Harry Potter 7 Part 1: The waiting

Most of you know I have an unnatural obsession with Harry Potter. I have greatly admired JK Rowling for years and really felt the stories she wrote were so layered and worthy, not just the simple kids' books that some people thought them to be. I loved losing myself in them. I won the contest to go to England and am on the Goblet of Fire DVD for cryin' out loud! When it comes to Harry Potter obsessions, there's nobody quite as devilishly addicted as me.

Friday, July 20, 2007
This is it! Book 7 is coming! Tres Delish! I'm off of work and ready to salivate over the final chapter to my favorite story….soon, grasshopper, soon…I have no patience. The anxiety is both nervewracking and welcoming. I love feeling this giddy. This, it could be argued, is the best part.

9am: I stop by Borders in Novi (where my book is reserved) to pick up my wristband and am literally shocked to see how many people are standing in line already. And Channel 4 filming all this nerdy gloriousness, too. Now, mind you, this is not the line to get the book. The book is released at midnight and they don't want 10,000 people swarming the cash registers at 12:01 so they devised this "wristband" system. This is the line to get your specific colored wristband that will tell you when you will be called to stand in line after midnight. So basically, there are hundreds of folks standing in line to get a ticket to stand in line later that day!

Insane – I went home and came back.

11am: Got my wristband (no crowds, just walked right in) – I'm silver. Ok, what does that mean? The guy explains there are 4 colors in front of me, and I'm probably about 400 people back. I'll be called in the 4th group. Ok, that's about where I was last time, and it went faster than it sounded (got my book last time about 1230)… so I'm ok with that. There are about 7 colors after me, so hey, I'll take what I can get.

I go home, take a nap, try to shake off this horrible respiratory thing I'm still fighting, then welcome my friend who drove down from Frankenmuth to experience this with me. Amy and I have been looking forward to this for years. We made a pact a few years back that no matter where we were or what we were doing when Book 7 came out, we'd get together to get it at midnight and read it together. There is nobody on earth I'd rather experience this with than her – we are of the same mind on all our obsessions (Harry Potter, Star Wars, X-Men) it's nice to have someone to share this with.

8pm: Head out for a quick dessert with the kids, Chris, my friend– some yummies from TGIFridays is always a good precursor to standing in line, right?

930pm – Arrive at Borders. Last time they had all these activities going on (face painting, magic tricks, crafts) that were Harry Potter themed, to keep us all from killing ourselves waiting, I'm sure. This time, same activities are planned, however about twice as many people are in this building. I'm sure the Fire Marshall was having an ulcer. I could not walk without bumping into someone. Forget browsing the shelves, just try to get from one side of the store to another without losing a kid, a shoe, or your mind!

Ughhhh….we end up hanging out in the back of my jeep for a while, just to get fresh air. Yes, we are tailgaiting for a book. I love the idea that I've never tailgaited in my life, but for a book, I'm ready and waiting. Too bad we didn't bring any munchies. I get the surreal nerdiness of it all and am telling my kids for the 12th time, No I don't want to eat a Vomit-flavored Every Flavor Bean!

11:50pm – Amy and I head back into the store. If I thought the building was full before, I was in for a rude awakening. Wall to wall people. No room to move. Ugh. The kids and Chris wait in the car, ready to make a speedy getaway with us once we have the treasured tome in hand.
It's hot. Borders starts "attempting" to organize and let people know what the plan is, but they don't use their paging/intercom system. They have some girl with a very weak voice, standing on the counter with a megaphone, trying to explain things. Um, ok.

We are getting cranky. It's 12:10 and they haven't called our color yet, but we are next. But it seems like the line is not moving (from where we can see anyway) and there are just so many throngs of people, I'm certain we won't get our book til 2am. My cell phone rings and it's my sister, who is in Lansing. I tell her not to even bother with Borders, just stop by a Kroger and see if she can get one real quick. She does. She gets the book in about 45 seconds. She is on her way back home, book in hand. I pretty much despise her at this point.

12:15am: Silver is called! YAY! We start making our way over to where we think the line is. It's a mess. Chris had left to go see if he could pick one up at Meijer's, but called to say that there was a huge line over there as well. I told him we're actually IN LINE now, so just come back and we'll wait it out.

12:30am: Wow – we are up to the register already! We are buying the book! She is handing me the book! It's in my hands! The cover I've only been able to view online the past few months – it's so beautiful…. the heavy BIG juicy story is in my hands!!!! (Georgi, can you hear me saying "My prrreeeccciousssssss"?)

We walk outside, but Chris hasn't returned from Meijer yet. There are people streaming from the entrance, making their way to their cars, stopping to chat…it's fun to watch….Amy and I find a bench and sit down, not even needing to explain to each other that we just want to read. No words need to be said at this point….We sit down and take the plunge. There are enough lights on in the parking lot that we can successfully read. Ahhhh….I'm savoring every moment, soaking in the constant and ever-moving moments that I'll never be able to experience again.

This is it.

(to be continued)