Number 104

Tonight I will be at a bookstore at midnight to purchase my copy of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" and I will be the 104th person to purchase it at the Barnes & Noble of my prior choosing. I have never done a midnight release of any book or movie but this is the one time where it is worth it and I am really excited about it. (How much of a dork am I?)

So at about 1:00 this morning I will hold in my hands the answers to all of my questions. What does "deathly hallows" mean? Will Harry, Ron or Hermonie die? (I really hope no to all 3 of them, and I would really like Ginny to survive so that she and Harry can some day get married.) Who will die? How will Voldemort die? Is Snape good or evil? What about Draco Malfoy? And so many others.

After I purchase it and walk out of the bookstore it is up to me to read all of it. Earlier in the week I had visions of myself starting to read it in the parking lot but then thought "How am I going to drive myself home?" Obviously I can't do that because once I start I don't know that I am going to be able to stop reading. But will I really be awake enough to read when I get home? Hmm...

I have never completed a Harry Potter book in the span of a single weekend but I am going to try - I have very little planned for this weekend on purpose. I started "Half-Blood Prince on a Saturday afternoon and finished Tuesday night but I don't think I tried very hard. And I tend to be one of those people who flip towards the end to get glimpse of what is going to happen, I never flip to the last page but usually somewhere in the range of 2-3 chapters to the end where the climax is likely to occur. Hopefully I will be able to overcome this temptation because I will hate myself if I spoil it.

And it will all begin in just under 6 hours...