Local Potter Fans Camp Out at Theater Ahead of Midnight Premiere

Fourteen hours before the latest — and last — film installment of the Harry Potter mega-franchise begins showing at Destinta Theatres Friday at 12:01 a.m., two teen girls arrived looking like they just stepped from the pages of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.”

Julia Kannam, 17, of Durham, had Luna Lovegood’s trademark wizard hat perched atop her head and Emily Shoemaker, 19, of Middlefield, was a freckle-faced and fire-red, choppy-cut Ron Weasley. They made an unusual request Thursday of the theatre manager, but one diehard fans will understand perfectly.

“We came last night to make sure we could come 14 hours in advance because seven is the most magical number in the wizarding world,” explained Shoemaker, perched on a theatre bench. “It’s the second installment of the last book, so seven plus seven, so we came to make sure we could come 14 hours early.”

The manager was more than happy to oblige these devoted fans of author J.K. Rowling's blockbuster book and film series.

The girls arrived at 9:30 a.m. — before the movie theatres even opened — and waited patiently outside on the comfy lawn chairs they brought along. “People have been really friendly,” Kannam said. “Even the police.”

The girls happily passed the hours reading a 10-year-old Harry Potter film script autographed by many of the cast members. “My mom got it from eBay,” Shoemaker said.

“We’ve been reading trivia questions and we’ve been playing with the puppets and playing Harry Potter games,” Kannam said.

And for sustenance, “we’ve been eating popcorn and candy; living off that,” the girls giggled. “We’ll probably get sick.”

A large cardboard poster of the Fat Lady sat beside the two. “This is a sign I made last year for my graduation party,” Shoemaker explained. “So we changed her bubble and the manager said he's going to use the sign tonight to [mark where] people can start lining up at 9 p.m.”

Kannam has been reading Harry Potter books since she was 6.

“I’ve been rereading to prepare for this release. These are all my favorite parts marked by sticky notes,” she pointed out, rifling a hefty volume from which hundreds of red sticky notes protrude.

“I remember my mom reading me the books in all different voices,” Shoemaker says, admitting, “this is an unhealthy obsession — all my walls are covered in Harry Potter stuff ... I have the sheets, I’ve made the puppets.”

“I expect we’ll be very depressed tomorrow morning,” she continued, “but Harry will always live on.”

Related Topics: , , , , and