Saturday, July 21, 2007
Spellbound fans line up for final Harry Potter book
Did Harry Potter survive Book 7? Fast readers might already know the answer, but as of Friday night, fans at Barnes & Noble were waiting anxiously to get their hands on the final book in the series.
Kyle Green | The Roanoke Times
Where's Harry? Well, there were lots of Harrys in the crowd during a Friday night celebration at Barnes & Noble.
Related
Photo gallery
Message boards: Discuss the book
There were plenty of wands, potion lessons and fortune telling, but no magic could cure the anxiety Harry Potter fans were feeling as they awaited the release of the final book Friday night.
Some Potter fanatics at Tanglewood's Barnes & Noble said they are devastated this is the last novel in the seven-book series about an orphan who discovers he is a wizard.
Others said they are scared to find out if Harry Potter dies. Author J.K. Rowling has said two characters will be killed in the seventh book.
Speculation about the ending filled the bookstore, where the tips of wizard hats peeked over bookshelves and capes fluttered down aisles.
Hundreds of fans wandered about, waiting, waiting, waiting, for the midnight release.
"We just can't wait till midnight," said 11-year-old Caroline Snead. Caroline and her older brother, Jamie, were on their way home to Maryland from Georgia but persuaded their grandparents to stop and spend the night in Roanoke so they could each get the book.
Like most Potter fans, 12-year-old Jamie and his sister had reread some of the books to refresh their memories and glean more clues that might tell them how the final book will turn out.
The book's plot has been so well-guarded that even hours before its release, Barnes & Noble staff were prohibited from revealing where the books were being stored and how many books were ordered.
One employee likened the instructions to "national security type stuff."
Catherine Lilly of Roanoke County said she has read the six books multiple times and that each book foreshadows the events in the last book.
But she's not prepared for what the seventh book may hold.
She said she cried for four days when the headmaster of the wizard school, Hogwarts, was killed in the sixth book.
So when it comes to Potter's fate, 16-year-old Catherine can hardly stand to think about it.
"I'm going to be absolutely," -- pause -- "uuuuugh," she finished, shuddering and wringing her hands.
Many Potter fans are teens (and their parents), who grew up alongside Potter and his gang, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley.
"You just keep reading them [the books], and they become a part of your life," said 14-year-old Nirja Inamdar of Botetourt County.
"You can't see them, but they're there."
She too said she would be in tears if Potter dies.
"It's like, if he died, we'd all be sobbing," she said.
Others are sad they won't have more Potter books to look forward to.
"I'll be crying my eyes out once I read the first letter," said Erin Doble, 11, of Derry, N.H. "It's a big experience. It's a chapter closing on my life."
Erin is visiting her grandmother, Marilyn Doble, in Wirtz and called the bookstore weeks ago to inquire about the Potter party and to reserve a book.
The party, one of several in the Roanoke area, included a costume contest.
Among the potential contestants were 12-year-old twins Michael and Joseph Repa, of Salem, who were dressed as Potter characters Fred and George Weasley, also twins.
There was Dobby, a house-elf, as portrayed by Austin Martin, 10, of Botetourt County.
The costume that elicited a lot of reaction was worn by Elizabeth Bower, a Roanoke County mom.
Bower was dressed as Rita Skeeter, a reporter for the fictional wizard newspaper, The Daily Prophet.
"She looks exactly like her!" a teenage girl squealed as she passed by Bower.
Her costume -- a green suit with red feathers lining her neck, was almost identical to the outfit Skeeter wears in the Potter movies.
Bower was reveling in her role and the building anticipation.
"This is huge," she said. "This is a huge literary event, and it's caused people to get excited."
