Forget the sweltering heat outside. Put on your hand-knitted Gryffindor scarves and head to the nearest movie theater for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2. The last installment in the series officially starts tomorrow, but you have some choices if you can’t wait.

The shows listed here may sell out (if they haven’t already), so definitely call ahead. Then do you want the straight movie experience or 3D? After all, when the movies first came out, 3D wasn’t available, so consider 2D as getting back to your Sorcerer’s Stone roots, the Potter version of “old school.” If you are really committed and have a serious attention span, there’s double features available which feature The Deathly Hallows in its entirety. Considering the second part starts abruptly—it doesn’t even have opening credits—the double feature is a good option if you forgot what happened in Part One or didn’t see it. The IMAX experience will undoubtedly be the most intense, especially for the action scenes.

Showtimes:

The Prytania (3D): 12:01 a.m. & 2:30 a.m.

AMC Clearview Palace 12 (Regular): 12:01 a.m.

AMC Clearview Palace 12 (3D): 12:01 a.m.

AMC Clearview Palace 12 (Double Feature): 9:00 p.m.

AMC Elmwood Palace 20 (iMax): 12:01 a.m. & 3:00 a.m.

AMC Elmwood Palace 20 (Regular): 12:01 a.m.

AMC Elmwood Palace 20 (3D): 12:01 a.m.

Hollywood Cinemas 9: 11:59 p.m.

The Theatres at Canal Place (Regular): 11:59 p.m., 12:15 a.m. & 12:45 a.m.

The Theatres at Canal Place (3D): 12:30 a.m.

AMC Westbank Palace 16 (Regular): 12:01 a.m., 12:05 a.m. & 12:10 a.m.

AMC Westbank Palace 16 (3D): 12:01 a.m. & 12:10am

AMC Westbank Palace 16 (Double Feature): 9:00 p.m.

Chalmette Movies (3D): 12:01 a.m.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NYt1qirBWg[/youtube]

If you’re seeing the movie later in the week, consider giving at the Spellbinding Blood Drives. The weekend-long blood drive coincides with the opening of the final Harry Potter. Donors get a free t-shirt and a free movie ticket. Here are the locations:

Clearview Mall; Thursday, Friday & Saturday, noon-8 p.m. & Sunday, noon-7 p.m.

Esplanade Mall; Thursday, Friday & Saturday, noon-7 p.m. & Sunday, noon-5 p.m.

North Shore Square; Thursday, Friday & Saturday, noon-7 p.m. & Sunday, noon-5 p.m.

Chalmette Movies; Thursday & Friday, 3-8 p.m.

 

And if you need your Potter experience to feel a little less mainstream, you can take comfort in the knowledge that the term “muggles” was originated in New Orleans according to The Atlantic Wire, and it didn’t mean non-magical people. It was originally a synonym for weed. (Is this an in-joke on J.K. Rowling’s part?) Jazz clarinetist Mezz Mezzrow’s memoir Really the Blues used the term: “To us a muggle wasn’t any more dangerous or habit-forming than those other great American vices, the five-cent Coke and the ice-cream cone, only it gave you more kicks for your money.” A 1931 Time magazine article includes this delightful sentence: “Prison authorities find muggle-smuggling a perplexing problem.”