Darren Criss plays Harry in 'A Very Potter Senior Year'

Before Darren Criss was a star of the Broadway stage and the small screen, he was just a wizard, standing in front of Ginny Weasley, asking her to love him.

Criss shot to fame in 2009, when a Harry Potter parody he co-wrote went viral on YouTube. A Very Potter Musical‘s various parts have since been viewed millions of times, allowing Criss and his comrades — collectively, they’re known as Team StarKid — to create a similarly popular sequel in 2010, as well as a variety of other productions. But when Hollywood beckoned that same year, Criss moved on to bigger things, and plans for a third Potter parody — A Very Potter 3D: A Very Potter Senior Year — had to be put on hold. Until now.

Criss and StarKid reunited this year at LeakyCon, a convention for Harry Potter devotees held August 9-12 in Chicago. The old gang had just three days to rehearse AVPSY, according to an account of the event posted on Tumblr’s Storyboard blog. They performed their musical just once to a crowd of adoring fans from around the world — and though the final product hasn’t hit YouTube yet, Tumblr did put together a preview video that explores the phenomenon and shows a few sneak peeks of Criss in his Potter garb. Check it out below.

http://vimeo.com/47904051

I’m not tearing up — there’s just some Floo Powder in my eye!

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• By Hillary Busis