So, my wife Heather and my friends Chris and Emily Burkhart are huge Harry Potter fans. They’ve read the books, watched the movies multiple times, and can talk about the minuscule differences between the two. So, there was no question that they were going to the Midnight showing of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Not being one to be left out, I decided to join in the fun and go to my 1st midnight movie. Yes, Harry Potter is my 1st midnight movie, and I am 25. I’m coming to terms with that.
One of the reasons why this is my first midnight movie is that I am not very good after midnight, and I am especially not good watching movies after midnight. In fact, when I can’t fall asleep at night, I will go to the living room and… watch a movie to fall asleep. So, alas my confidence in my ability to stay awake was lacking. Without further ado…
4:07- Lay down next to Heather for a long pre-movie nap. If I am going to stay awake through the movies, then 2 1/2 hrs is a minimum.
7:33- Wake up from nap, 3 1/2 hours pretty solid nap. Long enough to give me a nap.
9:43- Heather and I prepare to go to the theatre. Call our friends Chris and Emily Burkhart, who are a little ahead of us on the road with their brother Aaron.
9:55- We arrived at the theatre, probably about 30 people in front of us about a dozen in costume.
10:00- Went to get lawn chairs from Chris’ car. Nice to have some experienced midnighters in the group.
10:03- Best costume so far- Hagrid by far. Big guy, huge beard and hair. Other highlights, a Voldemort with a white swimming head-thing and white face paint, a couple Harry Potters though the only similarities would be the glasses and the scar, and some random brown bee-looking costume, not sure what it is.
10:10- Making a kroger run to pick up a deck of cards and some other “equipment” for the movie. I normally don’t do this, but I really need some gummy worms to help me stay awake.
10:13- Walk into Kroger and hear two teenager girls talking about how guys are “too stupid to say it first.” We’re sorry, ladies.
10:16- Candle aisle is curiously full. Deck of card choices: ec0-friendly, High School Musical, or creepy glow-in-the-dark. Went with the creepy ones, they were the cheapest.
10:23- Arrived back at the movies with cards. Place is filling up.
10:26- After I dealed out the first hand of 5 Card Draw, they let us in the theatre. Awesome.
10:30- After taking the chairs back to Chris’ car, we realize that they only opened up the first theatre, so we got to walk past a whole bunch of people in line. One of the highlights so far, the envious glare of people as Chris and I stroll past them.
10:34- Quote from one of the High School girls behind us, “I left my wand in my purse.”
10:35- Curiously enough, their wands look like sticks, but what do I know.
10:36- Heather got to take a picture of Voldemort and Hermione together, smiling. I can’t help but chant “Voldemort, Voldemort, Voldemort” very softly in honor of Jim from the Dinner Party episode of The Office.
10:42- Chris begins planting the seed of a costume contest in our theatre, me I’m hopefully.
10:47- First hints of tiredness hit me. Must press through.
10:52- Figure out the weird bee costume is actually the golden snitch. My friends are mad that they didn’t figure this out. It took me a sec to remember what the golden snitch was.
10:56- We are sitting right in front of a youth group that is all dressed up. Voldemort is sitting right behind Heather. This does not make me feel safe. Voldemort has already cast the death spell on Chris multiple times.
11:05- Make a run to the concession stand. Pickle and cherry slush for the pregnant wife and a coke for me that I plan to drink throughout the movie. Aaron needs his caffeine.
11:11- Apparently, I missed a heated discussion between Aaron, who teaches music, and some High School girls about the viability of Kelly Clarkson as an artist. I don’t know whether to be sad or excited I miss this. Nevertheless, they are still going at it.
11:12- Chris is refusing to lead a costume contest despite my urgings, but he is willing to drink the pickle juice. Not an even trade, but entertaining. I quote, “It’s not nearly as intense as you might think, though I can tell where I didn’t brush my teeth.”
11:13- Gotta love concession stand food. Written on the pickle wrapper: Net wt. 1 pickle. Thanks a lot.
11:19- Chris and Emily are bragging to their friend in Indiana because her movie does not start till 12:06. Yep, these are my friends.
11:24- Contemplating closing my eyes. Heather is discouraging me, saying I won’t wake up well. She’s probably right.
11:28- The conversation about Kelly Clarkson has moved to the Wonder Years. Chris goes on a rant about Winnie playing with his heart, cheating on him, and so-on. Jeremy, a seminary student from Oklahoma, who is sitting by us, says, “So, she was the normal High School Girl.”
11:30- 30 minutes left. You can feel the buzz in the air.
11:32- Best “over-the-top” outfit, Guy who dressed up as a Hogwarts student has doctoral stripes on his robe. Gotta love it.
11:35- The pre-movie stuff finally came on the screen. We applauded, but alas this guarantees that there is no costume contest.
11:36- Just learned that Snoop Dog rapped “Ain’t Nothing but a G Thang” for the first time into a jail phone to Dr. Dre. Anyone that surprised?
11:39- Voldemort and Hermione are very excited about some boy band on the screen. I am not.
11:43- Heather and Emily make the pre-movie bathroom trip. Both are optimistic, they can make it through the movie. I am not so optimistic for them.
11:48- Shirt of the day: Black shirt, 1 Word: Muggle.
11:50- Just learned this is The Empire Strikes Back of the Harry Potter Series. If you have seen it you know what I mean.
11:52-Voldemort has just returned from what I am assuming with the bathroom, because she no longer has her Voldemort face on.
11:56- You can feel the anticipation in the room.
11:58- Chris just got back from the men’s room. Said he watched 4 grown men not wash their hands in the bathroom. His theory is that because they came to the midnight showing of Harry Potter, they are attempting to gain their man card back by not washing their hands. My theory they are lazy, dirty, and don’t want to miss the previews.
11:59- Chris just burped pickle juice. Know what we can learn from this, if you would just lead a costume contest, then you wouldn’t have the sting of burping pickle juice.
12:00- The lights go off and the crowd goes wild.
I did not take any notes during the movie, but I will tell you this. This was such a focused crowd. Though they were fun pre-movie, once the lights went out. Everybody was silent, looked forward, and was deeply involved in the story. I did manage to stay awake throughout the movie. My gummy worms, coke, and pre-movie nap were effective. I ended up getting about 6 hours of sleep that night. All-in-all, it was a good night.
