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. | 
