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Photograph © 2007 REUTERS/Nicky Loh

Congratulations to Nicole Mok, whom according to REUTERS “was first in line to purchase the latest Harry Potter book in Singapore, celebrates after receiving her copy at the Borders bookstore in Singapore July 21, 2007. Thousands of Harry Potter fans poured into book stores around the world on Saturday as the seventh and final volume in the series, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows”, went on sale, and for many the secret of the boy wizard’s fate was only hours away.”

Is she wearing a Hogwarts school uniform?

My personal involvement in the latest book release craze was quite mild in response. I dropped by the local city library for a warm butterbeer1 which they were selling as part of the festivities leading up to the release of the embargo. Apart from the cartoonist, storyteller and roomful of children’s games, they did a pretty good job staffing the place with a Harry Potter theme. The librarians were all dressed in black gowns2 with a sampling of crests from each of the Hogwarts Houses, a mock owlery with three owls from the Animal Rescue Clinic on display, a palmreader who was dressed up exactly like Professor Trelawney and appeared somewhat scatterbrained as well, Harry Potter jigsaw puzzles for sale (and to play with), and someone kept going around distributing Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans3.

I saw a fellow graduate student dressed up as a wizard with a misappropriated, moderately large Dewar of liquid nitrogen, getting little kids to blow into the Dewar (with expected results) and randomly flinging small gobs of it onto the floor.

One of the kids asked Mr. Liquid Nitrogen if he was Professor Snape and if he teaches potions at the University.

My pre-ordered copy was delivered from Amazon in the late morning and I was done with it in short order. I thought Rowling did a good job trying to tie all the loose ends together.

I find it amusing that already there are several used copies which you can purchase from Amazon.

References

  1. Nicky Loh, REUTERS, Editors’ Pick Pictures of the Day, 2007-07-21.
  2. J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Scholastic, 2007.
Footnotes
  1. As far as I could tell, the recipe was to mix butterscotch syrup with steamed milk, and it was good!↩
  2. They looked like the Ph.D. gowns from the Herff-Jones, but hey.↩
  3. I think I got earwax, sausage and soap.↩