At Celebration! Cinema, 200 E. Edgewood Blvd., in Lansing, IMAX tickets for the midnight showing of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1” sold out within a week after they went on sale, manager Matthew Rick said. Tickets were available beginning Oct. 3. All 19 regular theaters will play the movie, and tickets still are available for purchase in regular theaters. Another manager said an IMAX theater seats about 300 people.

The line for the movie is expected to begin forming at 10:30 a.m. today when the theater opens.

In anticipation of the movie’s premier, about 50 students spent more than 9 hours on Saturday making wands, searching for horcruxes and competing in a costume contest Saturday during Harry Potter Extravaganza at Gilchrist Hall.

Arriving hours early for the midnight showing, forming the MSU Quidditch team and attending Harry Potter events on campus hint at student enthusiasm for the series.

Dietetics sophomore Natalie Brumfield, one of many students who attended the event on Saturday, said the movie’s release is bittersweet.

“(Growing up with Harry Potter) was like having a sister or brother; someone there for you to entertain you, tell you stories and be your friend,” Brumfield said. “There’s nothing to look forward to anymore. It’s kind of like an old childhood friend growing up.”

Growing up with Harry

For journalism freshman Shelby Robinson, the “boy who lived” has been a part of life since childhood.

“I feel like Harry Potter has been my childhood,” Robinson said. “I grew up alongside the characters, and I feel like I know them.”

Harry Potter’s growth throughout the series mirrors the challenges youths face in real life, said Gary Hoppenstand, an English professor and editor of The Journal of Popular Culture.

“Basically, what the whole Harry Potter series is, is an extended right of passage,” Hoppenstand said. “(Readers experience) not only Harry’s but also their own maturation from childhood to adulthood.”

As Harry Potter aged in the books, Rowling’s readers also grew up. Some readers developed a sense of camaraderie with the characters along the way, said Emerson Spartz, founder and owner of the Harry Potter fan website mugglenet.com.

“The fact that Harry and the main characters are aging at approximately the same ages as we were put J.K. Rowling in this position where she was a moral authority in demonstrating what adolescence was like,” Spartz said. “I know, for a lot of people, they were living each book alongside Harry and (were) able to identify with his struggles. It increased the emotional attachment to the characters.”

Arthur A. Levine, who edited and published the American edition of the Harry Potter series under his imprint at Scholastic, said Harry Potter initially is unappreciated in the books — a feeling some children can relate to.

“Many kids walk around and feel … what makes them special and makes them unique is unrecognized,” Levine said. “That is true for all of us, too, more or less. Each person wants to discover how they can really contribute to the force of good in the world.”

Delving into a fantasy world is normal for both children and adults, Linda Jackson, a psychology professor who specializes in child psychology, said in an e-mail.

“It draws children into the story and allows them to imagine what a different life might be like,” Jackson said. “Children need to develop their imaginations. Escape gives them an opportunity to imagine possibilities, which can later lead to greater creativity.”

Jackson said reading can help children deal with challenges by showing that other people face similar difficulties.

When she was younger, Brumfield coped with her own loss in part by reading the Harry Potter series.

“When I was 12 my dad died,” Brumfield said.

“I just immersed myself in the books to get away from all that stuff.”

Hoppenstand said the world of Harry Potter is not as removed from reality as it might appear.

“Sometimes the escape is not an escape from this world but an escape into this world,” Hoppenstand said.

Wider impact

Rowling’s books were first published at a time when children’s literature was floundering, Hoppenstand said. He said Rowling’s books had a powerful impact on the genre.

“She was arguably the most influential, important figure in children’s literature in the 21st century,” Hoppenstand said. “She helped to save children’s literature.”

As a child, Robinson said reading the Harry Potter series ignited her interest in reading.

“When I was younger and I first started reading the books, I wasn’t a huge reader,” Robinson said. “But the Harry Potter series was an inspiration.”

For some children, Harry Potter was their first experience reading for pleasure, Levine said.

“The fact is that I believe most people who say they’re not interested in books say that because they’ve never been introduced to a book that they loved,” Levine said.

Harry Potter shaped Paul DeGeorge’s life and career.

Dressed in glasses and red and gold colored ties, DeGeorge and his brother perform songs about Harry Potter’s adventures in the wizarding world in a wizard rock band called Harry and the Potters. Their band inspired wizard rock, a genre that places Harry Potter themed lyrics to rock music.

The brothers also helped co-found The Harry Potter Alliance, a nonprofit organization that uses parallels from Harry Potter to promote human rights and equality.

The organization is “Dumbledore’s Army for the real world,” DeGeorge said. He said Harry Potter and his friends’ fight for good in the books can motivate youths to become social activists.

“They’re just high school kids, but it doesn’t matter,” DeGeorge said. “They’re the ones who change the rules.”

End of an era

Although Harry and the Potters sometimes are busier when books and movies are released, DeGeorge said they play throughout the year in libraries and other shows.

Quidditch competitions and wizard rock are ways fans can connect with Harry Potter, even when all the movies have been released, DeGeorge said.

“Events like the Quidditch World Cup or a wizard rock show are ways for people to go back and relive or reappreciate something that has been a huge part of their youth,” DeGeorge said.

Although the end of standing in line for midnight showings of the movies is disappointing, Robinson said rereading the books can help keep the magic alive.

“It is kind of sad and depressing,” Robinson said. “But it’s not over if you keep rereading.”

Levine said although the timeliness of Harry Potter might be over for this generation, sharing the books with younger children will help continue the legacy Harry Potter has created.

“I would say that the wonderful next step for Harry Potter is that the next generation … will have the opportunity to introduce the book to a younger generation,” Levine said.

Staff writer Meagan Choi contributed to this report.