Fans of Harry Potter will want to pick up their Firebolts and fly to The Athena Cinema this weekend.
In partnership with the Ohio University Harry Potter Alliance, The Athena, 20 S. Court St., will show part two of its Harry Potter marathon for OU Sibs Weekend. The cinema will show the last four films — Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part Two — in order starting at noon Saturday.
A pass for all four movies is $20, but tickets for individual films are $7. Tickets can be purchased at the Sibs Weekend website or at the Athena.
Last year, the theater partnered with the Harry Potter Alliance to screen the first four films for Sibs Weekend. The event was a “big success” and had a “great turnout,” Alexandra Kamody, the director of the Athena, said. She knew immediately the theater would attempt a part two.
“It’s just really fun,” Kamody said. “I think for people who are into it, it’s really special to be able to have the whole experience in the theater with a group of people who are just as excited about it.”
Along with the screenings of the last four films, the Harry Potter Alliance will ask trivia questions between movies. Attendees can also dress up as their favorite characters from the films, with a chance to win the costume contest.
Aliza Ali, the vice president and philanthropy chair for the Harry Potter Alliance, said her favorite costume from last year was worn by a girl who dressed up as Hermione Granger in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. The girl wore the simple pink sweatshirt Granger is known for wearing in the film, Ali, a junior studying biology pre-medicine and world religions, said.
Ali hopes to see patrons tackle some of the newer characters to the Harry Potter franchise this time, such as Scorpius Malfoy from Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and Newt Scamander from Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
Audrey Bowe, a freshman studying communication sciences and disorders, has two siblings — ages 15 and 17 — coming to OU for Sibs Weekend. She is considering going to the Harry Potter marathon because they are all “big” fans of the series and have been since they were little, she said.
When it comes to the last four movies, Bowe said she likes them better than the first four, and the last film is her favorite.
“They’re all just really well-made and close to the books,” Bowe said. “(The last film) gives so much closure as to what happened in the other ones.”
The “age-appropriate” and “chill” event, Ali said, provides an alternative option for students who do not want to take their siblings to a party.
“It’s a way to just be with people that love it as much as you do, and I think that’s what makes it a really great siblings event,” she said. “I’m hoping one day when I’m 32 I can come back to … Athens, Ohio, and watch starting at Fantastic Beasts all the way to the eighth Harry Potter movie.”
