two jobs later, I found myself anxiously awaiting the final Harry Potter movie, the end of it all.
Rachel and I changed into Gryffindor shirts and went straight to Tinseltown after work on the 14th to wait in line for the double feature — a showing of Deathly Hallows Part 1 at 9:00 with the midnight premiere of Part 2 in 3D. We received our special 3D glasses, in the shape of Harry’s glasses (which we, of course, totally geeked out over), and snagged the best seats in the theater — back row center.
Even knowing what would happen, I was on the edge of my seat the entire movie. I laughed, cried (a lot), and everything in between. There were even a few surprises along the way. It was the perfect finale to the story I’ve loved for so long.
So while I had to work on a whopping four hours of sleep, it was totally worth it. There’s nothing quite like the magic of a midnight premiere, with excitement and emotions running high across the theater, and this one, the final, and greatest, movie of the series, was particularly special.
And even though I’ll never experience the magic of a Harry Potter midnight premiere again, the magic will live on in the pages of the books, the scenes of the movies, and all of the memories wrapped up in both.
All of this from a children’s movie I didn’t want to watch in the first place.
— Lisa


