Geeked Out on HP

Friday night, we did go to a small local bookstore for the arrival of Harry Potter Book 7. And I loved it!

Originally, we had planned on going just to experience the HP book release mania for the last time. (Well, our first time, but the last chance.) But on Friday afternoon, Keith broke down and decided to reserve a copy of the book. I pre-ordered mine from Amazon.co.uk about 10 years ago, but it won't arrive for another week and he decided he just couldn't wait that long.

So we weren't just spectators--we were also participating in the big event. And it was a big event, I thought. Hundreds of people were there. They showed the first HP movie on a large outdoor screen, on a grassy hill between a school and the library. A nature center brought several owls and other large birds. There was a Sorting Hat, a House Cup trivia tournament (Slytherin won, unfortunately), hat making, and more. My friend had finished judging the costume contest when we arrived, so the three of us got some food and meandered a bit.

The best part was all the people wandering up and down the street, many in costume, all talking about the book and its characters and what will happen next. I've heard people argue that the books aren't well written and they're bad for society (because, you know, anything that the masses enjoy is bad for us). But seeing everyone there enjoying themselves, I just wondered how this could be anything BUT great news for bookstores and libraries. I doubt the bookstore owners had ever imagined, in their wildest dreams, having hundreds of people queue up at midnight waiting for a book release.

But actually, that wasn't the best part. The best part is that we got in line super early since 1) we're geeks, and 2) we had all brought reading material with us, so reading in line was just as good as reading anywhere else. This meant that my friend was #2 in line, and Keith and I were #3. For quite a while, it was a sad, short little line. But slowly it grew until, by midnight, we couldn't see the end but had heard rumors it wrapped around the end of the block.

Right: So, the best part was when they counted down the seconds, opened the door, and ushered us in one by one to pick up our books. All of the first few customers (ourselves included) had prepaid for the book. It was just a matter of walking up to a little folding table, surrounded by boxes of pristine copies of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and giving your name, receiving your copy in return.

When we left, Keith and Susan clutched the mammoth tomes tight. We had to walk by the entire line to get to our cars, and were joking about the chances of someone in line tackling us to get the books. I mean, we were mostly joking, but also keeping an eye out.

As we walked past the line, a murmur went through the crowd. Hundreds of eyes behind fake Harry Potter glasses turned to us. "They have the book!" Someone shouted. "Hold up the book!" Susan did, and people cheered.

So this is what it feels like to be famous, I thought. It was absolutely crazy. Everyone was watching us. Everyone was jealous because we had The Book.

Of course, this lasted about 3 minutes, until we passed the end of the line and continued onto our cars. But it was a great feeling, and a fantastic night. Even though I'm not what you would call a "joiner" I'm glad I did it this once, and got to experience the full Harry Potter mania once.

Now I just need to read the book.