I’ve been going to Harry Potter releases basically for as long as there have been Harry Potter releases. They’re typically the same: trivia, costume contests and a whole heaping helping of camaraderie.

So really, the best thing ever.

Saturday night was no different. Granted the medium this time is totally different than anything before it in the series – a play, so think reading Shakespeare but, you know, with Harry Potter – but no one really cared. The party in Fox Chapel started at 8 and, based on past experience, my friend and I decided that our costumed selves needed to be at Barnes & Noble no later than 7:15 for purposes of seeing our copy of the script before 1 a.m.

We rolled in right around our predetermined time and while she wandered off to find her sister-in-law, I went to customer service to register our reservation. She just smiled and said, “Go stand by the table by the door and don’t move. Trust me.”

So, hey, why not? I did exactly that and, at 8 p.m., I was the proud owner of not only the first ticket meaning I got the front of the freaking line, but also a pretty sweet Tervis hot/cold cup that was super Harry Potter themed.

Boom.

That also meant I got a head start on the Horcrux scavenger hunt that was kicking off the House Cup competition between Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws, Gryffindors and Slytherins.

If there’s one thing our sports editor has learned, it’s that you don’t want to challenge me when it comes our favorite boy wizard because I am the kind of person who will go from Hufflepuff loyalty to Slytherin cunning in about .0184 seconds. I definitely match Harry’s need to prove himself.

I found Harry pretty quickly hiding behind a candy display. Ravenclaw’s diadem was sticking out from behind a poster book and Slytherin’s locket was tucked away in the children’s section. There was almost blood when someone moved Tom Riddle’s diary from it’s home near the Harry Potter books with more than just a couple of people calling foul.

At first, I thought this was an individual competition which meant my friend and I split up to divide and conquer. Nagini the snake was, coincidentally in the snake section, Hufflepuff’s cup was near the coffee cups in Starbucks and, finally, we found Marvolo Gaunt’s ring near customer service. We went through every aisle, every section, high and low.

But then, instead of a prize, we were handed seven “house points” to drop in our House’s cup. (They were beans.) Then it hit us: this was a team thing.

I happily dropped the first house points of the evening into the Hufflepuff cup and then darted around, finding other Hufflepuffs to help.

Maybe that’s how I ended up with a hoard of Hufflepuff ducklings.

But that’s what I love about Harry Potter: everyone essentially became instant friends. Sure, there was competition, but suddenly you’re all sharing in this thing that you all love. You’re dueling and teaching and laughing and suddenly your house wins the House Cup (Hufflepuff what UP!) and you’re high-fiving everyone.

All of a sudden you’re telling a stringer from The New York Times how happy it makes your heart to see so many little kids as well as people your age as well as people thirty or forty years older than you at the release because this series means so much to so many people and brings them all together.

And then it’s 11:45 p.m. and they’re lining you up and you’re standing at the front of the line, knowing that you’re all about to have this big moment and you’re doing it together.

And yes, I know this all sounds crazy, but I don’t really care. People get so up in arms about what other people enjoy and “there’s xxx happening and you’re dressing up like a wizard” and yada yada yada.

But I’m pretty sure that we could all use a little more happiness and light and if that comes in the form of a book that you get to share with dozens and millions of other people, who cares?

Hogwarts will always be there to welcome you home.