The Party That Shall Not Be Named | Harry Potter Night

If you have been living under a rock, you may not have heard that a new Harry Potter book was just released.  Anderson’s Bookshop (the best independent bookstore ever!) hosted a midnight release for the book and got all of downtown Naperville involved on the action.  Downtown was turned into Diagon Alley as we had The Party That Shall Not Be Named.  The streets were closed off from 6:00pm – midnight with stages and contests and activities and events all over.  People wandered through the stores and streets in costumes, consuming butterbeer (when it wasn’t sold out), comparing wands, and in general, having a blast.  I wish I had been able to experience it, too, but I was locked inside the studio.  During this event, we transformed into Polyjuice Portraits and provided Harry Potter-themed images on green screen.  I wanted to create something cool for people, so I did a greenscreen creation, though I had the final image on display outside, so they would know what they would be getting.  It was a crazy night. I had no idea what to expect.  Thankfully, my assistant, as well as my family helped out.

It was wonderful to see so many people walking our wonderful downtown with a shared joy.  Here are just a few of the many, many images I took.  When I got set up, I needed to test my lighting, so my lovely daughter got to be my test subject.  She was all for it, and apparently should be an actress.

 

These two fur balls were dressed up in their Griffindor ties!

 

This family wins for most creative!  At first I didn’t understand what mom was when she walked in, but of course she is Harry’s patronus!

 

This girl should have won for her amazing Luna Lovegood costume with that headdress!

 

There were several families who really got into the spirit and acted it out, like this group.  I love it!  The siblings are doing a good job battling back the darkness, don’t you think?

 

I think this may be one of my favorites.

 

This family was the only one I saw that had a Moaning Mertle!

 

And these two would be upperclassmen.  Love their outfits!

Like I said, this was a BLAST to create for such fans.  What a wonderful night.