On Friday, July 15, at 11:51 p.m., the countdown began. Anne Foster, general manager of the Oakton Books-A-Million, held up fingers to show the number of minutes left until the release of J.K. Rowling’s sixth book, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince."
Over 100 customers lined up at the counter and began to get giddy, tossing purple and green balloons back and forth. Some of the younger children began to jump up and down.
The entire store counted down the last 10 seconds out loud, and cheered when Steve Sensiba and Andrew Bratcher cut open the first box of books.
Janine Infurnari and Tracey Ramsey, first in line, traded in their voucher for the 652-page book and, grinning, bolted out the door.