By LUKE AND THOMAS CHURCHILL

There was a large crowd in the parking lot at Ben and Jerry’s Friday night, July 20, when people throughout Davidson came to Main Street for a movie, a trivia contest, and the unveiling of Harry Potter No. 7 (“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows”).

Harry Potter fans snake through Main
Street Books before midnight Friday waiting
for the new book. (Suzanne Churchill photo)

We were there at a birthday party for our friend, so we saw it all. About a half-dozen people were dressed up in costume. Most of them just had round eyeglasses and tattooed scars. Some of them had wizard hats. One girl dressed as Harry Potter, wearing a wizard hat, a cloak, a tie, glasses, and a wand.

Karen Toney, manager of Ben & Jerry’s, did the trivia, helped by our friend Madeline Guise. Karen asked questions like, “What would you see if you looked in the Mirror of Erised?” (Answer: whatever you wanted most in the world), and “How did Ben and Jerry learn to make ice cream?” (Sorry, we can’t tell you the answer; you’ll have to go get some ice cream to find out.) Karen and Madeline gave out prizes to the people who answered the questions correctly. Some of these prizes were: a free pint of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, a Ben & Jerry’s T-shirt, Harry Potter bookmarks, coffee mugs, and loads of other cool stuff.

Then came the movie, “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,” the fourth in the series. It was a lot of fun to be outside watching a movie projected on the wall of Summit Coffee and waiting for the final Harry Potter book to come out. The movie was great, even though the visibility wasn’t so good at the beginning, when it wasn’t quite dark.

LINE AT MIDNIGHT

By the time the movie was over, there was a huge line in Main Street Books. To get your book you had to wait in line get an index card with your name on it, and then wait in another line until midnight.

There were some games in the back of the store where you could win free Harry Potter merchandise (if you could get to them). It was so crowded you could hardly move, and you could feel the anticipation in the crowd.

When the clock struck 12 everyone cheered, and “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” was finally here!

Luke and Thomas Churchill are rising sixth graders. They live on South Street.

Shortly after midnight, Stephan Snyder and Daniel Wyatt went right to work reading “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” outside Summit Coffee. (Suzanne Churchill photo)