We can only assume it was the work of He Who Shall Not Be Named, or at least Death Eaters, but the heavens opened and the thunder thundered last night as the Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince premiere began in Leicester Square.
Braving a sodden red carpet were all the stars of the film, including central threesome Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint and Bonnie "Ginny Weasley" Wright. They were joined by author JK Rowling, and a host of stars including Clive Owen, Mark Strong, Damien Lewis, Gordon Ramsey, Jamie Oliver and Jamelia.
Leicester Square was dressed up like a Quidditch pitch, with Hogwarts House colours wrapped around the trees and a host of youngsters in Quidditch gear, whose painted faces sadly ran in the rain. But what did the cast have to say about their latest film? Well, relatively little, since they kept getting distracted by other topics.
It seems that Potter star Daniel Radcliffe bucks all the optometric trends when looking for a lady. He confesses that the type of girl who turns his head may well be a speccy four-eyes: "I like glasses. I don’t think I really have a type, but my mum reckons I do. I couldn’t really go out with a girl who was too much taller than me, because I mean, look at me, it wouldn’t be good! I just want someone who makes me laugh and someone who is intelligent."
He also addressed the rumour that he is a bit of a cougar lover: "I’ve been out with a couple of women who have been slightly older than me and I just think it is a maturity thing. That was something that happened when I was a bit younger, but now girls my age are a bit more mature, so who knows."
Fans everywhere breathe a sigh of relief, because if a torrential-rain-sodden, lightning frazzled, and bespectacled Empire is in with a chance, then Radcliffe's standards are definitely questionable!
One girl who knows Potter a little more intimately than most is Bonnie Wright, who plays Weasley sibling and Harry's girl Ginny. Getting to snog the magic man was apparently a long and rather laborious two-day affair, although it turned out to be "a very tender, romantic moment" in the end.
We questioned her on the final two films, which carve up the last book in the series, but she wouldn't quite give away exactly where they have split the story: "It’s a perfect balance between the films. The end one is going to be really action-packed and it finishes in a climax."
Similarly, producer extraordinaire David Heyman was keeping his cards close to his chest: "Not going to tell you where we split it, but we have found a really good place. When we cut the film together we’ll make the ultimate decision, but in our minds we had an idea of where we were going to break it up, and it’s going to be good."
So the shooting of HP 7 and 8 may be well under way already, but Potterites will have to wait until November 2010 to see where Deathly Hallows: Part One leaves off.
Lucky swine flu recoveree Rupert Grint managed to make the premiere, looking right as rain (groan), leaving Radcliffe to do all the coughing on the carpet. Emma Watson, however, was showing the effects of the tumultuous conditions, flashing her keks to all and sundry as she lifted her vintage Ozzie Clark gown out of the puddles.
She put paid to the rumours that she was more interested in a modelling career than acting these days, saying: "It's just a lot of fun. It's nice to have a change sometimes and do something a bit different. But primarily I'm an actress."
So it looks like Hermione and the gang are not going anywhere just yet. And for now, fans can bathe in the glory of Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince - check out the Empire review here.
Premiere photos to follow momentarily...