On Thursday night, The Great Room took the form of its magical sibling, the Great Hall at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, in preparation for the midnight premiere of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1.”
From across the room, a bell rang, and someone seated at a long wooden table yelled out, “Ten points to Gryffindor!” Another student wearing taped, black horn-rimmed glasses and a red and gold striped tie walked back to his seat carrying two cups of butterbeer.
The Northwestern dining hall prepared a special menu for the night in the style of The Three Broomsticks, a pub referenced in the series by J.K. Rowling. It included sorcerer’s fish and chips, licorice wands, butterbeer, popcorn and concession candy along with all of its regular made-to-order items.
The event began at 5 p.m. and featured a Scene It? trivia game at 8 p.m. They also ran a special offer for the first 25 people to buy butterbeer: a free Harry Potter keepsake cup.
McCormick freshman Aliza Abraham stood in line with her friends to get something to eat before going to the midnight showing. She said she saw a sign advertising the event in the Sargent dining hall a few days before.
And despite having never been to The Great Room, she said her fandom compelled her to go.
“It’s pretty cool,” Abraham said. “I don’t know if they’re going to do Harry Potter Scene It? or not, but that sounded fun.”
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1” is the seventh and penultimate installment of the movie series. The movie is split into
two parts, and the finale will hit theaters next July.
Century Theatres originally had two midnight screenings planned, but when those sold out more than three weeks in advance, the theater opened more to accommodate demand.
