Midnight Magic
Who says Ocracoke doesn't have any nightlife? Twenty muggles and wizarding wannabes came out in at the witching hour to purchase their brand new, right-out-of-the-box, so-hot-they-haven't-even-been-on-a-shelf, first editions of the latest book by enchantress J.K Rowling.
July 31st is J.K. Rowling's birthday, and not coincidentally, also the birthday of her most popular fictional character, Harry Potter. Just in case you have been frozen in carbonite* for the past 18 years, Harry Potter is the best thing to ever happen to booksellers until coloring books. Back in the day when the last few books in the original HP series were coming out to incredible hype, midnight release bookstore parties were all the rage, and Books to Be Red joined right in. (Good times, great memories.)
This morning's event was a little more subdued. The Cursed Child isn't a sequel, exactly, and it's actually a play script, not a novel, and there's been a lot of secrecy around it. Books to Be Read's owner, Leslie Lanier, said she didn't know what to expect from customers, but was willing to open at midnight for anyone willing to show up. She thought she might be alone with the bookstore ghost, but, as it turns out, the turnout was pretty good.
Josiah from Baltimore, MD got the first copy out of the box because she was the first to prepay earlier on Saturday. At seventeen years old, she's a newcomer to the wizarding world of Harry Potter, but has read the entire seven book series in the past two months. She didn't linger after her photo-op; it was time to take The Cursed Child home!
Andrew Tillett is Leslie's 19 year-old son. He was happy to point out to us that The Cursed Child had already been out for 5 hours in England, and that everyone there had probably already read it. Andrew was a huge fan of the Harry Potter books, movies, and Lego sets at a younger age. "I'm having a whale of a time," he admitted a few minutes after the sales started.
Kat Dixon from Harrisburg, PA, was in the store with her son, Paul. She remembers having to leave Ocracoke the day in 2007 that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was released, and making her husband stop at a bookstore after midnight on the way home so she could get her copy. "When I saw it posted on the Current that you'd be open tonight, I had to come," she told Leslie.
Harry Potter fans like to reminisce about the magical moments spent reading, watching, anticipating, and talking about the series. Never one to let an "I told you so" opportunity slip past him, Emmet Temple announced, "Nine years later, I'm still proud I called it on RAB." If you don't know the reference, you're lucky. The story is still waiting for you.
Meanwhile, the rest of us will see where the Cursed Child takes us.
Saturday was also opening night of the stage version of The Cursed Child in London's West End. It's a two-part play, so theatergoers will see the two halves on different nights. Parts 1 and 2 are included in the printed copy, so we get the whole story all at once. Just who is this cursed child? I can’t wait to find out!
My little Hufflepuff stayed up later than she ever has in her life. At 1:15am when I pried the book out of her grip, and turned off her light, and heard all about her theories concerning Scorpius and Rose, and finally got her to settle down, she asked, "When everyone in our house has read it, can I keep it on my shelf? It will be such an honor!"
Thank you, J.K. Rowling, for bringing the magic, and thank you, Leslie, for letting Mariah open the box tonight at 12:01am. Another great memory made.
If you slept through the big moment, don't worry, Books to Be Red still has plenty of copies for you and yours!
*sorry, wrong geeky series. I mean, just in case you've been imprisoned in Azkaban....
