This is becoming a catastrophe...

Four days. That’s how long it ended up taking me to watch every single Harry Potter movie thanks to various set-backs (such as my sister making me wait all day to watch HBP with her and deciding to have a nap instead or promising to watch the series from the beginning with me and changing her mind). I found myself crying during scenes I’d never cried about before. I would have loved to have read the books again as well but I ran out of time considering I never dreamed I’d actually be able to attend the midnight screening.

I ended up behind schedule. I spent the majority of my day worrying that the Snitch necklace I made for my wifey wasn’t going to arrive on time (fyi, it totally did and she called me and we kind of freaked out together) and deciding between four different shades of blue for my Ravenclaw headband. I finished watching Deathly Hallows Part 1 at 10pm and ate dinner faster than any human being should ever consume food. 

I ended up wearing my Alice in Wonderland dress with a white blouse underneath, a charcoal cardi, black stockings, vintage boots, a Ravenclaw headband and my Snitch necklace (which matches Tara’s) and forgoing the tie because I know from experience that tie aren’t exactly pleasant to wear when you’re crying. 

My dad ended up taking my sister and I to the cinema because, much like me, he despises taxis and we were out the door just before 11pm. I made the decision quite early on that if I were attending the midnight screening, it would not be at Chermside. Although I would have loved to be surrounded by Potterheads and the like, it would have cost a lot more to travel home and, from what I hear, it was packed. There ended up being quite a few people dressed up at the cinema I went to although very few people arrived as early as we did. My sister took my photo with the cardboard cut-outs of Snape and Voldemort (I may have taken the Voldemort one myself, I don’t quite remember) and I also took a photo for a group of girls with Snape who loved my Snitch necklace. Every time someone would compliment my Snitch necklace, I found myself unconsciously beaming with pride (that sounds slightly conceited but I really like making things and having people appreciate my efforts). 

My sister and I finally entered the cinema at quarter to 12 where I spotted a girl dressed up as a Hufflepuff seeker and numerous others dressed in Gryffindor and Slytherin robes. I also embarrassed my sister by serenading her with You’re The One That I Want and (I’ve Had) The Time Of My Life the latter of which they played while people were finding their seats. The previews dragged on for about 15 or 20 minutes after midnight. The entire cinema went silent when they started showing the behind-the-scenes footage of the final battle and we all assumed the film was about to start. Instead, they played the trailer for Green Lantern and everybody groaned and started booing.

From here on in, there is likely to be spoilers so if you haven’t seen the film yet, don’t read this next section.

The movie finally began and I was fine until, in the first few minutes, they showed Dobby’s grave and I could feel tears welling up in my eyes. My sister looked at me and asked incredulously “you’re not crying already are you?”
I don’t want to recap the entire movie so I’ll just mention a few things that will most definitely be out of order. I have always loved Maggie Smith and as Professor McGonagall, she is definitely one of my favourites. She’s so protective of Harry and the other students, her lines were fantastic and I just love how she’s willing to stand up for what she believes in. I found myself crying before the deaths had even begun. Seeing Fred and George/Tonks and Lupin preparing to fight and knowing that they weren’t going to survive the war was heartbreaking (minus George of course). 

Nothing was more heartbreaking, of course, than Snape’s death and the Prince’s Tale. There was not a dry eye in the cinema during those scenes, even my sister cried. I could hear the woman sitting beside us, who had brought her teenage daughter, sniffling during the majority of the film. After this point in the film, everything midly upsetting seemed to make me cry - Harry seeing his deceased family and friends (particularly the mention of Teddy), Narcissa asking Harry if Draco was still alive, Ginny’s reaction when she thought Harry was dead, the Weasley family gathered around Fred’s body.

The audience definitely cheered the hardest when Molly destroyed Bellatrix and I may have been gripping my sister’s arm in excitement waiting for that line. I also recall telling my sister, continuously, how much I loved Minerva, Neville and Molly more than anything whenever they were on screen. Ron and Hermione’s kiss in the Chamber of Secrets was also lovely and caused quite a lot of cheers. Neville and Luna being canon made me want to literally jump out of my seat in joy because it wasn’t just in my head. Neville, in general, was incredible in this film and I’ll admit that I even adored his cardigan.

Voldemort’s scenes were so hilariously awkward at times but in the best kind of way (as in, it allowed me to stop crying over other events for just a moment) and his hug with Draco - I find myself laughing every time I think about it. I had to stop myself from actually speaking the line “the boy who lived…come to die” when Voldemort finally said it thanks to watching the trailer too many times.

The epilogue was beautiful and the entire film itself was so perfect that when everybody started clapping at the end of the film, I ended up crying once again. I sat in the cinema, wanting to wait until the credits had ended but one of the women who worked there promised me I wasn’t missing any special features so I left (I hope to god she didn’t lie). Considering my sister ditched me to wait outside, I was the absolute last patron to leave the cinema.

Unfortunately, they decided to lock the cinema AND the shopping centre once the film had finished so we were forced out into the cold where I had only gloves and a light cardigan to keep me warm. I did, however, manage to make my sister understand why I love Harry Potter so much and succeeded in having her cry over a series she’d never taken much interest in. My mother had organised a taxi to pick us up shortly after the film had finished and for the first time in all the years I’ve taken taxis in Brisbane, the driver actually KNEW where he was going.

I didn’t end up in bed until about 4.30 AM and slept until about 1 PM wrapped under my blankets in a snuggie which I wore backwards to prevent choking. It wasn’t until I woke up that I realised that a backwards snuggie looks a lot like a wizard’s robe (or at least mine does because I’m tiny and it’s adult-sized with big draping sleeves - and yes, I own a snuggie because they’re incredibly warm, much more practical than a blanket and were on clearance for $7 at Target once) but that might be all my Freudian studies assuming that the decision was subconscious.

All in all, my day, night and morning was fantastic, heartbreaking and perfect all at once. I do hope I summed up my love for this film eloquently as I’ve been writing this post on and off for the past twelve hours.
-Kirsty.XO.