Harry Potter and the End of an Era

Why yes, I was one of the 1.5 zillion (estimated) people who spent part of this weekend reading the adventures of A Certain Wizard. My mom surprised me with a pre-order, my first time getting one -- I didn't get around to ...ORDER OF THE PHOENIX until right before ...HALF BLOOD PRINCE came out, and borrowed that book from a friend after she did the midnight run and speed read. (In other words, I will take credit for the fact that ...DEATHLY HALLOWS is selling twice as fast as any of the other books.)

Even though I didn't buy a copy, I still went to a Potter party at the Shops at Columbus Circle, where I ate free grape-flavored cotton candy and tried to avoid the creepy adults dressed as Lucius Malfoy. Obviously, I should have gone where this blogger went:

At one point I asked Dolores Umbridge where the bathroom was (we were in the newly renovated library for the first part of the party) and she handed me an educational decree saying that I was prohibited from speaking.

Awesome. And here's a good disapproving Umbridge.

I was so worried UPS would leave me a package slip and dash that I left a note by my front buzzer. The poor delivery guy who showed up was carrying a stack of eight books -- guess there are other Potter lovers in my building! And then, partly because of my Deathly Fear of Spoilers, I sat down and read the whole thing in my apartment.