There’s something about Harry

Since 1997, readers have almost yearly immersed itself in the magical, mirror-image world of Harry Potter, a boy raised in England but educated in the ways of magic at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Harry’s coming-of-age tale, told in a language of wands, spells and the ever-present game of Quidditch, came to an end last week with the release of the last installment in author J.K. Rowling’s internationally renowned series.\nFans flooded bookstores across the world to snatch up copies of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” and the scene at the Bloomington Barnes and Noble, 2813 E. Third St., was \nno different.\nWitches, wizards and muggles alike came out Friday night in anticipation of Saturday’s 12:01 a.m. release of the seventh and final book in the Harry Potter series.\nChildren and adults were dressed in their finest Harry Potter attire to attend parties being held at bookstores around town and to wait for the book to be released. \nSeven-year-old Jake Feigenbaum came to Barnes and Noble dressed as the famous Harry Potter, ready to wait for his copy of the book. \nJake and his mother, Kerry Feigenbaum, preordered their book but had to wait a long time because they did not get wrist bands earlier in the day that would have saved them a place in line. \nBarnes and Noble employee Susie Buzan said the store had been full of anxious customers since she came to work at 9 p.m. \n“Whoever would have thought that a book would do this?” Buzan said as she looked around the store filled with people laughing, talking and reading through books as they waited. \n“Wow,” she said. “What a great thing.”\nThe big discussions of the night seemed to revolve around which characters die in the final book, and whether Severus Snape, the former Hogwarts professor who killed headmaster Albus Dumbledore in the last book “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” is good or evil. \nCaroline Gilbert, 18, who reserved two books ‘just in case,’ said she still could not decide what was going to happen with Snape. \n“When I reserved my books, you could pick a cool sticker that let you support if Snape is evil or good,” Gilbert said. “I still have them both because I couldn’t choose.” \nAs people discussed the possible endings and how late they planned to stay awake reading the final book in the Potter series, Jake and Kerry Feigenbaum decided they would not let anyone ruin the series’ ending for them.\n“We’re going to read the last chapter, because we don’t want it to be spoiled tomorrow,” Kerry said. “We figure the ending will be all over the news and the media tomorrow, so we’re going to read the last chapter tonight at midnight (Saturday) and then start from the beginning tomorrow.”