Expelliarmus! A day of Harry Potter Antics

I have never been to a movie premiere, that was until this afternoon.  As many of you may have been aware, the Harry Potter premiere took place today in Leicester Square, just a hop skip and a jump from my hotel.  We, as a group, have been counting down the days to this epic event, and what a day it was!  After spending the morning wondering why we have to have class when Daniel Radcliffe (aka Harry Potter) is soon to be gracing all of his screaming fans with his presence, we immediately headed over to the Square.

It was already filled with people, some who had even spent the night on the cold rainy pavement. Now, I'm a Potter fan and I love a good camping trip, but I do not combine the two... Therefore, I was perfectly content to arrive at 12:30 and take my place (fenced in!) along the red carpet path.  Here is the down-low of the day:

12:30 arrive in Leicester Square with Kirby Annah and Rachel.  Stake out a spot only two rows back                  from the red carpet.

1:00 begin to make friends with all of the other crazy people who will be standing around me for the next five hours.  And for the record, there are multiple people carrying their own wizard wands...I have photo documentation

2:00 break out the apple, pb sandwich, and Tolberone as sustenance for the long stand.

2:30 Downpour #1- attempt to take shelter under the 5 million umbrellas but end up completely soaked after using my head to block my camera from being rain ruined.

3:30 Umbrellas close

3:45 Meet Harry Potter's #1 fan, who proceeds to tell us about every club, trivia fact, and movie spoiler.  She supposedly attended the actual movie premiere last year for about 2000 pounds a ticket and sat next to Snape.  Also, she says that she flew from Norway to London just to see attend this evening's premiere (and by attend I mean stand next to me by the carpet as the stars pass).  We later come to think that she may just be a crazed fan who has created these events in her head...we will never know for sure

4:00 Downpour #2 shelter is futile...

4:30 Legs begin cramping and I wonder if I can make it until the stars come out, but I have lasted this long so I just push on through- plus I am spurred on by the fact that the movie trailer is now playing ont he huge screen setup in the square.

5:00 Posters have now emerged, the red carpet has unfurled, RON WESLEY is announced!  The square is an explosion of camera flashes, screaming fans, painted faces, interviews, film crews, and posters.

6:00 Begin to wonder why I have only heard the screaming fans and the stars announced but have not seen a single person except all the unknown people who happened to get tickets to the movie... surely the cast has to walk past me to get into the theatre?

6:30 First star sighting...The X Factor contestants, but I am here to see Ron, Harry, and Hermione.


7:00 ALL THE STARS WALK RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME TO THE THEATRE!  The fans are screaming, they are pretty much smashing me in an attempt to get an autograph.  And I simply smile and snap as many photos as I can before the crowd spits me out somewhere near the exit.  Kirby Annah and Rachel and I all reconvene, screaming excitedly about what has just happened.

7:30 We head out before the massive crowd all leaves and take much needed refuge in a booth in one of our favorite restaurants, Chiquito's.  Spend the next hour enjoying dinner, looking at pictures, and talking about how crazy the whole experience was.

Time Count: 6 hrs 45 mins
Rain Count: 2 downpours, 1 drizzle
Hair Count: Imagine a drowned rat and you have a fair picture of my hair; so glad that I abandoned my hair drier two months ago.
Star Count: Harry, Ron, Hermione, Luna, Malfoy and a number of others
Day Count: Amazing day #(insert how ever many days I have been here for)