Nampa librarian: Potter bash was ‘magical evening'

NAMPA — Hundreds of “Pottermaniacs,” dressed as everything from “Dumbledore” to “dementors,” descended upon Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry — also known as the Nampa Public Library — this weekend.

The occasion: Two events to celebrate the release of the seventh, and supposedly final, installment of the Harry Potter series Friday night and Saturday morning.

Library technology wrangler David Johnson portrayed the legendary wizard and head of the Hogwarts boarding school, Albus Dumbledore, with a wizard's hat, robes, spell book, wand and a beard he spent two months growing just for the Harry Potter party.
Johnson said between 350 and 400 folks came for Friday night's midnight release of J.K. Rowling's “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” and 100 to 150 more came for Saturday morning's festivities.

Library staff “tried to transform the library building into Hogwarts,” Johnson said. They put up extra lighting and decorations and even transformed the building's basement into a “Chamber of Secrets.”

The event drew Potter fans of all ages, with teenagers being the best represented at the late-night party.
After they were welcomed with a speech by Johnson as Dumbledore, patrons were free to watch a screening of “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” and “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets,” dig into refreshments like “Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans” and toss the “quaffle” in a simulated “quidditch” match.

Johnson said regular library patrons and diehard Potter fans made up the bulk of the crowd and were joined by people attracted to the books by the blockbuster film adaptations of the Harry Potter books — a trend Johnson praised.

“Once they get started on ‘Harry,'” Johnson said, “they get into other (books in similar genres) ... and that just gets them into reading.

Johnson said the library staff “really got into it” and that the community embraced the event as well, with dozens of youth dressing as the titular boy wizard and others appearing as other characters from the novels.

“We're all wrung out, but we're really happy that it turned out as well as it did,” Johnson said. “It was a magical evening.”