Published: July 22, 2007 01:24 am      

HARRY POTTER: Hello and goodbye

Last Harry book brings out fans for midnight rollout

The legions of Harry Potter fans were promised a “Midnight Magic Party” to celebrate the release of the seventh and last book in the celebrated literary cycle, and they weren’t disappointed.

Neither did they disappoint, as a spirited crowd of about 3,000, the majority wearing elaborate costumes or other Hogwarts memorabilia, jammed the Barnes and Noble bookstore on Niagara Falls Boulevard on Friday night and deep into Saturday morning, for the countdown to the sale of J. K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.”

Although the first purchased copy of the book was not passed over the counter until 12:01 a.m. Saturday, in accordance with the strict policy of the publisher and booksellers, 600 or so buyers were in a line, snaking around the building, by 7 p.m., to obtain wristbands that put them in the first group of customers. In the intervening hours, Potter enthusiasts young and old, costumed and otherwise, enjoyed craft events, photo opportunities and convening with like-minded fans. The remainder were observing the parade of witch costumes, British schoolgirl getups, academic gowns and wizard hats.

There were times the picture evoked a Renaissance festival, with outdoor tents offering balloon sculptures, magic acts and street performers. As the midnight hour approached, many tired participants, intent on a night of reading the 705-page book to learn the outcome of the story — and which of the characters reach their demise — sprawled in the aisles of the store, propped against bookshelves.

The night seemed a joyful, and exhausting, combination of Halloween, Christmas, New Year’s Eve, and waiting to board an airplane. Dawn Everett, Barnes and Noble’s community relations manager and busy impresario of the night’s event, called it “a lot of organized fun.” Indeed, except for an impromptu outdoor T-shirt giveaway to the crowd milling outside, there was little rowdiness.

Melanie Green of Amherst, dressed in witches’ wraps like her colleagues, Ashley and Stephanie Tibollo of North Tonawanda, called the Harry Potter experience “good fun,” and intended to “stay up all night and all day” to read the book. The length of the 2-inch-thick book didn’t intimidate her.

“The longer, the better,” she said.

The scene on Friday evening was being played all over the world. Two years after the sixth book in the series, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” overtook the previous five to become the best of bestsellers (there have also been five Hollywood films derived from the books), Scholastic Press printed 12 million copies of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” for the American market. While Barnes and Noble was tight-lipped about the number of advance orders at the Niagara Falls Boulevard store, Everett said “the number was in the thousands.”

By 4:30 a.m., all the patrons had acquired their new books, and were either home reading, or sleeping.

The 10-year franchise, which began with the 309-page “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” has been an unprecedented experience for young readers unafraid to plow through long and densely plotted books, for librarians and parents delighted to see the target audience of pre-teens reading for the sheer thrill of it, and for a moribund publishing industry that knows it is losing its audience to computer toys and other adolescent diversions.

While children ran around the store comparing costumes and talking about literature, adults compared their own literary experiences. Tim Scanlon of Tonawanda said his daughter “is totally fascinated by this. The books have been a little too big for her, but she’s just getting into this. Her mom reads the books to the family.”

This is part of the mystique in these tales of sorcery, adventure and loyalty to friends. They have joined the short list of things a family can enjoy together.

“They’re hypnotic, and you want to read them over, and follow the story,” said Sheri Staley of North Tonawanda, in attendance with daughter Serina, and friend Jacquie Donnelly of Rochester. And yes, all three were in splendid costume.

A half-mile away at the Wegmans supermarket on Alberta Drive, the new book was rolled out at midnight with considerably less fanfare. About 200 people lined up to grab a copy from a pallet, then headed to a checkout line. This group of readers seemed older than the party crowd down the street, and few costumes were in evidence. Many moved immediately to chairs in the front of the store, where they opened their purchases to Page 1 and began reading.

The celebration continued Saturday afternoon at Brighton Place in Tonawanda, where the community-operated library held a daylong event that included food, costumes, and a trivia contest.

“Attendance has been steady, people trickling in all day,” said librarian Janet Kindron. She was among the people lined up to obtain copies of the new book the night before.