At 7 a.m., the magic of Harry Potter conjured up two young girls on the sidewalk in front of the Yukon Cinemas.
The girls set up lawn chairs in preparation for a 12-hour wait to get the first tickets to the 6:45 p.m. screening of the Order of the Phoenix, Potter’s fifth film chronicle.
The latest summer flick in the fantasy juggernaut has people lining up before cinemas across the country. (The seventh, and reportedly final book in the series will produce similar results in front of bookstores.)
Savannah Fuller, 12, and Julia Fedoriak, 13, have been reading the Harry Potter series, which follows a boy wizard trying to learn magic while dealing with normal teenage drama like girls and teachers, since Grade 2.
They can quote lines from every one of the four movies released thus far.
Sitting in line for 12 hours is only natural, they said.
“I wish we would have done this for the other (movies),” said Fedoriak, because while waiting in line for a previous Potter show the girls were subjected to spoilers from people leaving the screening.
Several friends planned to join the two Whitehorse girls later in the day, but not everybody is as enthusiastic.
“My mom thought I was crazy to come here,” said Fedoriak.
“My dad just laughed at me,” said Fuller.
Harry Potter has kept millions of kids — and adults — around the world reading, and inspired many to keep reading long after the series ends.
“The books capture me. I don’t notice anything around me when I’m reading,” said Fuller. “I’m reading a lot of fantasy that isn’t Harry Potter.”
“The books open up your imagination,” said Fedoriak.