It was just before 9 a.m. on Friday, July 20 and hundreds of Harry Potter fans were lined up outside downtown Bethesda’s Barnes and Noble. First in line stood Molly Horn. "The sooner you’re here, the sooner you get to read the first word," said Horn, a Walt Whitman High School ’06 alum who had been standing in line since 2 a.m. for her coveted spot.
Horn and her 200 companions had reserved copies of the book weeks in advance, an act which allowed them to get in the line for wristbands that morning. Their wristband number would dictate their spot in a line that would form later that night to buy "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," the seventh and final installment in the Harry Potter series.
Molly Horn had wristband No. 1. "I’ve had actual dreams about the 60-second countdown [to midnight, when the book could officially begin to sell]. My obsession is subconscious," said Horn.
A ways back in line were Kevin Eastridge with mother Karen Eastridge. They’d actually arrived at midnight, a full 24 hours in advance, but they stayed in their car until 2 a.m., then got in line behind Horn.
TWELVE HOURS LATER, it was 9 p.m. and eager Harry Potter fans of all ages were in costume and back at Barnes and Noble for the pre-sale festivities. The store quickly reached maximum capacity and a line began forming outside.
"When you have an event like this, it’s such a buildup for the book, a really good atmosphere," said Harry Potter fan and recent Churchill High graduate Aaron Hager.
Some fans had conflicting emotions. "This is the last time you will ever read a Harry Potter book for the first time," lamented one fan while trying to decide whether to read slowly and savor or blast through the novel. But that didn’t stop many from planning to go home and immediately devour the last 759 pages of the story.
The book’s release marked the passage of time for the college students in the queue who grew along with the series. "I was 11 when the Harry Potter books came out and he was 11, so I’m the perfect age. It came out at a perfect time in my life," said Emma Crenshaw, a Churchill ’06 graduate.
AS PART OF the store’s Midnight Magic festivities, fans went on a Harry Potter scavenger hunt, had scars painted on their foreheads and dark marks on their arms (an odd combination for those who chose to sport both), guessed the number of Berttie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans, received Harry Potter glasses, had their pictures taken with Harry, and watched a magician put on two shows and perform magic around the store.
At 11 p.m., those with wristbands displayed them, and began to form a line that snaked its way around the three levels of the store. By 11:45, the line was set and there was nothing left to do but wait.
Finally, it was 11:59 p.m. and a countdown began, bringing Molly Horn’s dreams to life. As the crowd counted down from 10, small children and even several adults jumped up and down and gave quick little hand claps. The crowd chanted "THREE…TWO…ONE!" and a cheer exploded from all who were present. As two years of waiting for the seventh book came to an end, an ecstatic Molly Horn waved to the cheering crowd as she ascended the escalators and headed for the checkout counters.
Potter fans, clutching their prize, began streaming out of the store, families sprinting to their cars and zooming out of parking lots. Many would begin reading on the way home, some aloud to drivers eager to learn the fate of Harry Potter and the magical world of J.K. Rowling.