Harry Potter Premiere

On Thursday as I walked through Trafalgar Square I saw the Harry Potter preparations under way.  I took some pictures of the set up process.  There were some diehard fans already camped out near the stage, and we saw plenty of Potter outfits and facepaint when I went to Tesco for lunch.  I sat on the steps of St. Martin’s-in-the-Fields and observed the craziness beginning. 

On Friday night I decided to attend the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows world premiere in Trafalgar Square.  I knew that this would never happen again, I was here in London and I didn’t have any plans.  I walked up to the Square and found a spot near the edge of the crowd.  Most of the square was barricaded off so that the die hard fans who had camped out were on the inside, up close to the stage and screen.  Many fans were standing on the steps to St. Martin’s-in-the-field; their view partially blocked by a statue.  I had a pretty decent view of the huge screen; I was far enough back to see it over the banner barricade.  For those of you who have been there I was back near the National Gallery, standing against the short wall.  I was on the left edge of the crowd.  The wall was too crowded for me to get up there and get a better view, but I was fine. 

Around 7:15 a few of the stars walked down from Leicester Square to see the fans.  Dan, Rupert, Emma, and Rowling came down along with the producer and director.  They all thanked the crowd, autographed items, and spoke to fans.  They each had some time with the microphone; I could hear bits of Emma’s and Rowlings’ speeches, but not the guys.  Emma and Rupert ended up in tears; Dan managed to hold himself together.  Apparently lots of the actors turned up at Leicester (I don’t know all the actors names): Hagrid, Ginny, Snape, Molly Weasley, Voldermort, the twins, and Dumbledore.  Around 7:50 they headed back up to the Odeon for the show, and then a 10 minute preview/series summary was shown on the big screen.  Literally 5 minutes after it ended the police were out trying to get folks to go home.  I was exhausted from a long day and was happy to head back to the flats.  For one night I got to pretend I was a crazy Potter fan.  It was fun being on the fringes of the crowd.