Potter Mania (a.k.a., a retrospective short story)

Last Friday night, I accompanied some friends to Barnes & Noble for the release of the final Harry Potter book. Having not pre-purchased a copy myself, I didn’t stay until midnight like the rest of them. (I’m more a fan of the movies than I am of the books. Surprise, surprise.) However, the highlight for me was an announcement made over the loudspeakers somewhere around nine o’ clock. What made it so funny was the fact that the bookstore employee was being dead serious. He stated the following:

This is a public service announcement. There will be no broom flying in the store. Those caught flying in the store will have their brooms impounded.

I couldn’t help but burst into a laughing fit. Evidently, I was the only one who found the announcement humorous because no one else laughed with me (although there were a couple people who giggled and/or stared at me).

So concluded my first—and last—experience at a Harry Potter publishing event extravaganza.

[Note: I neither took the above picture nor do I know the individuals in it.]