Hundreds of young fans and their parents gathered at Grossmont Center amid a party atmosphere Thursday night as they waited to say farewell to their childhood friend, Harry Potter.
Two and a half hours before the opening, the line of Harry Potter admirers started at the fountain and weaved back toward Target, out to the parking lot and then around Macy's.
Brittany Cliffe, 18, who had waited in line since 10:15 a.m., said, "I think it will be good based on the trailer. It won't be exactly like the book." She added, "It never is, but it will be all emotional."
A 16-year-old fan, who started another line at 6:30 a.m. for the 12:01 a.m. movie said she expected the movie to have a lot of action. Anxious to see the last of the Harry Potter movies, she bought her ticket on June 13, when they first went on sale.
Fans dressed in ties and robes as their favorite characters wandered the mall, roleplaying mock confrontations with each others.
To fill the hours in line, fans played cards, ate, texted, and colored in coloring books.
In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, the eighth* and final installment in the film series, Potter, Ron and Hermione search to destroy Dark Lord Voldemort's last remaining Horcruxes―the magical items that make him immortal. Along the way, they discover the Deathly Hallows and Potter and Voldemort meet face-to-face in an epic battle.
*Editor's note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 was the sixth installment in the film series.
