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Arts & Entertainment

Harry Potter Film Finale Signals End of an Era

Loyal fans of the Harry Potter series came to the midnight showing of 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2' at Fairfax Corner Cinema 14 to show their love for the boy wizard.

At midnight last night, the end finally arrived. After 12 years, seven books, and, at last, eight films, The Harry Potter franchise came to a resonating conclusion with "Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows: Part 2." The film served as a continuation to November’s Part 1, and the grand finale to a series that took many readers through their childhoods, and through thick and thin.

At the Rave Fairfax Corner Cinema 14, fans started to line up for last night's midnight showing around 7 p.m. 

“By the time we go to the theater at 7:30, there were already 40 people ahead of us,” fan Iman Abdikarim said. Abdikarim showed up for the finale, and waited for hours because Harry Potter had played such a big part in her family life.

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“We are all sad that it’s ending” Abdikarim said.

As the night progressed, fans showed up in droves, with hectic lines criss-crossing the theater’s expansive lobby. Enthusiasts of the series showed up wearing capes, cloaks, wizard hats, and Harry Potter’s signature glasses.

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Friends Brandon Luxenburg, David Salmon, Michael Tenny, and Michael Sweeney showed up to the event dressed as the Slytherin House Quidditch team. The fictional sport Quidditch, played by young broomstick-riding wizards and witches, was featured prominently in many parts of the Harry Potter series. The friends’ elaborate costumes took more than two hours to make, and were a hit with fellow fans waiting in line, who begged to snap photos with them.

“This is the last of this huge series that shaped the world. It’s not like we’re going to have this chance [to dress up] again,” said Luxenburg.

Though the night started early for many fans, the wait for the film started long ago for friends Olivia Ryder and Abby Picard, who both showed up to the event dressed as Gryffindor students.

“We’ve been talking about this night for years, and have been planning since the start of last year,” Picard said. “We’ve had our tickets for a month.”

Though Picard grew up with the books, Ryder said she only recently started reading them. Regardless, the pair’s affinity for the films shone as they excitedly posed for pictures next to a large cardboard cutout of various wizards.

“It’s a great way to make friends,” Picard said of her love for the series.

As the night progressed and Harry Potter enthusiasts clamored to join the ever-growing lines, fans buzzed about the impending end.

“I’m disappointed, but it had to end sometime,” said enthusiast Nicole Fitchett, who was dressed as Ravenclaw student Penelope Clearwater.

The night was especially significant for Abby Springmann and her husband, Matt Springmann, who first started dating at a screening of "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" in 2009.

“We had been on a couple of dates, but while we were sitting in the theater we turned to each other and said ‘Guess we’re boyfriend and girlfriend now,’” Abby Springmann said.  “We got married in January and I considered inviting J. K. Rowling.”

For Springmann, Harry Potter had been a family affair for more than 11 years. She even brought along her parents, Tim and Karen Field, to the screening of the film series’ final installment.

“I’m usually not into fantasy books, but Harry Potter caught my attention. I even read the books before my kids did,” Karen Field said.

“It’s a story that is so well written. Children can understand it, but there is humor that appeals to adults as well,” Springmann said.

Around 9 p.m., a few of the many theaters set to screen the film opened their doors to awaiting, anxious fans. Wizard aficionados pushed and shoved their way into the theaters. The scramble for seats was chaotic.

Siblings Megan and Josh Baker were two of the first fans to get seats. The two were dressed as Gryffindor students, with matching grey sweaters and red and gold ties. Josh Baker, a middle-school student at Lake Braddock Secondary School, said he raided his father’s closet before coming to the theater to find the right sweater for the occasion. For Megan Baker, a sophomore in college, it was an emotional night, as the Harry Potter books had been a part of her life since she was in the third grade.

“Harry Potter has been my life. It’s inspired me and given me something to look forward to. I’m very sad it’s ending,” Baker said.

Over the years, Baker encouraged her family to read the books and watch the films with her.

“I’m upset that it is ending because it is the end of an era for my family,” Josh Baker said.

As more and more fans poured into the theaters, cinema officials announced to the crowd that the film was entirely sold out. This did not come as a surprise; the film franchise had already grossed a total of $6,343,865,842.00 from the first seven installments.

The series’ success has made author J. K. Rowling a billionaire, according to Forbes Magazine. And, judging by the massive crowds that turned out for the event and the hordes of costumed fans dressed as Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, and the rest of the students of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the series’ has left a resonating impact on those who have followed it.

As midnight approached, fans took turns shouting out how many minutes remained until the movie would begin. When the film finally began, the crowd erupted into thunderous applause. When the film ended, the same thunderous applause filled the theater, but with a touch of melancholy: the story of the magical world of Harry Potter and his friends had come to an end.

“The movies are over and it’s time to move on, but I don’t know if I’m ready to move on,” Springmann said.

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