Arts & Entertainment
Hallows And Goodbyes: Harry Potter Movies Come To An End
For many fans, the midnight showing of the last Harry Potter film brought closure. Among those in attendance were Palatine residents Taryn Haas, Ryan Duncan, Scott Balcer and Amber Newman.
For a few hours on Thursday night, fans gathered at the AMC Loews theater at the Streets of Woodfield to watch and celebrate the final installment of the Harry Potter series.
While some fans simply painted lightning bolts on their foreheads or attended as Muggles, others opted to wear elaborate costumes for the premiere of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2.
Palatine residents Taryn Haas and Amber Newman made their own shirts that read “Harry Potter Part II.” “Amber and I always go all-out for the Harry Potter movies, so we made shirts for tonight,” Haas said.
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Haas and Newman attended the movie with Scott Balcer and Ryan Duncan. “We just basically dragged Scott and Ryan along with us,” Hass said.
While many fans dressed as the film’s heroes, Johnathan Park of Schaumburg came to the movie dressed as Voldemort. “I figured there would be lots of Harry Potters here tonight, but how many Voldemorts will there be?” he asked. Prior to the movie, Park posed for pictures with other fans.
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Fans waited in roped-off areas before they could be seated for the midnight showing. Michael Stephens and Chelsea Estinoza, who both recently moved to the area from California, were first and second in line for one of the showings.
“We’ve been here since about 6:15,” said Estinoza, wearing a hand-knit scarf in Gryffindor’s colors. “At that point, it was just us and one other person in line for another midnight showing, so we just sort of stared at each other for a while. We want to get a good seat that’s eye-level with the screen and in the middle of the row.”
For some fans, attending the premiere meant a long drive to the theater. Maggie Guttman drove about 380 miles from Wooster, Ohio, to Schaumburg to see the movie with Maya Blackstone of Chicago.
Guttman and Blackstone have known each other since preschool, but only reconnected via Facebook in the last two years. “We haven’t seen the other Harry Potter movies together, but we thought we’d do that tonight,” Blackstone said.
While people waited to see the film, they texted, read, played games and talked. Everyone waited anxiously and furtively checked cell phones and watches to see how much longer until midnight.
