‘Harry Potter’ fans are ready for wizardry

MARYSVILLE — For Harry Potter fans, the count down is on.

Four days until witches, wizards, goblins and death eaters slither out of the pages of “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” and onto the big screen.

As anticipation built for the debut, about 70 kids and teens gathered at the Marysville Library on Friday to celebrate all things Potter.

Ashley Cline attended in full Harry Potter garb, including a black cloak, broken glasses and a maroon and gold scarf. The 15-year-old Smokey Point girl painted Harry’s trademark scar on her forehead and carried a broomstick and a stuffed owl.

She first met Harry as a little girl, listening to her dad read J.K. Rowling’s famous books aloud. She feels like she’s grown up with Potter and his pals, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley.

“Even though they’re fantasy, it’s a story of the characters and they’re relatable,” she said. “I love Harry Potter.”

At the Potter party, she won midnight tickets to see “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” as soon as it opens Wednesday.

During the event, kids dueled on Harry Potter trivia, ate acid pops (Tootsie Pops dipped in Pop Rocks), and jammed to wizard rock, a genre dedicated to Potter themes. Then they watched “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,” the fifth movie in the Potter series.

Marysville twins Andy and Riley Hougan, 11, can’t wait to see the latest Potter flick. For Friday’s party, Andy drew a scar on his forehead with his mom’s eyeliner and wore thick, black “dork glasses” he found in his sock draw.

Potter is Riley’s favorite character in the series, but he said he couldn’t find a decent costume to wear to the party. Andy prefers Hagrid, the half-giant grounds­keeper at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

“He’s rad,” Andy said. “He’s cool because he wears a fur coat and he has an afro.”

Brothers Jacob and Jeremy Peterson also arrived in costume. Jeremy, 13, slicked his blond hair back and wore an oversized-leather jacket — Draco Malfoy style. His 14-year-old brother stapled red construction paper to a black shirt to imitate Potter’s uniform in “Harry Potter in the Goblet of Fire.” He used red stage makeup to draw bloody scrapes on his arms and face.

“I wanted to put on makeup for battle wounds and stuff,” he said, explaining his character choice.

Marysville cousins Ashley Cate, 13, and Ryan Higgs, 10, are partial to Ron Weasley. His wacky sense of humor never fails to get them laughing. Ryan attended the party wearing a Harry Potter T-shirt. The Harry Potter movies are his favorite. They’re Ashley’s second favorite, after the Jonas Brothers boy-band movie.

“I love Harry Potter because the movies are so interesting,” she said. “I like all the wizard stuff and all the magic.”

The cousins plan to watch the new movie as soon as it comes out.

Four days and counting.

Kaitlin Manry: 425-339-3292, kmanry@heraldnet.com.