Carson City muggles pack theater for 'Potter' magic

Waiting in the packed foyer of Carson City's Galaxy Fandango Theater on Tuesday night, 16-year-old Brittany St. John posed the quintessential question: "Twilight" or "Harry Potter"?

For sisters Melody, 14, and Monica Ricketts, 17, there was no hesitation.

Harry Potter. That's why they showed up around 10 p.m. to wait in line to see the midnight premiere of "Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince."

"I wanted to see the opening show of my favorite movie in the world," Melody said. "I love it so much."

St. John, on the other hand, said she preferred the vampire theme of "Twilight" to the wizardry of "Harry Potter."

"I didn't expect this many people to show up," she said. "It's kind of scary."

She joined other critics who suggested the spell may have faded as fans have grown up.

However, the sixth film, based on the popular J.K. Rowling books about a group of friends battling evil forces while attending the wizard school Hogwarts, racked up $22.2 million in midnight ticket sales at 3,003 locations, according to Warner Bros.

At Galaxy Fandango in Carson City, four theaters were opened for the midnight show. But instead of being identified by numbers, each was labeled for one of the houses of Hogwarts - Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin.

Lance Denny, who came down from Lake Tahoe to watch the film, did not wait for theater officials to designate a house for him.

To manifest his "pure heart," he claimed allegiance to Gryffindor by wearing a red and gold scarf.

To Denny, who's read each book "as much as possible," said the packed theater represented something greater than entertainment.

"The world has to be affected by something a whole generation has read."