Story and Photos by Samantha Thom
For every Harry Potter fan worldwide, July 15, 2011, was a long-awaited day filled with anticipation, sadness, nostalgia, and overall excitement. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 is the final installment of the film saga to be shown in movie theaters, representing the last book within the series. For many fans, it was a bittersweet occasion, as those who had grown up reading the series tied the film’s release and franchise end to the end of their own childhoods. As fans became attached to and engrossed in J.K. Rowling’s books, they followed along with Harry as they both grew up.
“It’s a representation of my childhood officially coming to an end,” Harry Potter fan Allie Rollandi, age twenty, explained at the midnight showing in Sherwood, Oregon. “Harry Potter has been a part of my life for ten years. I started reading the books at the end of second grade, and reread them before each film came out. They’re so well written and you grow to care about the characters so much. Then seeing them onscreen as movies just make them that much more awesome. I am going to miss it all when it’s over. “
Fans of all ages began to line up outside of Sherwood’s Regal Cinemas Stadium 10 in the early afternoon, resulting in a lengthy line that consistently added eager viewers up to the time of the midnight premiere. People set up folding chairs, brought coolers of food, games to play, and even Harry Potter books to read to pass the time. A vast majority of people arrived sporting some form of Harry Potter wear, and a few in full-blown costume as Death Eater Bellatrix Lestrange and Hogwarts Professor Sybill Trelawney. The atmosphere was extremely positive and one could sense the excitement immediately upon arrival.
Theater staff began admitting those in line for the movie at approximately 11:15 p.m., resulting in crowded bathrooms, hurried efforts at snacks in the concession lines, the filling of all ten theaters, and the overwhelming chatter about expectations for the film. Some were overheard declaring that if filmmakers translated the final scenes of the book incorrectly into the film they would cry and feel disappointed. Others said that no matter what, there would be tears. Throughout the film, viewers were visibly on the edge of their seats, cheering at characters’ triumphs, as well as sniffling and tearing up at scenes of defeat and death. Many stayed after the film had ended to sit through the credits, discussing what they had seen and to enjoy the atmosphere they would never be able to experience again.
“It was exactly what I had been hoping for,” Rollandi raved of the film. “I had been so excited to see just what the filmmakers could do to show what happens in this book, and it was fantastic.  I don’t even know how else to describe it. It makes it sink in that much more that it’s over now.”
Overall, the event had a very relaxed yet energetic and anxious feeling to it. There was a very palpable vibe of comradery and community as fans all united together for this one last midnight showing. One thing that was heard several times throughout the evening was that there would never be a Harry Potter film in theaters again after Deathly Hallows. While this was a bittersweet realization for many, and for others a dreaded inevitability, Harry Potter will forever live on as a book series, a successful film franchise, and  in the imaginations of people throughout the world and future generations who may encounter it.

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