Midnight M&Ms

Well, last Thursday night, my brother and I were where all the loyal fans of Harry Potter were...the midnight premiere of Deathly Hallows, Part 2!

I'd never been to any midnight movie premiere before, so I did a lot of online research (Googling...) to find out things like how early to get there, what to wear, etc.

I thought a lot more people would dress up than actually did...I'm glad I just went with the simple scar on the forehead. It was fun to see how other fans really got into it. Lots of them at least had some kind of wand to brandish. Although I could've done some hunting for an appropriate stick, I decided I didn't need anything else to lug around.

So we got there a little after 9pm, and got to be first in line for the regular 2D movie. (There were already lines for IMAX and 3D.) Right after we got there, it seems like everyone else came, and in a couple minutes a huge line stretched behind us out the door and around the theater. My brother and I just sat there reading the final book (our own copies..), very smug at our sweet location.

After about an hour, we were allowed to actually enter the theater. Where we sat for another two hours. I was kept informed about the time, because excited fans kept yelling out things like, "Only one hour left!" and I had to check where I was in the book and try to read faster.

Finally, it began. I waited until the first louder part came in the movie to open my bag of M&Ms (didja wonder when they were going to show up?). From the first minute, I was completely engrossed in this, the final Harry Potter movie!

It was super fun to sit in a theater full of fans who really appreciated all that this story is. We all cheered when our favorite lines from the book popped up, and quietly whispered things like "Wait, did this happen in the book?" And there's nothing like hearing absolute silence from the fans as we all watched the deaths most of us knew were coming, before listening to the quiet sniffling begin. I was alternately crying and giggling as I got sucked into the emotion of the story, as well as laughing at how pathetic we all sounded. Those were great moments, though. We all love the story and the characters, and we're all sad that it's ending.

If you've seen any movie that was made from a book you love, you understand that it's not going to be the same. There were some parts I wish hadn't been changed, added, or removed. But on the whole, I thought this was an excellent movie.

We dried our tears, I tied up my M&M bag, and everyone slowly filed out to the parking lot. Where I couldn't budge the car from its spot for 45 minutes. Which gave me more time to both reflect on the movie and listen to my eyes yelling at me. Why are we still open...? Shut up, guys. It was totally worth it.