Wizards, Witches and Muggles Turned Out for Harry Potter Night at the Last Bookstore

By Jared Cowan

Tuesday, June 28, 2016 at 2:51 a.m.

Jared Cowan Finalists of the costume contest 1/58

Jared Cowan The Show That Shall Not Be Named 2/58

Jared Cowan Lined up at the Last Bookstore 3/58

Jared Cowan The line for the Last Bookstore's Harry Potter Night snaked around the building. 4/58

Jared Cowan Event organizers talking logistics 5/58

Jared Cowan Lined up outside the Last Bookstore 6/58

Jared Cowan Harry Potter with the Golden Snitch 7/58

Jared Cowan Last Bookstore employee Rashad Medley is making sure mischief is managed at the bag-check counter. 8/58

Jared Cowan "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good" — setting up before people get inside the store 9/58

Jared Cowan Luggage and owl getting ready to go to Hogwarts 10/58

Jared Cowan Slytherins lined up at the Last Bookstore 11/58

Jared Cowan Harry Potter and friends lined up outside the store 12/58

Jared Cowan Wands and neckties were on full display at the event. 13/58

Jared Cowan Lined up along Fifth Street 14/58

Jared Cowan Narcissa Malfoy and friend in line along Spring Street 15/58

Jared Cowan In line on Spring Street 16/58

Jared Cowan The Show That Shall Not Be Named cast member Crystal Franceschini reads Harry Potter trivia outside the store. 17/58

Jared Cowan The Show That Shall Not Be Named cast member Becky Sanders hands out Butterbeer to people in line. 18/58

Jared Cowan In line with Butterbeer 19/58

Jared Cowan In line with Butterbeer 20/58

Jared Cowan Witches are dropped off on Spring Street. 21/58

Jared Cowan Bellatrix Lestrange and friend in line at the Last Bookstore 22/58

Jared Cowan In line for Harry Potter Night 23/58

Jared Cowan Pouring Butterbeer 24/58

Jared Cowan Becky Sanders and Justin Baker of The Show That Shall Not Be Named 25/58

Jared Cowan "The wand chooses the wizard, Mr. Potter." Soundcheck with Blackhaven. 26/58

Jared Cowan Dobby the House Elf and friends inside the Last Bookstore 27/58

Jared Cowan Gryffindor house prefect 28/58

Jared Cowan "Have you seen this wizard?" 29/58

Jared Cowan Lined up along Spring Street 30/58

Jared Cowan Magician Miles Santoro performs for the crowd on Spring Street. 31/58

Jared Cowan With Hedwig the owl 32/58

Jared Cowan People line the aisles and the balcony at the Last Bookstore 33/58

Jared Cowan Gryffindor student on the balcony 34/58

Jared Cowan Crocheting a Gryffindor scarf 35/58

Jared Cowan A little wizard walks around the Last Bookstore. 36/58

Jared Cowan The crowd inside the store 37/58

Jared Cowan Professor Trelawney and Ravenclaw student 38/58

Jared Cowan Koi Anunta of Blackhaven plays John Williams' Harry Potter theme 39/58

Jared Cowan Blackhaven takes the stage. 40/58

Jared Cowan Lady Nightsong and Lord Barclay of Blackhaven perform "Something Wicked This Way Comes." 41/58

Jared Cowan Frogs McCormack of Blackhaven 42/58

Jared Cowan Blackhaven plays at the Last Bookstore. 43/58

Jared Cowan Even after the event started, the line continued to stretch down the block. 44/58

Jared Cowan "Have you seen this wizard? 45/58

Jared Cowan At the corner of Fifth and Spring streets 46/58

Jared Cowan An employee of the Last Bookstore informs people in line that the event is at capacity and no more people will be admitted. 47/58

Jared Cowan The Show That Shall Not Be Named takes the stage. 48/58

Jared Cowan The Show That Shall Not Be Named 49/58

Jared Cowan Russ Gooberman uses a table as four wands simultaneously to inflict the killing curse. 50/58

Jared Cowan Justin Baker as Albus Dumbledore, and the rest of the cast as his hat and incredibly long beard. 51/58

Jared Cowan Contestants line up for the costume contest. 52/58

Jared Cowan The crowd chooses this little Harry Potter as a semi-finalist. 53/58

Jared Cowan Dressed as wandmaker Garrick Ollivander 54/58

Jared Cowan Dobby the House Elf 55/58

Jared Cowan Draco Malfoy 56/58

Jared Cowan Harry Potter gets into the action. 57/58

Jared Cowan The winners of the Harry Potter Night costume contest 58/58

Wizards, Witches and Muggles Turned Out for Harry Potter Night at the Last Bookstore

Two phrases that should always be spoken in a spell to summon loads of wizards, witches and Muggles are "Harry Potter" and "free." A spell such as this was magically cast on Saturday at the Last Bookstore's Harry Potter Night. The Facebook event page said that 18,000 people were interested in the event and that almost 5,000 people planned to attend. While there weren't anywhere near that number of people on hand, there were easily hundreds who formed a line outside the store's main entrance on Fifth Street; like Slytherin House's mascot, the queue snaked around the building and down Spring Street. Unfortunately, not everyone, even those with the ability to Apparate, made it into the bookstore because it quickly filled to capacity. However, those who lined up early and got inside were treated to some Harry Potter music from folk Renaissance band Blackhaven, a hysterical set from Harry Potter improv group The Show That Shall Not Be Named, and a spectacular costume contest. All photos by Jared Cowan.

Follow Jared Cowan on Twitter at @JaredCowan1.

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