My Marauder's Map Means Midnight Madness!
This woman is awesome.
The following post (and the comments, please) is SPOILER-FREE. Come celebrate the cuteness of the final Harry Potter release party!
I went to Diesel, which promised me puppets and failed to deliver. But they had other stuff, like these guys:
Calling themselves the Golden Snitches, they sang some songs (not very well, honestly, but points for effort) and hosted trivia bingo (or bean-go, as the man called it). The trivia questions ranged from terribly easy to moderately difficult, often using character descriptions straight from the book. I played one round, but I gave my card up to a kid for the second round, since they had run out. It was their night, after all. Unlike last time, it was less with the attractive girls and more with the adorable kids. But it was all totally smile-inducing.
For instance, as soon as I walked in, I saw a little blonde girl in white...reading The Quibbler upside-down. I chuckled in approval. Her dad asked her if I knew who she was.
"She's Luna," I said.
"Yes, I am," she replied dreamily. It was hilarious. Sadly, I didn't get a picture of her. I did catch this kid, however:
Viktor Krum!! Ha. He must have been looking for Hermioninny. He wouldn't have had to look hard; I saw quite a few of them, with costumes of varied creativity. One girl had a nametag that read "Hermione." Lame! One girl had a S.P.E.W. and "Prefect" badge, which were worth more points. My favorite, however, was a girl who was carrying around a stuffed orange cat: Crookshanks!
Viktor Krum had a sister who also looked to be dressed in Durmstrang attire, but they were fighting and wouldn't let me take a picture.
Also in attendance were a couple Snape supporters:
The woman on the left also had "Trust Snape" embroidered on the back. If you can't read the man's badge (click!), it reads "Snape is loyal." His costume design is questionable, however, as he looks more like an elf than a wizard. And there were a lot of of wizards and witches to compare him to.
I walked down the street to Pendragon, which was much more of a low-key affair and far less crowded. That's where I found this adorable chap:
Hedwig! Awww.
I also stumbled upon an awesome Trelawney:
She was totally in-character, moaning about THE PROPHECY!!! It was really funny.
I went back to Diesel, since nothing was happening at Pendragon. Soon, I heard someone calling, "Quibbler! Read and return!" Someone was passing out The Quibbler. It was another Luna:
Major points to this kid, huh? But the fact that he dressed up as Luna isn't all. I want you to click the following pictures to get the bigger versions, because the Quibbler he wrote is hilarious. I was seriously LOLing in the store.
It's the "BUT DOES HE?" that makes it art. (I haven't read the books in a while, so I wasn't sure whether that was a Rowling invention [it is], but props for style all the same.)
Better yet, he also remained in-character. When a girl asked where he got his wig, he was all, "Wig?" When asked where he got his hair, he was all, "I...grew it." Later, he adopted new calls, including, "My father is the editor!" Oh, Looney.
There were a few Harrys, including two girls who drew on glasses. For the most part, costumes were fairly generic Hogwarts robes and hats; I sought out people who were clearly dressed as specific characters.
Here, however, is my favorite costumed kid, who was actually one of the first I saw:
It's so elaborate! She's got the Quidditch robe. The little Q badge. The goggles, which I love. The broom. The Snitch. Earlier, she was also carrying around a copy of Quidditch Through the Ages. I didn't notice the scar before, which doesn't really belong, but it's the Scar, so I'll let it slide, because take a closer look at her badge:
She's dressed as Katie Bell. Who the fuck dresses up as a random Gryffindor Chaser (coincidentally, the one I randomly developed a crush on based on name alone)? This girl, that's who.
About twenty minutes before midnight, people formed lines to get their precious books:
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
This is the way the world ends, not with a whimper but a "Wooooooooo!"