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Carter Maharrey, 8 (Deste Lee)
Sadler Sanders sports her Hedwig costume as she shows off a leap she practiced earlier in the day. (Deste Lee)
Sami Whitwell, 17, dressed as Bellatrix. (Deste Lee)
Hollye Abner, 22, from left, Carly Mahon, 19, and Lindsey Stanton, 21, share a laugh as they stand in the Cinemark Movies 8 lobby on Thursday in Tupelo before the screening of the final Harry Potter movie. (Deste Lee)
Spencer Pleasants dressed as Harry Potter. (Deste Lee)
The "Harry Potter" book series ended a few years ago, but the franchise really closed Thursday night, as the final movie in the series, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2," screened at midnight on five screens that were expected to sell out.
The final movie is the last chapter in the boy wizard's story, as he and his friends battle the evil Lord Voldemort once and for all.
Fans dressed up as their favorite characters and arrived at the Cinemark Movies 8 in Tupelo to say a fond farewell to these characters - and to their childhood.
Carly Mahon, 19, Hollye Abner, 22, and Lindsey Stanton, 21, all of Tupelo, each made their own Deathly Hallows T-shirts and wore ties and scarves of their favorite Hogwarts houses. The trio have been Harry Potter fans since the beginning.
"I cried when I was 11, because I didn't get my letter from Hogwarts," Abner said.
Now that the final film is out, "it's like our childhood's ending," Mahon said.
Spencer Pleasants, 21, of Saltillo felt the same way. He dressed as Harry for the premiere, and carried with him the cape he wore to the first movie's premiere - when he was 11. The cape doesn't fit anymore, but he brought it along.
His friend, Bonna Hardy, 22, of Tupelo, said she would miss the series.
"I'm a little sad. it's the last thing left from when I was a kid," she said. "But I'm excited."
Emily Patterson, 21, of Mooreville, called the night "bittersweet."
"It's something I've grown up with," she said, "but I'm stoked. I've been waiting for months."
Sami Whitwell and Sadler Sanders, both 17 and from Tupelo, drew attention in their Bellatrix and Hedwig costumes, respectively.
"I'm gonna cry," the girls said, simultaneously.
Hollye Abner and her friends could relate.
"They are more than just characters in books," Hollye Abner said. "Through the books, you learn about friendship, and that love is the most important thing."
Abner looked at her friends, each holding their wands.
"Gosh, we're such nerds," she said, laughing.
sheena.barnett@journalinc.com