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It's 11.30pm on Friday 15 July and in the small
village of Alby magic is stirring. All the bookworms of Norfolk
have congregated at the Norfolk Children's Book Centre where at
midnight the magic of Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince will
be released like a potion escaping from its bottle.
Sandwiched between bookshelves, book readers and
everything bookish you could imagine. Dozens of eager adults and
children, all desperate to get their hands on the book, but content
with the Harry Potter quiz for the next half-an-hour.
This is Potter-mania. Fortunately I found myself
among this gaggle of bookworms, myself being a huge Potter fan.
It was then that I struck up a conversation with
one of the officials organising the event. She was one of the few
people who had handled the precious cargo now waiting to be distributed.
Fiona queued up at midnight |
"Around 30-50 people are expected to attend,
but I'm sure we will have enough books for them all," she said.
She then told me that she hadn't been tempted
to open the books and was saving reading it until later, saving
the best till last.
There were plenty of keen Potter fans at this event,
a few in costume and eating the Bertie Botts.
Most were competing with each other for the grand prize, which was
to be awarded to the winner of the quiz.
The best costumes of the night undoubtedly went
to two young girls both bedecked in Gryffindoor robes and witches
hats.
What really impressed me about all the children
attending the event was that they were all keen readers, not just
Potter-holics. A lot of them spoke to me about other authors as
well, but all of them were keen to talk to me about Harry Potter.
"My favourite book is the Goblet of Fire,
and I like Ron because he is funny," said 10-year-old Liam.
"I like Harry Potter because of the adventures,
and the goodies always win. I like Hermione because she knows lots
of spells," said seven-year-old Fiona.
When Midnight finally came round the Alby bookshop
exploded with party poppers and silly string, but most importantly
there were delighted Potter fans clutching their new books.
Pure Magic.
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