Local bibliophiles cram stores to grab copy of latest ‘Harry Potter’ adventure
Like many 12-year-olds, Amanda Halterman of Rubles Mill looked at reading more as a chore and less as an adventure. Then she met Harry Potter.
Amanda and her older sister Nicole joined Muggles of all ages as they waited for the doors to open at 7 a.m. Saturday at Waldenbooks at Uniontown Mall to get their hands on a copy of “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,” the fifth in a wildly popular series of books written by J.K. Rowling.
While only a few people waited outside the store by 6:30 a.m., the queue had grown substantially within 20 minutes, with fans anxiously awaiting what is next in store for the boy wizard and his friends at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Amanda said she was busy re-reading parts of the last book, “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,” just so she could pick up with the latest installment as soon as she got back into her car.
Both Amanda and Nicole each got a copy of the 896-page book at the same time and were already wondering what Harry, Hermione and Ron would get themselves into this go-round.
“I wanted this so bad,” Nicole said. “I’ve waited for this for so long.”
Nicole, who said she reads mostly adventure stories, kept a countdown chart and marked the days until Saturday, when she knew she would be able to start a new Harry Potter book after reading each of the previous four tomes more times than she can count.
She said her favorite wizard at Hogwarts is Hermione Granger, whose strong will Nicole said she admires.
While her sister is more a fan of Ron Weasley herself, they both have imposed strict deadlines on themselves to finish the book: Nicole within a week, Amanda by the end of summer.
While the hour was early for some, the moment couldn’t have come any sooner for most of the people who waited in the mostly-darkened mall, where the remaining stores were not slated to open for another three hours.
Most, if not all, of the customers in line for Harry Potter had already pre-ordered their copies and, after waiting outside the store, again found themselves in another line near the back of the store, where their copies were waiting for them. While some were confident their book would have been there later in the day, others were taking no chances.
Twelve-year-old Melissa Geary of Connellsville waited patiently with her mother, Gloria, outside the store, chomping at the bit to get reading. Geary, who has read each of the previous four books at least six times, said the stories never lose their excitement.
“I keep going back and getting more from it each time,” she said, all the while wondering what Rowling has up her sleeve.
Her mother said they had pre-ordered well in advance, but she and her daughter came early Saturday to take part in “Harry mania,” as she phrased it.
Karen Dreucci of Menallen Township said she was already awake Saturday morning and thought of no better way to spend part of the day than catching up with Harry Potter. A learning support teacher with the Southeastern Greene School District, Dreucci’s not shy about her admiration for the boy wizard and his adventures, confiding that she has to know what’s going to happen next.
“I love Harry Potter. I think he’s the best thing to happen for reading. He has interested kids of all ages to get into books,” she said. “It’s great to see these kids carrying these big books.”
Cindy Hensh of Uniontown came early for her copy to make sure her son San would have the book by the time he awoke. Hensh said she was under strict instructions to have a copy for her 12-year-old son Saturday, but is disappointed that he will have a head start on her because she had to work at 12-hour shift at Gabler’s Drug in Masontown. “Kids love these books because they’re magical and fun, with dragons and wizards,” she said. “They are good stories and I enjoy them too.”
By 7:30 a.m., everyone who had waited so patiently was rewarded with their copy, while some people were just entering to pick up the book. Waldenbooks was offering giveaways and daring customers to try Bertie Botts, a candy that any Harry Potter fan knows about all too well, throughout the morning to keep the crowd excited about Harry and, more importantly, awake.
Whitney Redman, 14, of Brownsville got her copy and quickly was busy tearing into the first few pages of a story she has waited three years to read.
“I’m really anxious to find out what happened,” she said in between glances at the first chapter. “I have to know now.”
Redman said she plans to read the latest installment in one day, with her book in one hand and a caffeinated drink in the other. She said she only hopes her wait for the sixth book isn’t quite as long.
The book is the fifth in a seven-part series to be written by Rowling, whose latest tale was closely guarded until its 12:01 a.m. Saturday release time. While Waldenbooks didn’t open until 7 a.m., a crowd of 60 or so die-hard Harry Potter fans waited in line at Wal-Mart in South Union Township before midnight to get their copies.
While there were concerns that the 200 or so copies the store had to go around wouldn’t fill everyone’s requests, all customers who waited got their copy, and some even started reading while waiting to purchase the book.
In total, more than 8 million copies of “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” are being printed for release this weekend. More than 750,000 copies were pre-ordered on Amazon.com, and the Web site updated the number of orders leading up to the release date.
Jena Bloomer, 14, of Chalk Hill and her mother, Patricia, were awake at 5:45 a.m. to ensure they would be ready for Harry when Waldenbooks opened at 7 a.m. Jena admitted she was a little tired, but she had good reason to be: She was up reading late Friday night.
Patricia said she was excited to see so many people lined up early for the book, and she looked forward to spending the day with her daughter, reading.
“We’re going to have coffee and doughnuts with Harry Potter,” she said. “It’s a good day. Life is good.”