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Martin family birthday breakfasts followed a strict tradition. First, there were Belgian waffles, made by Belinda, the beloved Hopewell Hotel cook. These were served up with an array of toppings: chocolate syrup, fresh lemon whipped cream, stewed strawberries, and powdered vanilla sugar. The air should have been thick with wafflely perfume. Instead, there was an acrid, confusing smell, undercut by a light touch of smoke.
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Writer in Residence
Harry Potter walk
It’s opening night for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and three intrepid reporters take to the streets of New York City with a video camera, searching for the longest line they can find.
Here we are in front of Barnes & Noble on Union Square, where several hundred are gathered a few minutes before midnight. From left, that’s Justine, Maureen Johnson, and Scott. (We all look a little tired, don’t we?)
Here’s the countdown at the stroke midnight. The crowd goes wild!
And here’s our pre-midnight walk down the entire length of the line, interviewing the assembled masses.
Warning, this is four minutes long! (Contains mild Potter-on-Potter violence.)
So did any of you get out to buy HP7 at midnight? If so, what were your experiences like? But do not under any circumstances reveal any spoilers for the book. Some of us haven’t read it yet!
60 Responses to “Harry Potter walk”
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I luv that you love Harry! Sometimes i get the impression that youse are too cool for harry! In Melbourne, Harry was being sold CHEAP in BigW. So got it there, and the line at 9.01 am was quite reasonable. And moved quite quickly. No fusses.
BTW u’ll luv it.
It’s much more civilised here in Oz, where the release time is 9:01am (or or 8:31 in Adelaide or 7:01am in Perth etc). I got mine, waded out past all the squillions of people, and convened at my house with my friends, lots of bagels, pumpkin cupcakes and tea, and my friend Snaz read the whole thing aloud to us. It took all weekend, but it was amazing. We had a tally of deaths on the wall in post-its.
Jools: How could anyone be too cool for Harry? Not possible!
Lili: But midnight is so magical!
no, i wish i could’ve but my mom was way too tired to even think about going anywhere that late at night (12:00 am on saturday was the release time in my town).
but one of my friends is like a HUGE fan–he got it at midnight, then emailed me at 8 am saturday saying that he’d just finished the book. i was like “are you crazy?” i can’t believe that he read a 759-page book in less than 8 hours though…he said that there were about 200 people already waiting when he got there, which is nothing compared to that mob!
i got the book at midnight, ok like 12:15 because of barns and noble’s way of doing things. there were a lot of people, and a lot of stuff to do before midnight. i got sorted by the sorting hat, and im in ravenclaw. i was #293 in line, but like i said i got my book around 12:15. as soon as i got home i started reading it. i didnt sleep all night and i finished it at 11:00 pm on the 21st. it was so awesome.
that is a long line. i got mine at borders in usian-land and it really wasn’t all it’s cracked up to be. lots of standing around waiting in line. lots of getting yelled at by the bouncers–er, bookstore staff when your little bracelet thing is the wrong color. there were hundreds of people there, the bookstore was hot, and i was there for a couple hours, gulping down coffee while my friend entertained herself by drawing the dark mark on me, herself, and one other friend. we did have fun causing traffic jams by trying to sleep in the sci-fi section. mwahahahaha.
I got it at midnight. I went with my friend and they had this whole Hogwarts thing set up. They put everyone in houses, then we all did activities and stuff like wizard chess, and potions (where we got a green potion drink and candy), and divination (where we got our fortune told). There were lots of people dressed up, and I think the best one was Dobby, and there was Umbridge and Hedwig too. I was close to the beginning of the line to get the book, so I got out of there quicker to read it. It was great, I’m glad I got it when I did.
I went to b&n at 6:30 and waited in line for a pass to get in then.. at about 12:30am I drove back, and since the color of my pass was already in, I just walked right in to the line waiting inside..
Holy cow! That’s a very, very long line. I wonder if we had a line that long our Brnes and Noble.. Probably not considering there are waaay less people down here. It looks like yall had a ton of fun
Thanks so much for the videos, Scott and Justine! (Maureen, too :)) I decided to avoid all that madness because I endured the madness for the movie, and I didn’t want to be all irritable and tired when I should be enjoying Harry Potter goodness. Crazy New Yorkers!
I liked the book a lot, though. JK did a great job.
I went to a party with some friends dressed up as Bellatrix Lestrange
I love getting dressed up in costume, and getting to do it for a BOOK was amazing! (I was also hounded by a 7 year old Dementor for most of the night, which was adorable/annoying)
I went to Starbucks afterwards and drank more White Chocolate Mochas than can possibly be healthy for a person in order to finish the book in one night.
I went! I hung out at my local Barnes&Noble from around 5pm to midnight to get the book. Came home, read till I couldn’t see straight, slept a few hours, woke up, read all day except when my mom bugged me into taking breaks, read most of the night again, read most of today, and JUST finished the book about an hour and half ago. LOVED IT!!
But, I’m so sad. I cried over every chapter. I kept thinking, “This is chapter [insert # here]. This is the last chapter #. There aren’t going to be any more HP chapter #’s. *bawl*”
It’s like saying goodbye to my childhood. Oh, Harry, how you have changed me!
And, of course, I cried over the sad parts, too. Which is saying something, as I don’t often cry while reading books. Get choked up, yes, blurry vision, yes, but actual tears falling? Almost never. Actually, now I think about it, I think HP books are the only ones I’ve ever literally shed tears for. May have something to do with having followed these characters for nearly half my life?
~Mary
i didnt go wait, but im hoping to get it for my birthday wich is coming up…
I got my book at midnight too. awesome videos. woot woot! I dressed up as Tonks, pink hair and everything. I filmed the first guy to get his book. he started screaming it was kewl. i went in a group 6 but we all got split up. and i won a lil keychain by taking there HP quiz. My mom read the book the day we got it. so now i’m waiting for my turn. Too bad were going oldest to youngest this year.
Did your party have a costume contest? ours did and i think my sister will win she had the best costume.
http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o201/Hellokitty8252/Picture004.jpg
Above is a picture of my group that was dressed up.
Ya it was really hot and i wanted a cold mocha and the woman made it hott anyways and i was like “this is all yr fault” to jessa (who dressed as Luna)
yes but i had a great time as with all the years.
I totally went to a Harry Potter midnight premiere party at my local Barnes and Noble as has been my tradition since Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. This time, considering it was my last, I decided to go all out and dress in costume. I, Cynthia Wilson, dawned the overwhelmingly pink outfit and poisoned honey personality that is Dolores Umbridge, if for one night only. Let me tell you, it paid off; I totally won the costume contest (I got a displayable golden snitch). The premiere party was a lot of fun. You were sorted into houses and you could earn house points for your houses by doing different trivia games and stuff like that. There were four of us in my group, including myself. Two of my friends were sorted in Slytherin, while my other friend and I were sorted into Hufflepuff(it was completely random, mind you). Now, while Hufflepuff did not win The House Cup (we placed third), we did beat Slytherin, which was worth it. Surprise, surprise, Gryffindor walked away with the top prize. Anyways, we got our books at midnight, and I was about to cry then and there, but I pulled myself together, got home, and read for the whole day. A total of ten hours of reading, and I was done with Harry Potter. Then I cried. It really is the end of an era, as I’ve been with Harry since I was 8, and so much of my life has been dedicated to the books. I will never go to another Harry Potter midnight launch, I will never again read about the trials and tribulations of one of my favorite literary characters ever again. It’s bittersweet, sometimes more sweet than bitter, sometimes vice versa, but I’m so glad to have been able to tag along on the journey. Harry Potter books will only ever die when there are no longer any people loyal to them, and that will never happen, so LONG LIVE HARRY POTTER!
hey isnt harry potter like realy young aged books i think my brother read them in 3rd grade
dont hurt me but i would rather not read harry potter not to cool just rather not
I got the book at around 11:30 and finished it the next day. How much was it at BigW, Jool? I got mine from Sunflower- they had sold out, the only reason we got it was cause we reserved 2 copies!
The atmosphere looks amazing. I wish I could have been there! Scott, did u actually get it then? If u did it must have takes ages…
Haha! I loved the second one… near the end scott commented that it would be so funny if someone went by and screamed “potter sucks”… I totally agree!!!
Wow, that mob was huge though! Sadly, I didn’t go at midnight but instead I got my copy two days after. Haven’t read it at all yet, but its going to be so cool!
Harry potter rocks!!!!
Wow that is crazy. I myself was really disappointed by the last book and am in no hurry to buy the next book, but I have followed the whole series so eventually I will end up getting it hehe.
Leigh could you imagine how tortured a person would be if they said Potter Sucks in front of that crowd x.x It’s kinda scary to think of.
But hey I think I need to go to bed it’s like 3 am! Everyone enjoy your Potter book. I will join in on the loop eventually x.x
and there was a guy working at the coffee shop inside barnes and nobles that looked like sanjia from american idol. (if you dont live in america, then you might not know who sanjia is.)
wow, i can’t believe u got 2 go 2 da premiere at midnight! here in nz, da premiere was at 11:01. But, i won a competition at the bookstore, so i got 2 open da box, and i got da first copy free! yay, lol! Then i finished it that same day, at 7:03…
harry and ginnie, ooh…
oh, i mean ginny.
I went out at five am to get it, after the craze at midnight. The lady at Kroger said that they had to have armed body guards bring the books to them, and my friend at the library said a police officer was there to make sure they didn’t open the box of books until 12:01. Crazy stuff.
HA HA HA!!! Scott you are a funny man. i’m really into harry potter so maybe someone would like to explain to me WHY on earth would you even bother standing in that huge line at midnight. i mean seriously by the time those people in the back reached the front , my sister would have already walked into our walmart, bought the book and walked out, probly for less $ too.
o and i ment to mention that we didnt go to walmart until the saturday at like 11:00.
uh… ok so i like read some of the above comments and i hav to say im kinda creeped out. no offense to any of u potter fans. i just really dont get it. ive read the second book, the fifth book, and the fourth book (in that order). personally i think i enjoyed uglies and midnighters more.
I went to Barnes and Noble at like 10:00, but there weren’t that many people. It was full of people dressed up and they were all just sitting there, behind a peice of ducktape that was somehow keeping them from leaving the line. but I didnt stay long, I wasn’t even there to get HP, so I got out fast. Then I got the HP book at 6 the next morning.
I went to our bookstore at about 9:45 and chatted incessantly with anyone I’d ever known. If all parties were like that, I wouldn’t have social anxiety issues–it was fantastic.
Then, at about 11:15, I broke out the video camera and started interviewing people about what they thought would happen. My parents are going to let me edit the footage into a nice video for my blog after I’ve done my required summer reading. Yay!
It’ll be slightly different from your videos, as it all takes place in our (obscenely overcrowded) bookstore. Hey, it’s the one bookstore in town.
Haddy-la: In answer to your question about the age group Harry Potter’s geared for, yes, it appeals to children as young as second or third grade. (That’s when I started reading them.) But as the series moves forward, they get progressively darker and “older”, just as Harry does, and they’re really amazing books for any age group. (My mom demanded to read our copy first, for instance–I let her, she paid for it–and she’s an incredibly picky reader. Also, maybe a third of the people populating my bookstore on the evening of the 20th were children. Maybe.)
So if you’re interested in it, maybe you shouldn’t worry about what people would think and just read them. Trust me, it’s worth it. I’ll say this, too: maybe I’m biased, but I like YA anything a lot better than I like most adult books I’ve read. As a rule, they take themselves too seriously. YA books aren’t afraid to be funny and enjoyable, and they can also be deep and terrifying and powerful.
Eeep! My friends and I went to Barnes and Noble to get it at around 7:30 PM on the 20th and they had a costume contest and a Snape Bingo game and trivia and getting your fortune read by Trelawney and what not (Apparently I’m supposed to marry Voldemort).
Anyway, so there was a huge line, and we were smack dab in the middle. I think we got the book around 1 AM on the 21st because of how long the line was, and then we went back to my friend’s house, changed into our pajamas and sat there and read it all the way through.
I finished it at 2 PM the next day. About 12 hours of constant reading, but it was amazing.
Now I’m looking forward to Extras like crazy (and Eclipse).
We went to Book People in Austin, TX to get my roommate’s book. It was fun, but pretty crazy. There was a tent maze that ended with a Voldemort Dunking Booth. Free potions, candy and popcorn. The usual sorting into houses, etc. Lots of people went all out with their costumes. Maybe it’s just because I’m getting old, but after a while I got tired of pushing my way back and forth through the crowds. It started to feel like we were just being held hostage until our group was called to get in line for books.
I, on the other hand, decided to be cheap and ordered my book on Amazon. So, I was stuck at home at the mercy of the UPS guy (and not in a good way). They usually drop it off at your door, even if you live in an apartment. However around 5:30pm, I still hadn’t gotten it. We made a couple calls to the library to see if there were any left there and then I made a “just in case” trip to the front office to see if they were holding my book there. Fortunately, it WAS there. But I wasted a day’s worth of reading, because it was probably dropped off that morning.
In other news, I refused to answer my phone or surf the net during the weekend. I threatened to beat the crap out of anyone who spoiled this book for me, because someone spoiled the last one for me (and I was very upset). Amazingly, I made it through “untouched” by the evil people who like to tell you what happened.
Now, people are all “did you read Deathly Hallows? What happened?” I just can’t be the person who gives that away. Sorry. But it’s worth reading it yourself. Don’t be so lazy.
scary scary sometimes its a good thing not to be a harry potter fan
Oddly enough, I got DH around 7:30 PM on the 21st by asking at the local Albertsons. I thought they were joking, since I only wanted to know if they were going to have any in stock (small town) but she handed me a copy and walked off.
Yay for Montana, eh?
btw, love the videos, Scott.
Miri
thx
I finished the book Saturday night!!! Where are you at Scott?
I went at midnight to an outdoor shopping place, where ther was a bookstore, Joseph-Beth’s. I had quite an adventure getting my book. I tried three places before showing up at JB’s and convincing them to give me a voucher, then losing my voucher in a restaurant! I had to track down the clerk to prove that I had paid for a voucher and therefore, a book.
There were a lot of activities there, but mostly I ate and I went Potter Party Hopping. There was a Border’s across the street with a very sad Potter Party with - get this - a spelling bee. Me and my friend spoiled it by spelling out the letters with our hands.
And when I finally got my book, the first thing that happened was my brother’s friends wrenched it from my hands and read the last page outloud. It was too loud at JB’s, though, so it was alright.
Those videos were funny! I didn’t get to go at midnight =*( but I got the book first thing the next morning and finished in 30 hours!!! I wouldve been done faster but there was a party at the place I was staying and it was hard to concentrate. It was BYFAR the BEST Harry Potter book of all! I’m sad it’s over, but I’m just going to say that I think JKR did a VERY good job of ending it!
I went to a local bookstore at midnight where I stood in a long line of Harry Potter fans (all in costume, of course) and discussed the first six books (all of our favorite parts) and the movies (how the books are so much better). There was a costume contest and face painting. A Ron Weasley look alike won the costume contest. Then, I read until 5AM when I decided I should probably go to bed since I was working the 10:30-5 shift the next morning. My friend Liz happened to be working the same shift, so we spent the entire thing discussing Harry Potter and what we thought of what we had read so far. Then, I went home and stayed up all night reading again. I finished around 1AM. I loved the book (although I’m still mourning the death of my favorite character) and it is my favorite.
Nah. Australia doesnt do the whole midnight thing, like other peeps said. Plus I pre-ordered mine too! So i just went to Dymocks and picked it up
(Actually. my mum picked it up while i was at netball. i totally forgot about it til i got home, at 11am)
that party looks totally awesome.
ooh.
and i cant nbelieve some people dont read harry potter. IT’S FOR EVERYONE!!
I went to Scholastic and blogged about it (with photos too) here:
http://medinger.wordpress.com/2007/07/21/remembering-harry-my-first-and-last-release-no-worries-no-spoilers/
my harry potter experience was amazing. First we had to go and get wristbands. they started giving out wrisbands at 5:00. i got there at 5:06 and didn’t get my wristband until 6:32! the wristband told you what group ou would be in to get your book. i was in group E. We got to the midnight party at 9:00 and ran around in costumes doing random potter related activities until midnight whne ballons dropped ensuing mass pandimonium. then everyone pretty much ran towards the checkout to get in line. we were in group E so we had a while to wait. (*cough*over an hour*cough*) my poor friend tracy was in group I. she had to wait hours to get hers. neadless to say, we didnt get home until around 2. and forget going to sleep. i didn’t sleep until i finished it at 1 in the morning sunday.
I went to get the book at midnight. There were lots of people in costumes, almost starting a riot trying to get the boxes the books were in! However, the line was not that long, and it moved rather fast. Yay for me!
I got it the day it acme out, my cousin picked it up for me at midnight. But I was actually to busy to read it that day, so Iread a vast majority of it Sunday, then finshed Monday. I cried so much it hurt to open mt eyes in the morning, and to breathe. I don’t know what I’m gonna do now. Oh, well. WOOT! to Extras!
whats it mean? “awaiting moderation”?
i’m so mad…my friend (the one who read hp7 in under 8 hrs) just spoiled the ending for me. i repeatedly told him not to but he incessantly begged to tell me and then just blurted it out. luckily he didn’t tell me all of it, but he did tell me a key part! *silently fumes* but i pinky promise not to spoil it for anyone else!
Hahaha, I love that Potter-on-Potter violence portion of the vid. XDDD
Anyway, yeah, I went to the nearest Barnes and Nobles here [ only like, ten minutes away, lol ] and got my copy at midnight…well, not exactly at midnight…
By the way, I love when you said that the video was “getting post modern now.” That really cracked me up!
At Big W, for all youse aussies, it was $25 instead of at book shops where it was prob $35 or $39?
i went to the schuler’s party near me. it was ok, the party for the 6th book was better. the drink they had there was, like, spiked with some potion or something!! it was disguisting!!! but the book was awesome!!! my favorite part was the epilouge. and if you’ve read it you’ll know why… te he!! deathly hallows is now my most favorite book of all time!!! (no offense, Scott!) i’m pretty sure that sentance didn’t make sense gramatically, but i don’t care!!! i barely slept all weekend!!!! (insert crazed bellatrix-ish laugh here.) peace.
Aw, Nichole, I wish I’d been in Austin for the release. San Antonio’s was lame. I tried to get people to drive up with me so that we could go to BookPeople, but they just didn’t wanna. *shakes head* And now I will never have another chance. Rar.
holy crap! that’s a long line!!!
Scott, your accent is interesting.
In a good way though.
I’m not a huge harry potter fan myself, but I just happen to know what all happens in HP7 thanks to my loving friends, this always seems to happen to me. My friends and their blabeling mouths, oh well. I will still read it sooner or later. I need to read the 6th still. Hehe. But personaly, the fith movie was just ok for me. Missing a lot, and it felt rushed. But fawesome fight seens! I don’t think the hp line by me was that long though!
Ps.
(Contains mild Potter-on-Potter violence.)
^ lmao, That cracks me up for some odd reason….huh
I had it at 9:01.
And it was a good day, until my bag got stolen with my diary and camera.
Funnily enough, I was more upset about the diary.
A good day gone sour.
But, reading HP7 was fabulous-o
I LOVE Harry Potter. I cried so hard when I read Deathly Hallows. I loved the ending though. I just can’t believe it’s over!
About June 16 me and my sister reserved copies of the books at Barnes & Noble. We thought, okay, that’s it, and showed up, the night of the release. BUT! Apparently, you had to have showed up earlier in the day, gotten a slip of paper with a lettter on it and THEN come back to stand in line. Me and my sis were guaranteed a copy, but we weren’t going to get it until like, 3 in the morning, MAYBE!!!! So we were like, to heck with this, we’ll just get it in the morning and went home. I read a newspaper article on “Potter parties” and saw that some of the grocery stores were selling the books. We jumped in the car, raced to the store and RAN in. There, sitting on a table with cupcake-cakes shaped into wizard hats, were about 50 copies of the new book!!!!! We grabbed two (being extra-careful not to rip anything lest we tarnish tha name of Harry Potter) and pushed people out of our way to get to the self-checkout line. Once the books were paid for, we drove home, jumped in bed and read until about 4 am. I got over halfway through, before I realized that I needed sleep. So, while half the city was still waiting IN THE RAIN!!! for their new books, I was halfway through and CRYING MY EYES OUT over…. Oh darn it!!!! But I still am laughing over everyone sopping wet at 4 am, while I was in warm in bed while visions of Voldemort danced in my head (Tee-hee! Also, GAH!!! Get out of my head Voldy!)
God, that was a super-random post! Antyways, I loved the 7th book, though I had to read the epilouge, like, 4 times to get who was who. But so many of my favorite charachters died!!!!! Wah! IN fact, my favoritest, most wonderful charachter died, and I LOVED him!!! Ah, well, I guess I have to go back to the cruel world of reality where the only “magic” is money, and Voldemort is portrayed as bankers and insurance companies. *Sighs sadly*
I went to the Midnight opening in my town. My friend slept over and we read the book all night. xD But my mom made us go to sleep about 6:30am-ish. And she never woke us up, so we slept until 2pm. Meh. Then we didn’t eat or talk for the rest of the day. We finished at about 7pm. It was pretty funny, because we read at like the exact same pace, so one of us would start laughing or sobbing and the other would be like “When so-and-so did this?” and the other one would nod. It was pretty funny. And every hour we would stop and hypothasize about what would happen next. xD We ended up getting the books at B&N at about… 1am.
I didn’t get the book yet… Actually, I didn’t even start reading the series until the last book came out. I’m on the 4th one now, but they are beyond excellent. I was simply dying waiting for Extras and Eclipse to come out I had to find something to busy myself with…