They may not be able to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, but Maggie Wiener and her friends bought their tickets to the fifth installment of the Potter phenomenon early and showed up more than 11 hours before showtime.
The first “Harry Potter” book came out when the girls were in the fourth grade. They?ve read each of the books again and again.
“Harry Potter wasn?t cool at my middle school, so I was a closet Harry Potter fan,” Wiener, 18, said. “I?ve read some of the books 60 times.”
“We got the tickets the day they were announced on the Senator [Theatre?s] list serve,” Suzanna Rogers added.
The group arrived at about 1 p.m.
“We wanted to get the best seats,” Rogers, 18, said.
All the girls just graduated from The Bryn Mawr School.
Senator Manager Gayle Gove said “Harry Potter” film openings can be overwhelming.
“There?s just such a vibe about this crowd,” she said. “It?s hard to explain unless you?ve been to one of these openings.”
The theater staff has been preparing since the tickets sold out Friday, Grove said.
“We?re popping lots of popcorn, melting lots of butter,” she said. “We?re preparing as if we were preparing for a storm. We made sure we got a lot of toilet paper and a lot of popcorn.”
Elizabeth Slabik, 24, has seen all the “Star Wars” sequels and “Harry Potter” movies at the Senator.
“The Senator is awesome,” she said. “They always take care of us at openings. Sometimes we get pizzas delivered from across the street while we?re waiting in line.”
Even bookstore staff members are getting excited.
The opening also has attracted more customers coming into Barnes & Noble?s Power Plant location, said Erik Strobl, who is planning for their book release party.
“We?re having a costume party and live owls,” said Strobl, who plans to dress as Hogwarts instructor Serverus Snape. “There?s also going to be a big sci-fi convention that Friday and the Power Plant?s having a lock-in party too, so that should generate traffic.”
Barnes & Noble has initially stocked 2,100 copies of the seventh and final edition for the official release July 21, but, Strobl said, “that number?s going to go up a lot.”
