Harry Potter Fest at Barnes & Noble

7.21.07. The last installment of the JK Rowling's Harry Potter series: "Harry Potter: The Deathly Hallows," is finally released at 12:01. We planned to meet Rubye and Alex at the cafe' at Barnes & Noble ahead of time to secure ourselves a table on Friday evening. Alex had a flyer to get a place in line, and she several friends arrived to await the release. Nearly everyone had dressed for the event. I wore my black dress coat with flowers and "Hairy Otter" T-shirt. You can see Alex here wearing her Slytherin uniform alongside Dumbledore. She and Rubye assembled the costume from the Good Will Thrift Store. It looks really nice.

There were a variety of games and crafts to participate in throughout the store, and souvenirs were handed out as prizes. I won a Griffindor tassel, made an amulet, picked up a plastic pair of Harry's glasses, and was given a bookmark: "Dobby for President 2008" by three fans who had printed them up themselves. Promptly at 12:01, the cashier began ringing up sales. The first one went to a young man who works at GameStop. He excitedly threw his arms up in the air, final volume in hand and cheered as if he had just won an Olympic event (Lance Armstrong eat your heart out). Alex and Lizzie got in line outside on the store's wrap-around porch, and soon I spotted them again as the line snaked by the cafe'. She was kind enough to purchase a copy for me, so I could sit in the cafe' and relax. What a good kid!!

We joked that nothing would get done in the U.S. on July 21, 2007 -- no police handing out citations, no children born, no customer service -- as everyone from store clerks to doctors would simply be too busy and too absorbed in "Harry Potter: The Deathly Hallows" to help anybody or work. Customer: "Excuse me. I'd like to pay for this item now." Clerk: "Not now, can't you see I'm in the middle of Chapter 6?!" Nurse: "Doctor, the baby is coming out!" Doctor: "Not now, nurse. Tell the patient not to push. I must finish reading Harry Potter: The Deathly Hallows first!"

When Alex arrived, she handed me my copy from her overflowing shopping bag. A list of friends had requested she buy them each a copy. It was an "ooooh, aaahhh," moment feeling the weight of the tome in my hands, the touch of the new pages as I opened the cover and the anticipation of the good read that would be my companion for the next several days. And sure enough, I took my book with me everywhere in case I had a moment along the way to crack it open and continue the adventure. And it is a grand adventure (no spoilers here).