Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Midnight Release Party

So as the whole world surely knows, July 31st was the long awaited release of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child!

Harry Potter #8

Publisher: Little Brown UK

Publication Date: July 31st, 2016

Goodreads

Summary (from Goodreads):

The Eighth Story. Nineteen Years Later.

Based on an original new story by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany, a new play by Jack Thorne, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is the eighth story in the Harry Potter series and the first official Harry Potter story to be presented on stage. The play will receive its world premiere in London’s West End on July 30, 2016.

It was always difficult being Harry Potter and it isn’t much easier now that he is an overworked employee of the Ministry of Magic, a husband and father of three school-age children.

While Harry grapples with a past that refuses to stay where it belongs, his youngest son Albus must struggle with the weight of a family legacy he never wanted. As past and present fuse ominously, both father and son learn the uncomfortable truth: sometimes, darkness comes from unexpected places.

I have been jazzed for this book for quite some time and when I found out that the Barnes and Noble two hours from where I live was going to be having a midnight release party, I knew I had to go! I went to the midnight release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows during the summer between my sophomore and junior years of high school. I enjoyed that, but it was NOTHING compared to this. Probably because it was at Walmart and not a bookstore...

So when I found out about the event, I told the BF that he had to come with me! I'm so glad he was able to get away from ranch work for a couple days to come with me! We got to do some shopping and go out to eat and relaaaaax.

Around 8 pm we finally headed to the bookstore to participate in all the games and festivities! I had bought a set of Hufflepuff robes to wear and I thought I was gonna feel so silly in them, but there were plenty of other people there that were dressed up so I felt a lot better about it.

When we arrived we got tickets for our place in line and a coupon for 20% off one item. So obviously some shopping had to be done, right? Of course!

Each Hogwarts house had a table set up with different activities at each one. The first one the BF and I hit up was the Slytherin table where they had Harry Potter Taboo. This was pretty fun even though I think everyone in the little group we had going on felt awkward having to play with complete strangers.

After Slytherin, we hit up the Ravenclaw table where they had two different trivia games going on. We had to wait a little bit for more people to come over for this one, but it was pretty fun even though I was incredibly rusty on my trivia. Shameful. My team lost, but the girl who single handedly won for the other team apparently reads the books summerly so there was really no hope.

Gryffindor was next with a game where you draw a wizarding person/animal/thing and it gets stuck to your back and you have to ask people questions to figure out who/what you are. I was Hedwig. I didn't like this game just because I was uncomfortable asking people questions. I felt like I was bothering everyone I walked up to.

The Gryffindor people were kind of stingy with their prizes. Each house had pins and magnets with the house crest on them and the other houses just let you have them, but Gryffindor made you win before you could take some!

Last we went to the Hufflepuff table. They were out of pins when we got there, but they still had magnets so that was good at least. Hufflepuff's challenge was a scavenger hunt! They had printed off pictures of all of Voldemort's horcruxes and hidden them around the store and you had to go find them all. I liked that game the best because I didn't have to really interact with other people. And it took quite awhile which was nice because we had four hours to blow!

Besides those activities, there were coloring pages to work on and a wall to write about your Harry Potter memories. There was a costume contest for adults and for children. I don't know why any of the adults even bothered entering because there was a girl there who sewed her own Hedwig costume for the event so there was a clear winner from the moment she walked in!

While wandering around the store all night, I found a Game of Thrones Grey Worm Funko Pop in the clearance bin so I obviously had to snatch that up! And I used my 20% off coupon on a hardcover of The Beauty of Darkness by Mary E. Pearson since they had it out early and I couldn't resist. After that we brought our purchases out to the car and sat outside for like half an hour until it was about time to start lining up for the book!

I'm so glad that we got there kind of early because we were in the third line they started and it only took about 5 minutes from when they started ringing the books up for us to get through the line and get out. I was exhausted by the end but it was so much more fun than the other Harry Potter release party I had attended! I'm so glad I went!

And now I am the proud owner of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child!

Did you go to a midnight release for this book? How was yours?