At one minute past midnight last Friday, eager Harry Potter fans–many of whom had been waiting outside for hours–swarmed the aisles of the Bay Terrace Barnes & Noble, bagging J.K. Rowlings newest read, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix."
The fifth book in the series–a whopping 896 pages long–didnt only attract children to stay up well past their bedtime.
Adults got into the act, too.
Parents, grandparents and self-proclaimed "older" fans of Harry Potter attended the party held at Barnes & Noble from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m.; even role-playing characters from the series and dressing up in costume.
Koumas Gaitanis–donning a cardboard wizards hat–and his wife Fortina, waited patiently on line, which wrapped around the entire parking lot. Koumas introduced his wife as Fortina "The Enforcer," most likely of the Slytheran House. "I dont know why Im here," admitted Koumas. "She brought me!" Fortina had pre-ordered the book for their seven-year-old grandchild Alexander.
Many Midnight Magic parties celebrating Harry Potter were held in Barnes & Nobles across the country, complete with trivia games and guests dressed to the nines in Harry Potter garb.
The Barnes & Noble in Bayside was crawling with young bookworms, many of whom planned to stay up till the wee morning hours reading the novel and even hosting post-bookstore bashes. Jeanine Kuper and her daughter Jacquiline of Bayside, took the Midnight Madness one step further and held a slumber party for seven friends following the event at Barnes & Noble.
Initially, 8.5 million copies of the newest Harry Potter book were printed–the largest first printing ever of a book. Many families ordered multiple copies to prevent squabbling between siblings and a large number of people waiting on line in Bay Terrace, intended to start reading "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," that very morning.
J.K. Rowlings tales of a 13-year-old orphan named Harry who finds a family among professors and friends at Hogwarts, a school for fledgling wizards, have touched millions across the globe. Her books, starting off with "Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone," (a mere 309 pages long) published in 1998, have been translated into over 50 languages and printed in 200 countries.
Kevin Most, 9, planned to buy a copy of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," for his dad, as a belated Fathers Day gift. Theyll have to share the book, of course. "Every book just keeps getting better than the last," said Kevin.
