At midnight on Friday night most eight-year-olds are tucked safely in their beds, dreaming the dreams of eight-year-old kids.
But sleep wasn’t an option last Friday night for eight-year-old best friends Sarah Anderson and Rachel Warner. Dressed like all Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry students, these girls were getting more and more excited as the witching hour fast approached.
They’d been waiting for this moment for a very long time. Now here they were, just minutes away from getting their hands on Whistler’s first copies of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix at the Armchair Books midnight release party.
"I’m not tired at all," declared Anderson, pushing up the brim of her pointed witch’s hat that her mom made for her.
"I’ve been waiting for this all day."
It’s been a long three-year wait for all Harry Potter fans who have been desperate to read for the fifth installment in the series since Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was released in 2000.
The fans in Whistler joined a long line up snaking through the corridor outside the bookstore and through the glass doors. At the front of that line 13-year-old Iain Carson-Higgins and his 11-year-old brother Evan knew a thing or two about waiting for Harry Potter.
They had camped outside the bookstore for two hours before the books went on sale.
Though they were hopped up on Cherry Coke, they probably could have kept going all night on sheer excitement.
Along with 11-year-old Connor McGillion, the boys started a loud countdown as midnight approached.
Then, as soon as the clock struck midnight, the three-year wait was all over.
The line up pressed on towards the cash register for a full 45 minutes before it petered out. A quick count showed that 80 books had been sold out of the 200 that were ordered.
"That’s the most we’ve ever done by far," said Armchair Books owner Dan Ellis.
"I thought that was going overboard (when I placed the order)."
He’s never seen anything like the midnight buying frenzy in the 20 years his family has owned and operated Armchair Books.
"I was in awe of the whole thing."
Harry Potter wasn’t just breaking sales records in Whistler. Throughout the world books literally flew off shelves in record-breaking numbers.
An estimated 5 million copies were sold in U.S. on the first day alone.
Though Ellis was surprised by the overwhelming response to the book, he admits that author J.K. Rowling has tapped into a special thing with mass appeal.
"It’s got all the necessary components to be a great series," he said.
He points to the elements of magic, the theme of good versus evil and the fact that the main characters are all likeable.
Not to mention all the well-deserved media attention that keeps Harry Potter in the public eye, he said.
Whatever the magic of the appeal there’s something to be said about a book that can keep a roomful of kids enthralled at midnight for the reading of the first chapter.
Though some were sprawled on their backs, none were asleep during Alex Nicoll’s reading on Friday night.
They weren’t the only ones enjoying Harry’s latest exploits as pages turned in homes around the world all weekend.
By Saturday Armchair Books had sold out of the book although there were still copies on reserve waiting to get picked up.
Don’t worry, there are another 180 copies on their way to store.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix – A Review
I just couldn’t stop the tears this time around as I turned the last few pages of the latest Harry Potter book.
True, I could have been sad that I had finished the book so quickly and was now facing another long wait for the next installment. It was also true that I was mourning the loss of one of the main characters who died near the end of the book.
But that alone couldn’t be the cause for all this late night blubbering, I thought to myself.
Then I finally figured out why I was so upset. Deep down Harry Potter’s story is truly sad.
This time around there was a pathos underlying everything that happened during Harry’s fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
And it made me love Harry and his band of friends even more.
This book had a lot to live up to.
Like all the other die-hard fans, I had waited for what seemed like an interminably long time, to find out what happened to Harry as he turned 15 years old.
And I was not disappointed in the least as Harry’s story unfolded before me in an 800-page tome. The only problem of course was keeping the heavy book aloft over the course of the weekend.
You don’t notice the weight of the novel when you’re smack dab in the middle of the story. In fact you cannot put it down!
Despite the underlying sadness in the story, there are still all the other elements that make the series such an amazing success.
It’s action-packed with adventures galore. It’s also full of humour especially as the Weasley twins try to perfect products for their proposed joke shop. And it also has all the old characters with their quirks that make the story so complete.
Deep down though is a certain desperation and despair as Harry struggles to cope with what is arguably his toughest year at Hogwarts.
He’s older now and not only dealing with the pangs of adolescence but with his role in the world of witches, wizards, goblins, and house elves.
Harry is moody in this book, his temper flaring as he rails against his friends, teachers and even the headmaster Albus Dumbledore
But more importantly the Order of the Phoenix reveals more about Harry’s past and how he came to be the chosen one with the powers to fight Lord Voldemort.
Rowling has tapped into a wonderful style of prose of tempting and teasing her readers with small glimpses into the past, revealing a little more each time around.
That’s what keeps me reading. I want to know how this story came to be. How the Dark Lord became evil and little Harry Potter stayed good with the powers of love, which keep him strong in battle.
There are hints this time around that Harry is struggling with the dueling forces of good and evil within himself, which imply an internal struggle later on.
Perhaps J.K. Rowling’s greatest feat in this book is the ability to weave the events of the past four books into the fifth book. For readers who know the series inside out, it sets up the scenes in part V wonderfully with references to Harry’s special powers and his past glory. For readers who read the other books three years ago, it jogs parts of their memory offering vivid flashbacks of scenes in previous novels. And for inductees to Harry Potter she explains just enough to allow new readers to understand the story while enticing them to go back to the beginning.
Now I’m a little mad at myself for finishing the book in three days. I should have let the story meander over the course of a few weeks so I could prolong my enjoyment.
Now I know you want me to tell you here and now who dies in the end...but read it for yourself. And just enjoy the magic.
