After waiting 13 years since the first book was released, adults and children alike viewed the first half of the final film in the Harry Potter series Friday at midnight showings.

The first part of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” premiered locally at AMC Showplace 10 in Mattoon.

The theater set aside four screens for the midnight premiere of the movie.

Brandon Heller, a senior physics major and president of the Harry Potter Club, said the club has been planning certain aspects of the event for nearly a month. Heller said the club has been designing T-shirts for “The Deathly Hollows” for a month.

The Harry Potter Club also had its final Quidditch match Sunday. Quidditch, a game created by J.K Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series, began at Eastern last spring through the Harry Potter Club. The club will be traveling to Purdue University next semester for its first Quidditch match on the road.

Other than Quidditch, the club has increased its discussion on the novel in correlation with the release of the movie.

“Personally I am one of the minority that loves book five, ‘The Order of the Phoenix.’ Mainly I thought the surprises in the seventh book were exceptional, which is why I love the series,” Heller said.

People all over the world have read the Harry Potter series, which had about 325 million copies in print worldwide before the release of the seventh book, according to The New York Times.

“(Harry Potter) brings something to each person, I personally love it for its surprises,” Hellere said. “The thing is we are learning in creative writing that you’re not supposed to do those kinds of surprises, but (J.K Rowling) does it so well that it makes you look back and say ‘that all makes sense.’ She makes you keep going and she makes characters that are livable in your own life, you can relate to them. It’s real life that just happens just to have magic.”

Jeanne Goble, a library specialist in Booth Library’s Ballenger Teachers’ Center, said she has seen all the movies and read all the books. She said she plans on seeing the movie some time over Thanksgiving break.

“I think most kids have seen the movies and they like them, but they want to read the books afterward because books usually do a better job with description and the movies are intense with the special effects,” Goble said. “But the books themselves kind of extend that enjoyment because you get to get into the characters heads more.”

Leona Murphy, a sophomore early childhood education major, and Chris Williams, a sophomore sociology major, both said they plan on seeing the movie sometime soon, but didn’t plan on going to the midnight showings. Murphy said she would like to go see the movie once the crowds are gone.

On the other hand, Courtney Klus, a freshman marketing major, doesn’t plan on seeing the movie in theaters.

“(The Harry Potter craze) was cool at first but now its just getting overrated, annoying and dragged down,” Klus said.

The conclusion to “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows” is scheduled to be released in 2011.

Danny Damiani can be reached at 581-7942

or [email protected]