The Witching Hour

The time had finally come. The next Harry Potter book went on sale at 12:01 am July 16th. A couple hundred people (young and old) were at the Barnes and Noble in Campbell. Some dressed specially for the occasion, some not, but all waiting anxiously to get their copy.

We got there late, around 11:30 or so. As we walked in a young girl, maybe 10, screamed "I love you Harry Potter". I felt as though we were at a boy band rock concert.

Got signed in, got my bracelet and my lovely Harry Potter glasses. Then milled around waiting for the time to come.

20 minutes to go. We watched the news crew (cameraman and reporter) swoop down on the costumed. At one point I heard the camera guy say excitedly "There's a kid". The boy, looking to be maybe 7 was at the endcap of the shelves. The camera guy went on one side of the shelf while the reporter went on the other side. The cornered him in the middle. The "interview" was about 20 seconds, then off to the next.

5 minutes to go. An older woman in a witch costume sat knitting.

2 minutes. What had initially appeared to be a fairly empty book store now had hundreds of people swarming around the front.

1 minute....then 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Shouts of Happy New Year and cheers, then "Open the boxes". It was all a bit...er...magical...

True to form I even got slightly choked up, but my wait wasn't over. It wasn't until 12:42 that I had my copy in hand.

I wish I could say I started reading it the second I got it, or even the second I got home...but I didn't. I was too tired. Guess I'm getting old :0)

I had to promise Cori that we would do something together this weekend, that the whole weekend wouldn't be filled with me just reading. And I have to admit, I wish I had made the last book last a little bit longer.