Billed as “the biggest independent Muggle bookstore celebration” in the county, the UO Bookstore played host to the midnight release of the final book in the wildly popular Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling.
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” the seventh book, went on sale at 12:01 a.m. Saturday and the bookstore transformed itself for the occasion. Demonstrations of basic chemistry billed as “potions,” chess tournaments, live music and a fully costumed staff wearing black robes were all orchestrated to heighten the experience.
The crowd of eager customers, numbering in the hundreds, seemed to transcend any single group. Fans were old and young and from every conceivable segment of the population.
UO Bookstore employee Jess Stedman was wearing the green jersey of the House of Slytherin, one of four dormitory houses at the magical school in the books. Stedman admitted that as a “huge Harry Potter fan” she was planning to start reading as soon as possible.
“I said I wasn’t going to because I have work tomorrow, but I know I’m going to squeeze a few hours in,” she said.
As the clock counted down to 12:01, a charge of energy ran through the crowd. Employees led the crowd in a pledge of silence, encouraging the readers to keep the ending to themselves so “That each shall learn/The secrets within/When the last page is turned.”
Mike and Kathy South and their 7-year-old son Benjamin won the right to snatch the first copy of the book through a raffle.
The Souths were moved to the head of the line and stationed in front of the shelves of white boxes marked with red letters.
“It’s awesome. What an honor,” Mike South said. “It’s a magic feeling in here right now.”
In the end the fans counted down the last seconds and cheered aloud as if it were the beginning of a new year: eyes were moist, cheeks flushed and several couples exchanged kisses.
With a wide line that stretched around the bookstore’s entire second floor, down a flight of stairs, across the lobby, outside and down nearly three quarters of the block, bookstore employees feverishly worked to get copies of the book in the hands of buyers.
Audrey While, a 15-year-old attending the University’s Summer Education Program said the books had proved to be a generation-defining touchstone.
“It’s our version of the Beatles,” she said.
Another SEP cohort, 16-year-old Sara Denis observed that she, and many others waiting anxiously for the final chapter of the saga, had grown up alongside Harry Potter’s character; reading the books first as children and ending as young adults.
“We’re ready to hear the end,” she said.
In its first 24 hours on sale, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” sold a reported 8.3 million copies in the United States. That record topped the 6.9 million copies that “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” the sixth book in the series, sold in the same time period.
Bookbuyer Colin Rea said that the UO Bookstore had pre-sold roughly 390 copies before the event had started and reserved approximately 600.
“We’re well stocked above and beyond that,” he said.