Potterpalooza: The Final Countdown.

I woke up early on Thursday morning after maybe 5 hours of sleep to check my phone. Becca was at JFK, waiting for Krissy to deplane, and then they'd be on their way to my apartment. Soon I was out on the sidewalk as their cab drove up, hugging two tired girls and excitedly welcoming them to New York.

Since they'd both taken red eye flights and I hadn't slept much either, we had breakfast across the street (red velvet waffles, I love you so much) and then crashed for a few hours back at my place. We spent a few hours in the afternoon strolling through the park and lying in the grass, and then it was game time.

"Wait, so we're really wearing our Harry Potter shirts to dinner? Okay, just making sure."


We got to the theater around 8pm to scope out the situation. An employee told us the line was outside, so we went out and saw a line stretching around a city block. Yikes. The good news and bad news was that it was one line for all of the midnight showings, so while we wouldn't be as far back as we feared, there was definitely potential for mass disorganization. We settled in and played some HP trivia on Krissy's iPad.


Throughout the night, a few different TV crews, including MTV and Extra, came through to interview people (not us, since we weren't dressed up). One of the girls in front of us, dressed as a Slytherin, was chosen to be on camera.

TV Lady: Can you shout something at the camera? Like "I love Harry" but something different.
Slytherin Girl: Sure, okay, how about... MAGIC IS FOREVER!
TVL: Um, all right. Maybe... try it again, a little less scary this time?
SG: MAGIC IS FOREVER!!!!
TVL: That's... good. Thanks.

Needless to say, we had a mantra for the rest of the weekend.


We passed the time talking, texting, emailing, and posting Facebook updates (thank heavens for smartphones--am I right or am I right?). Around 10, two girls appeared behind us, apparently having tried to bribe the family behind us $20 to let them cut in line. The dad wasn't having any of it, giving them back their dirty money and making them leave. Awesome.

Then the mayhem began. A little while later, employees began coming down the line. "Okay, the 12:03 and the 12:08, you guys can come in." Portions of the line began to dissolve as people rushed into the theater and we waited nervously (our official showtime was 12:02). It was so disorganized and illogical that we were convinced we would end up in the front row of our theater somehow. Krissy volunteered to go investigate, which we figured was a good idea--she's pretty and unassuming and stood a good chance of getting us in. She texted us from the front lines that it was insane inside the theater, people on the verge of rioting while employees tried to keep the crowds back. Becca and I held our place in line and listened to Slytherin Girl's companion (a Gryffindor) sing soulfully along with her iPod.


Guess who didn't get the sadface memo?
We started to get nervous when we didn't hear from Krissy for some time. Then we got a text: "I'm inside and have seats. There are only two other people in our theater." VICTORY! Soon after that, our theater was announced and we sprang into action. I joined the massive line at the snack bar (where I ran into my friend Kent and we sent a gloating photo of ourselves to Karrie, who was not allowed to come because she is only on Book 4) and then it was time to get settled in the theater. As the lights went down, the three of us grabbed hands and got ready to say goodbye to Harry.


We loved the movie, and it's always awesome to see it with the midnight audiences because the crowd reactions are just right. The mass exodus afterwards was pretty impressive, and we passed by people in line outside for the 3am showing. We walked along Central Park West for a while trying to find an unoccupied cab, and when we finally hailed one, the driver seemed pretty bewildered.

"Why are all these people out so late? Was there a concert or something?"

Nope, just a nerd convention. It was a good night.