Thursday, August 30, 2007

Ok as you all know, the final installment of the HP series was out in late July. And the fans, being kiasu and kia (note to non-Hokkien readers: kia= scared of) that Harry Potter might die in the end (but in the end he didn’t die) did all sorts of things just to get their hands on that book as early as they could.

Retailers for the final HP series are also kiasu. It started when one major books retailer decided to sell it at a reduced price for pre-ordered books. Then the fun begins! Other sellers also tried to sell it cheap, but aiya one supermarket chain decided to sell certain number of copies at a ridiculously cheap price, GBP4.99 (compared to normal retail price, GBP 16.99). Seriously I don’t know how they are going to earn money. Either the profit margin is really high or they really ‘bermati-mati’ want to win their customers back.

Ok then some bookstores even organized pre-HP party for those die-hard fans out there. There’s some HP read aloud sessions, goodie bags and some other stuff which I can’t remember.

So did these tactics work out in the end? I guess it did.

That’s the night before the book is out. Time: 1900 hours at Princes Street (something like Orchard Road in Singapore). Waterstones is one of the major bookstores and have 2 stores on that street.

As you can see, people are CAMPING! OMG! And the queue didn't end there. There was more:

My colleague’s wife works in Waterstones. Apparently on that night, the queue was so long that it took 2 hours just to get a HP book.

I am a HP fan, but I wasn’t crazy enough to camp outside, especially in the unpredictable Scottish weather. I wish I can join the Harry Potter party, but no one will accompany me : ( But I did pop into the Waterstones store near my workplace on the day before they launch the final HP book. And guess who I saw??

Moaning Myrtle and Professor Trelawney!

Eh what is this? A muggle sandwiched between Fleur Delacour and Professor Quirrell?

As for me, I got my copy from Waterstones. I wanted to get my copy the next morning on my way to work but changed my mind when I saw this...

So in the end, I did get my copy and was quite satisfied with the ending. As predicted by Pin Pin, Snape IS the good guy. And Harry Potter didn't die. Yay! Oh yeah JK Rowling apparently wrote the drafts of HP in a cafe in Edinburgh. It is a very small cafe with a tiny gold plate outside, stating its extraordinary status. No pictures of that though. :-P