London VIP launch Party – a magical evening!

On Friday night, myself and Matt, owner of CoSForums, were lucky enough to be treated as press to cover the VIP launch of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince at Waterstones in Oxford Street, London.

Here’s our story:

We arrived in London that very afternoon with an Australian friend from the forums. London was as crowded as we thought it would be; we had even heard there had been a queue since 6:00am that morning! About 6:00 we headed out to join the queue. It was a longer walk than I expected from the hotel, but we arrived there around 6:30pm. The store was still open, but the queue had formed behind iron railings. We followed it back, expecting it to be round a corner. Some minutes later, we joined it around the block. If I remember correctly we were around 300th in the queue when raffle tickets were given out. There was no need to worry about not getting a book, the shop had over 7500 copies! The waiting then began. Matt and I went to find the lovely Jackie from PR, who was our contact for the evening. We found out we were lucky enough to be given access to the interior of the shop at 11:20pm. We would see the book before anyone else in the queue!

It was then time to think about interviews and coverage. As the queue was so long and we wanted to talk to as many people as possible, we made up a few set questions.

1. How long have you been a Harry Potter fan?
2. How long have you been queuing?
3. Do you know any spoilers?
4. Who’s your favourite character?
5. What ship do you support?
6. What’s your favourite book?

Slowly, we worked our way to the front, seeking out those faithful fans that had been queuing from 6:00am. It was Savannah, Sinead, and Suzanna right at the front, who knew MuggleNet rather well! We chatted a lot, and the interview can be seen at the end of the report. We did this for a couple of hours, seeking out the young, old and interestingly dressed! In that time, to my amazement, I actually had my photo taken and autograph asked for (I’m nearly as famous as Emerson!).

Two hours to go...

The party livened up. The look-alikes and animatronics (which we still aren’t sure what they are) had arrived. We had a gigantic Hagrid, with his strong Hagrid-like Somerset accent, a Dumbledore which I suspect had taken polyjuice potion because he was so alike, and a greasy-haired, malice filled beetle-eyed Snape. These were just some of the look-alikes! There were also street magicians, as well as a Moaning Myrtle (whom I got no coherent conversation out of, apart from that she was miserable). The gargoyles that turned up were jumping on people like there was no tomorrow, see pictures. They were so flexible they’d have challenged a gymnast in a competition! The atmosphere was building, the queue was getting longer and the press were in their element with interviews. We also had a religious preacher join us at this point telling us we would all go to hell. I wanted to go and give him a few choice words, but Matt felt it was better not to and dragged me away.

One hour to go...

We met up with Rotsiepots, a CoSForums admin who was also visiting the UK. We chatted until half 11, when it was time to make our way inside. We went to the back entrance of Waterstones, and joined the rest of the press. Here there were 'The Times' reading team assembling, ready to read for a synopsis in the paper. As Matt had been spoiled over the entire book, the reporter took him aside and got a quick summery of the major spoilers from him.

Twenty minutes to go...

We made our way upstairs, and into the shop. Everywhere we looked there were books. I was so close, I could touch them. It took all self control not to lean over and take one to start reading! We were told not to take pictures until midnight, so we have none for the inside. Behind us were 7 tills with all staff getting a pep-talk. They had to meet 2500 people, covering a mile long queue!

Ten minutes to go...

The atmosphere was buzzing. I was getting excited, jumping up and down slightly. Louder screams came from outside, counting down the minute...

One minute to go...

The atmosphere was electric with anticipation. Hagrid was starting the countdown. The staff, press and fans; we were all waiting.

Midnight struck. Here is what happened, captured on film. (right click - "Save Target As..." to download, 3.25MB). As you can see, it was wild. Fans filed in, picked up their copies. Matt and I were now free to get ours. I snatched my copy, and ran to the tills. After paying, we got ours officially stamped to say we had attended this party, and started back to the hotel. We got in at half 12, and began reading. Matt, knowing what would happen, waited for my reactions. At 4am, we became too tired to continue and got some rest until the next morning.

I finished at midday. The moment came when I read that death, that painful agonising death. I put the book down in disbelief, and sobbed. From then on, until the end of the book, I didn’t stop crying. At midday, I closed the book feeling drained and emotional. From Friday, I had laughed, cried, gasped, swore but loved every second of it. I don’t think I’ll forget the atmosphere that night, certainly not the lovely people I had met.

To read some of the interviews, click here.
To see the pictures, Click here.

---

MuggleNet is an unofficial Harry Potter fan site. Please email us if you have any questions or concerns. MuggleNet's original layouts were designed and created by Navy. All subsequent layouts by Dylan Spartz.

© 1999-2008 MuggleNet.com. All rights reserved.

Privacy Policy | COPPA Policy | Feedback | Credits
Random Addresses

1,267 muggles currently online