Potter Premiere Was Way Past My Bedtime

As appeared in the Albuquerque Journal Rio Rancho section July 16, 2011
Pottermania came to town Thursday night, and I was smack dab in the middle of it, having been dragged to the midnight premiere of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2″ by my two daughters.



This was the final installment in J.K. Rowling’s magical Hogwarts franchise and those who were much younger were at fever pitch. Oh sure it’s bittersweet, if you know what Dumbledore means. But for the rest of us, it was a late night out that could be spent in bed. Don’t get me wrong, it was fun to be out with my girls and I’m glad they wanted me along.


We knew we had to get to the theater early since my eldest had been to the midnight premiere of one of the “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies and knew the ropes. We arrived 2 1/2 hours early to a costumed crowd of Potter fans all eager to see if Harry lives or dies.


I’ve been to three midnight movies in my life: Led Zeppelin’s “The Song Remains the Same,” the Rolling Stones’ “Gimme Shelter” and “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.” Now if that doesn’t date me, nothing does.


We followed the line as it snaked down the parking lot and up the other side to the end ready to begin the wait. But before I could reprimand any kids for cutting in line, the security guards told anyone who had tickets to Theater 8 could go inside. I thought I had died and gone to heaven.


We were whisked inside to the air-conditioned theater and got to wait for the show sitting comfortably in our recliner seats.

I had seen a few of the other Happy Potter movies and thought I was with it and up on the characters until I tried to clarify something with my eldest.

“Is the snake going to be in this one?” I confidently asked.

“Oh, mother,” was her response. You would have thought I asked if the Wicked Witch of the West really was going to take Toto to the river and drown him.


I didn’t ask any more questions after that.


Prior to midnight, I knew I had better get a cappuccino from the concession stand so I wouldn’t fall asleep.

Either the cappuccino was spiked with brandy or the film was in another language or it was simply past my bedtime, but I couldn’t keep my eyes open until the last half hour of the movie.

No spoiler alert here, I won’t give away any secrets other than to say the movie was great; people snickered, giggled, cried and cheered at the end.

We laid our heads down on our pillows at 2:45 a.m., when the coffee finally kicked in and I watched infomercials until 5 a.m.

J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series has sold more than 400 million copies and her books turned into 8 feature films. All I know is that I wish I had the imagination and vocabulary that J.K. Rowling has. Oh, and the money wouldn’t hurt either.

Quote of the Week: “I just write what I wanted to write. I write what amuses me. It’s totally for myself.”- J.K. Rowling.