Wizards, Muggles and other assorted students packed themselves into designated Shuttle-UM buses Thursday night to be whizzed off to the long-awaited midnight premiere of the latest Harry Potter movie.

On the night of the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, the Department of Transportation Services extended shuttle services on the Silver Spring and University Town Center lines until 4 a.m. to give Potter fans a lift to and from midnight showings.

The extra service came as a relief for many students who said their chances of making it to the premiere and back to the campus without DOTS were slim to none.

“We’ve been wondering for the past three weeks whether we would have to walk or call a cab,” said sophomore government and politics and dance major Patty Mullaney, who rode the UTC bus to Prince George’s Plaza. “But this is a lot better. It’s much more convenient.”

A UTC bus was scheduled to collect students from Stamp Student Union at 11:15 p.m. to get them to the movie theater before 11:30, but a large group of Potter enthusiasts had already gathered in time for the earlier 10:40 p.m. shuttle.

Even this early bus was packed to full capacity, with half of the crowd still left on the sidewalk, but moans of disappointment as the bus pulled away quickly turned to excited cheers when a second designated bus rolled up less than a minute later.

Several students said they had been waiting for this midnight premiere for a long time.

“I’m extremely excited,” said freshman government and politics major Ahuva Sunshine, who dressed as Hermione Granger — her favorite Potter character — for the premiere. “I knew if I didn’t [go to the midnight premiere], everyone would be talking about it, and I didn’t want them to spoil it for me. So I just had to see it as soon as it came out.”

Even those who didn’t consider themselves huge fans of the Potter movies were eager to go along for the ride.

“I’m excited for the experience,” freshman bioengineering major Josh Nehrer said. “Being with all these crazy Harry Potter fans will be fun.”

Although riders’ apparel was generally more Terp gear than character costumes, one could easily spot a Hermione or an Albus Dumbledore and — of course — a wide variety of Harry Potters.

Sophomore computer science major Adrian Harding, one of those dressed as the titular character, arrived at the theater complete with his Hogwarts coat, Potter glasses and magic wand.

“This is kind of a once in a lifetime experience,” Harding said. “So I thought, ‘Why not go all out for the last movie?’ Except it’s in two parts, but the next part will be in the summer. So it’ll be different because I won’t be on campus.”

And after the long anticipation and hectic ride to the midnight premiere, students came back with rave reviews for the latest Harry Potter installment.

“It was probably my favorite movie in the series. It was pretty true to the book, which was really great,” sophomore history and secondary education major Britni Cunningham said, adding, “Once it was over, it was really nice to just come out and see three buses just waiting for us.”

While many students said they were grateful for the lift from DOTS, some complained the buses were overcrowded. Several students also reported that after they packed themselves back into the buses at about 2:45 a.m. to head back to the campus, the buses stayed put for another 45 minutes to wait for stragglers.

Students said as the buses began to head back, everyone was still pumped up and chatting with one another about what they just watched, but the excitement in the air gradually waned into weariness the closer they got to the campus.

Some students said they managed to get just a few hours of sleep before class the next day, while others admitted they slept right through their morning discussions.

Even so, most students said the trip to and from the midnight premiere was well worth the experience not only to see the movie but also to have the adventure along the way and back.

“What was cool about it was that it brought together a whole lot of people who probably wouldn’t have hung out otherwise,” Cunningham said. “On the ride back, we were all excited talking about the movie and talking about the book. … Everybody was a huge Harry Potter fan. So it was interesting to see that a lot of people had that interest in common.”

villanueva@umdbk.com