Okay, that's not really much of a story. I guess there's a few side references here and there to Harry Potter slash and my almost-normal friends from class, but that's the lump sum total...

Well c'mon, we're here to see a movie, not make one. Though the poses later on suggested what might happen if Harry ever made it to the age of 18 in the movies...

And speaking of that, these photos are in no way representative of the chronology. Not that people were expecting continuity, but the pics from here on are basically non-sequitors. Now on with the show...

Since everyone was (rightfully) afraid of the fangirls, and the right-of-way was yielded for their hurried entrance into the theatre. Well, the people "yielded" in that "got trampled underfoot" sort of way, but you get the idea.

The result? A nice row of seats, eye-level with the middle of the screen. Come to think of it, it was almost literally the whole row; a few more peeps would have sufficed.

Mission accomplished. Now to reap the rewards...

...a half-hour wait in an overcrowded theatre. Joy. Well, it wasn't that bad; people shouted at each other and the group generally made their presence known. People went and got snacks, but someone had brought a large bag (or four) of lollipops, meaning a constant supply of sugar throughout the movie.

I, on the other hand, decided to give out miniature devil-duckies (see photo) for all of our crew, and anyone else who amused the group enough.

Immediately, devil-duckies were handed out to the people cosplaying as quidditch players, and a few other were handed out here and there. Hey, it seemed like a bad idea at the time, so I ran with it; maybe giving out squeek toys right before the start of a movie would fall under the "ill-advised" category, but hey, it had potential for fun.

So with that bit of dischord in place, I wandered out to the lobby for a bit. Amongst the crowd roamed a camera guy and a correspondant. The microphone lady was asking people some questions, but eventually she got bored of the cameraman (I don't blame her) and the guy with the camera went off wandering on his own, in search of some video-ops with cosplayers.

Maybe it was a bad idea to nudge him into theatre 2, where the psycho-cosplayers lay in wait for the movie. But it could have been entertaining, so I did it anyway.

He didn't get it. Not in the "was unable to receive, please re-connect" way, but he just didn't understand the concept of a gift.

Maybe he's not allowed to receive 75 cent bribes so that his portable inlet to national media stardom wouldn't be abused.

Or the words "here, take it" didn't mean anything to him, take your pick.

So, with that distraction over and done with, on to the show...

Postscript: The guy and his microphone weilding sidekick were there on behalf of CTV's national news, so there was a chance that the crew would make the national media. I watched the segment that night; it wasn't really about Harry Potter, more about blockbuster movies muscling out smaller flicks (like this is a new thing) and they decided to get some crowd pics to use Harry Potter as the latest example. Though shots from the evening were on TV, none of our crew made it. Maybe it's for the best...

Note: I hate spoilers, so I won't print any. Not that most people who are going haven't read the books, but anyway, if I start referring to events in the movie there's a good chance I'm not revealing much or, um, taking a liberal interpretation of the events.

First off, it's much better, in terms of moviemaking, than the first one. I've heard some people say they didin't like the second book as much as the first, but I can't comment on that. What I can say is that the second movie was much better-timed than the first. Why? Because there were parts in the first flick that were only there for the sake of inclusion. This movie didn't seem to have that.

There were some things missing, as far as I could tell. For instance, I was dissapointed that there was little education in the dark art of Satanism, and I felt barely compelled to worship the devil afterward. This was especially strange given some educational literature I'd read about Harry Potter.

Thankfully, the sexual innuendos were there, and in full force. I guess if J. K. Rowling can't turn the tykes to Satan on film, she can at least have them get their wank on. Yeah, sure, it was all innocent, riiiiight. The line concerning Hermione's tail, despite being a throwaway, was never thought to be anything but puritan. Or the bit about meeting a "sticky end".

Draco also did his best on the leather pimp couch, but that's another matter...

Myself, Neko-chan and a few others headed towards the escalator, trying to signal that now was a good time to leave, since the sirens of the SWAT team could be heard faintly building in the background.

I think the group was officially kicked out, but either way it was an inevitability, so we all scattered to Timmy's.

Once there, we were able to socialize in a quieter setting...

Conversation flourished, as did the photo ops. Even better, at Tim Hortons we didn't have to worry about the damn coloured lighting at the Paramount. Sure, there was the "making a public spectacle of ourselves" part, but still conditions were favourable.

With psycho fangirls re-united, plans began to form for the events over the next year. Con costumes, movie outfits, and other assorted bad plans came together. Alliances were formed, empires rose and crumbled and the Clamp tribe narrowly won the immunity challenge.

All the time, the real world lay in wait, ready to pounce, but for now the cosplayers were free to look like freaks. Mainly because they just about outnumbered everyone else there, and were more than cool with attracting attention.

In the "attracting attention" category, I think the grand champion event was Harry (Kristy) and Ginny (P-chan) re-enacting a bit from the movie. With the "lifeless schoolgirl" factor, this brought back a strange sense of deja vu from Toronto Trek.

This event (and the photographing/web page inclusion) brings my "lifeless schoolgirl" factor per event report average to 2 for 4.

If this was baseball, I'd be in the hall of fame. But since this is the internet, it just makes me... kinda creepy feeling. Oh well, nobody was dismembered this time at least...

...and the very fact that I have to rely on this "positive side" is truly disturbing.

The photos seemed to wind down, and talk resumed, fueled by recently-consumed caffene. My energy wound down as well, since I was out of pictures, and since I'd been working like a maniac that week, and had a weekend of work to look forward to...

Mental note: finish all work before con weekends.

Mental note 2: As if.

Though I'd like to say something profound given this juncture, I'm sorry to say I got nothin'.

Then again, everyone by now is probably tired of my babbling anyway.

So, how do we end? I walked to the station with some of the psycho fangirls, went home, downloaded pics and crashed.

Overall, the night was fun, and the pictures were decent. I think Kristy (Harry) wins for the best shots, but Riizu (the Satan-worshiping muggle) had some nice shots, and P-chan (Ginny) had a really cute shot. The slash shots made for good photo ops too...

And now, my friends, this story comes to an end...