The time has finally come. After years of madness and hype, the Harry Potter film series is steadily coming to a close — much to fans dismay. Imitation Harrys, Rons and Hermonies will be flocking toward movies theatres as part one of the seventh and final Harry Potter movie premieres on Friday.

For one night only, the University transformed into a school of witchcraft and wizardry as the long time Harry Potter sensation took over Champaign with fervor. To commemorate this momentous occasion in Harry Potter history, Elyse Hertko, junior in Business, organized a Harry Potter themed bar crawl that took place on campus Wednesday night.

“The bar crawl was an idea that my friend and I came up with, so we created a Facebook group and sent out invites to a few of our closest friends,” Hertko said. “More and more people began to show interest, and as soon as I put the T-shirt designs up, 700 people signed up. [Within] two or three days we had 1,300, and five days later we were at 1,500, with it still growing.”

The T-shirt design imitates the Marauder’s Map, Harry’s magical guide to Hogwarts, and lists the bars in order on the back.

“The original plan was for everyone to have the same shirt and same route, but I began to see this would be a problem with all the people attending because it is bigger than most bars’ capacity,” Hertko said.

Hertko decided to split the bar crawl up into the different Hogwarts’ houses and to stagger each house at different bars.

“Now it has turned out to become competitive, and hopefully at the end of the night there will be a duel between the houses on the Quad,” Hertko said.

Not expecting the campus to erupt into Harry Potter mania, Hertko found herself unprepared when collecting the T-shirt money.

“It was just me, my spread sheet and manila envelope at the UGL, and the line was out the door the whole time,” Hertko said. “The cops even had to come to straighten out the line, and Espresso Royale started playing the Harry Potter theme song.”

Now Hertko has even been recognized as the “Harry Potter bar crawl girl” around campus.

“I can’t believe this is what my reputation at this school will be, but it’s definitely a good one,” she said.

Hertko’s idea has inspired great excitement in many other extreme Harry Potter fans campus wide. Hannah Ray Weiss, junior in Media, claims she is one of the biggest HP fans there is.

“If people were to try to describe me, Harry Potter would definitely come to mind,” Weiss said.

Previously, Weiss had been the president of the University’s Harry Potter RSO, or “The Club that Shall Not Be Named.” The club is unfortunately no longer in existence, as members including Weiss became too busy to keep it going.

“During the year in which I was president, we did Harry Potter related activities such as Quidditch on the Quad, trivia night, chocolate wand making and a sorting hat ceremony,” Weiss said.

Despite the club’s discontinuance, Weiss said she still finds outlets for her love of HP, including attending Friday’s premiere with a group of about 20 friends.

“This year I am dressing up as Ginny, with temporary hair dye and all,” Weiss said. “I love that Harry Potter reminds me of my childhood, since I started getting into the books when I was seven. It’s so fun to go to the movies with my friends since we all enjoy it so much.”

Similar to how most University students discovered the bar crawl, Kasey Pontarelli, junior in ACES, saw the event come up on her Facebook newsfeed, and she knew right away that she had to go.

“I’m such a huge Harry Potter fanatic,” Pontarelli said. “When I saw the event, I was like, I’m all over this.”

While donning her chosen house shirt (the witty and loyal Hufflepuff), Pontarelli said she is looking forward to seeing the spirit of Harry Potter all around campus.

One philanthropy group sold Harry Potter-themed treats, such as Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans, chocolate frogs and wands, and even Dark Mark and lightning bolt shaped tattoos.

“I really appreciate the fact that so many college students are so excited about this,” Pontarelli said. “So many of us have grown up with Harry Potter and we have all loved it for such a long time now.”

When she started the bar crawl, Hertko was not expecting this large of a response from students.

“I am so excited that the group has grown as big as it has, and I want everyone to have a good time,” Hertko said. “U of I is the perfect place to have it because U of I kids like to have fun and also like to read, so it works out perfectly.”