Unprecedented Crowd in Montclair

Montclair is hardly a hot spot. That I was number 500 to walk in for my Harry Potter book at 11:30 on Saturday shocked me--especially as Barnes & Nobles, in the same mall, was having a better-publicized event. So I had to take pictures; who will believe me 20 years from now?

I currently have the headaches and nausea commonly associated with a hangover. Can one get a reading hangover?

Ollivander, as I suspected, makes an appearance in the first part. No, I won't give away any more than that. You probably aren't here unless you've read the book anyway.



I even ran into someone I know! Really know--I'm not talking about the several Professor Trelawny's or the dozens of Hogwarts students. Here is Tizsa, enjoying the wait. She came much earlier than I did, and left earlier too.


For the record, I had my book and was back in my car at 1:42 AM. And now I see that ny worst fears have been realized.

OK, I'll blow the plot. No spoiler alert, no nothing:
Harry gets caught by You-Know-Who and is forced to clean up Borders at 4 AM on July 22. Yeah, there are fates worse than death.