Travel

Harry Potter Refugee Camp

No, that’s not an illegal dump site or a flash mob. That’s hundreds of Harry Potter fans waiting in Trafalgar Square last night in the hopes of seeing Harry and the gang as they arrive at the premiere this afternoon.

Hahaha, look at these fucking losers, right? Well I don’t know about that; what the fuck did you do last night, Captain Cool? Get stoned and watch South Park online? Thought so. Fuck you. These guys were willing to sleep on the floor without tents in the rain for up to a week because they were so excited about a movie. A MOVIE! You’re never going to be that excited about anything in your life. I went to meet them.

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Claire (center)

VICE: So, this weather’s pretty awful.
Claire: Yeah, it’s horrible! And the security banned tents. Which would’ve been fine, but they didn’t tell us beforehand, so we came with all this stuff and now we’re soaking. I feel really unsafe without a tent too, there’s all these people everywhere. I saw police with guns earlier.

Can’t you guys buy some umbrellas or something?
I’m not rich! Umbrellas cost like, a fiver. We’re going to buy some trash bags to sleep in. We’re gonna look like homeless people.

I don’t think even homeless people sleep in trash bags. What do your family think of you guys coming here?
My mom funded me! She thinks it’s crazy, but she knows she wouldn’t be able to stop me so I guess she just has to support it. She paid for my Harry Potter tattoos, too.


 



Scott.

VICE: How long have you been here?
Scott: Six nights, seven days. I flew over from Vancouver for it.

What do you friends back home think about that?
Most of my friends I’ve met through Harry Potter. So they’re all stoked for me. I’m with some of them now. We were the first to arrive and we wanted to make sure people knew that, so we started a line and made sure everyone was behind us. Which eventually turned into hundreds of people in organized lines. Then the guys from Warner Brothers came and saw what we were doing and were like: “You’re doing a good job, just keep doing what you’re doing,” and then they left. So now I’m in charge here. I’ve been directing the security people and the crowds.

I’ve read the first couple of the books but I don’t remember them all that well and that last movie was a piece of shit… What is it about Harry Potter that made you wanna stay here for a week?
It’s just this great sense of community. There are people here from all around the world and I feel like I’ve known them my whole life. I’m hoping I can get JK Rowling to sign me so I can get it tattooed over.


 


Nadja

VICE: Hello Nadja, where have you come from today?
Nadja: Germany. I flew over just for this with my group Harry Potter X-Perts . We’re the biggest German Harry Potter fan group, we have almost 50 members.

What do you hope will happen on the day of the premiere?
I’m hoping to see Sean Biggerstaff!

Who’s Sean Biggerstaff?
Oliver Wood in the movie! He’s very sexy. Wait no, Oliver Wood is not sexy, Sean Biggerstaff is sexy. I like his eyes. His smile. He’s in a band and I like his singing. It’s very good new music. I really hope I get to see him, I’ve been waiting for him for ten years.


 


Paul (Right)

VICE: Hey, you having a good time?
Paul: Are you recording? Cause I’ve got some things I want to say. Basically, I want to be here, it’s making me so happy that I can be here for the red carpet and everything, but I wanna say that the people organizing this and the council, should be ashamed of themselves. We haven’t been allowed to set up tents, so we’re all getting soaked. We’re being kept in what they’re describing as “pens”, like animals. And they’re just not treating us like human people anymore. It’s just not fair. We’re cold, we’re wet and we’re being treated like animals. Did you get all of that?

Yeah. Good luck.


 


Tara

VICE: You’re sensibly dressed, where have you come from for this?
Tara: Toledo, Ohio. I’ve planned a two week trip around this. I just felt like, it’s the last movie, I have to be here. I was just sitting with my husband and I suddenly said: “I really think I need to go to London for the last movie.”

Was he cool with that?
Yeah, he’s fine with me going. Just so long as he doesn’t have to come along. He’s not a Harry Potter fan. He’ll watch the movies or whatever, but he’s not a fan. I’ve been trying to convert him for many years and it hasn’t happened. So that’s just something I have to accept.

What else are you doing with your two weeks here?
I’m actually driving around to all the different filming locations from the movie. I came in 2009 to see all of the London locations, but this will be my first time visiting the rest of them.

There’s no doubting it, you like Harry Potter loads. Enjoy.

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