A Night of Characters for Potter Fans at Barnes & Noble Saturday

WARWICK, RI — About 200 Harry Potter fans gathered at Barnes and Noble in Warwick on Bald Hill Road Saturday night to celebrate the release of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, and to secure their copies as soon as possible Sunday morning.

Activities began at 8 p.m. leading up to the release at 12:01 a.m., including photo ops with cosplay guest Vladimir Snape as Severus Snape and Brian Procopio as Mad Eye Moody, as well as cosplayers portraying Belatrix LaStrange and Narcissa Malfoy, among others. Members of the URI Quidditch Team were also present to speak with interested fans.

The evening also offered a Harry Potter lookalike contest, coloring activities, face painting and a wand crafting workshop.

Christine Davis visited the event at about 10 p.m., noting it was packed when she and her daughter, Mackenzie, entered. They were not disappointed.

“I was most impressed with all the small details that they incorporated into the decor… Subtle details like “moaning myrtle” in the bathroom to the offering of the invisibility cloak to the employees only door being renamed to “Azkaban,” said Davis, who was in Coventry camping for a family reunion.

“We were back to the camp before 1 a.m. and Makenzie promptly went to her tent and read the entire book before sunrise,” Davis said.

“Thank you to Vladimir Snape & his associates, Harry Potter Club of RI, Rhode Island Comic Con , The Burrows Alliance of RI and individual members of the community who are volunteering,” Warwick Barnes and Noble wrote on their Facebook page.