Harry Potter Excitement Reaches Fever Pitch Ahead of Midnight Movie Tonight

They are already in a frenzy of excitement. And it hasn't even started yet.

J.K. Rowling devotees in Montclair are gearing up for an experience they've been waiting for over a year: the release of the newest Harry Potter movie, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. 

At one minute past midnight tonight, Montclair's own Bellevue Theatre will be among the hundreds of cinemas showing a special screening of the film based on the seventh book in the series. The fact that it will to be the second-to-last Harry Potter film ever makes the occasion even more emotional than usual for the legions of fans that have followed the young wizard's saga for over a decade. 

Because the first book in the series, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, was published 13 years ago, many kids today have literally grown up with Harry, Ron, and Hermione. For them, seeing the characters mature and the series end is like saying goodbye to their own childhoods. 

Still, one of the distinctions of the Potter series is its ability to mix dark, grown-up emotions with childlike joy and hope, which aptly describes the state of mind of many a fan ahead of the opening of the new movie.

For example, at Maggie Goldberger's Upper Montclair home, five friends—all eighth graders from Renaissance or Glenfield middle schools—gathered on Wednesday night to share their (barely controlled) excitement. Between bouts of singing, shouting, raucous laughter, and pillow fights, the teens discussed what the Harry Potter phenomenon has meant to them. 

Maggie: To be honest, I'm more dreading (the movie) than looking forward to it. Harry Potter came out the year I was born so this is the beginning of the end.

Celine: I don't know why my parents won't let me stay up till two or three o'clock in the morning! Have you ever met one teenager who hasn't stayed up until 3:00 in the morning?

Tess: Most likely I'll be going to the movie dressed up as Neville Longbottom. Maggie will be my Luna Lovegood.

 Hannah: I'm looking forward to seeing where the movie ends. Will it be at the halfway point or before the Gringotts? To make it the most epic, biggest cliffhanger ever, it should end when Ron leaves.

 Maggie: I cried when I read this book. I read the Epilogue first. Everyone was shocked. My mom started screaming at me.

Paolo: I thought the seventh book was the least well-written. I could feel (JK Rowling) was rushed and under pressure. It wasn't methodical.

 Hannah: I thought the twist in the story was so cool when the elderwand went from Dumbledore to Malfoy to Harry.

 Paolo: I didn't care when Colin Creevy died.

 (Maggie holds her hand over her heart.) 

 Maggie: If you didn't cry when Dobby died you have real mental issues.

 Paolo: I didn't cry when any of the characters died.

 (Tess jumps up to slap him. Paolo shields himself with a pillow, laughing.)

 Paolo: All the characters that died—you knew they were going to die. 

Tess: The thing I really hate about the seventh book is how lightly everyone takes death.

 Paolo: I always wondered, how did Tonks die?

 (Consensus: Belatrix.)

 Maggie: With Fred and George—the ear symbolized one of two identical parts that was lost.

Paolo: I loved the white peacock but the scene at King's Cross was completely unnecessary. (Violent disagreement in the room. Paolo is clearly enjoying the havoc he's creating.) 

 Maggie: I cried with happiness when Ron and Hermione came with Harry to destroy the horcruxes because I didn't want Harry to be depressed the whole book.

Tess: Harry is so conflicted. I keep thinking how incredibly different the series would have been if Voldemort had chosen Neville instead of Harry.

Paolo: It would have been more interesting. Bouncier. Less anger management problems.

 Hannah: I think Neville was gay. I'm just saying.

Celine: Ron kind of cracked in the last book. He's not the most likeable character. 

Tess: It wouldn't have been nearly as good if he had sucked it up! These characters' emotions and perceptions of life are so real and so relatable, it's easy to forget it's a fantasy novel.

Maggie: But it's so much like our world! Harry says to Dumbledore: 'Is this real or is this all happening in my head?' And Dumbledore says, 'Of course it's all happening in your head but that doesn't mean it's not real.' I think those two lines embody all of Harry Potter.

Tess: It bothers me that Gryffindors are the "good guys". Shouldn't Hufflepuffs be classified as the good guys? They were honest. It sends a message about society: Nobody cares if you're honest because you'll be classified as weak.

 Maggie: It's like, no matter where you live—in Afganistan in the middle of a war or comfortable in Montclair—all teenagers go through this. It's about growing up. It's about human nature.

Paolo: Oh, and that's not a broad generalization.

Maggie: It's about the Holocaust—rounding up people with impure blood—and racism. It's about doing what's right. It's about the decisions people make. 

Celine: As a teenager, Dumbledore made all these mistakes and then was punishing himself for the rest of his life. It's like how some teenagers do drugs and then go to rehab and advise people against it.

Maggie: Harry is afraid he's going to turn into Voldemort. Dumbledore says it's the choices you make that make you who you are. (pause) The thing about Harry Potter is that it's a phenomenon. It can and does change people's lives. You can't say any other book has the power to do that. Except the Bible.

Tess: Or Twilight.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows at Clearview's Bellevue Cinema,  260 Bellevue Ave, Upper Montclair, 973-744-2543.