OOP (non-spoiler teasers inside): Way! Hay!

[GulPlum]

My plans as previously announced have changed slightly, and I have brought 
my nice new black and white brick home rather than sitting outside to read 
it (it's bloody cold for the shortest night of the year!). I took a long 
leisurely walk home while reading and have got to the end of the second 
chapter.

I've just put the kettle on and I thought I'd take advantage of the time to 
write a few words.

I've witnessed several midnight releases in central Birmingham before 
(mainly films and computer games), but this is the first one in which I 
have been directly interested. There've only ever been (literally) three of 
four people standing waiting for doors to open for such events. The line of 
at least 50 people in an orderly queue outside WH Smiths, about 100 people 
outside the small Waterstone's branch opposite it were as nothing compared 
to the large Waterstone's branch 200 yards away. There were at least 300 
people, most of them in costume, and at least 3/4 of them 15 years old or 
younger. The queue went alf way around the block (which is almost all the 
one bookshop). I smiled when I heard people discussing theories, and  lot 
of people admitting to discovering such discussions for the very first time!

It was an amazing feeling, seeing all these people, complete strangers to 
one another, getting over their British reticence and having rational and 
intelligent conversations at 11.55pm about a series of "children's books". 
The queue outside WH Smith (to which I returned, they're selling the book 
for £2 less than Waterstone's) was all adults, and several people were 
saying "WH Smith is where the grownups come". To which I replied, "No, 
HPFGU is where the grown ups come!". Of course, everyone wanted to know 
where or what HPFGU was, so I  started scribbling "www.hpfgu.org.uk" on 
bits of paper for people. :-)

Immediately behind me in the queue were three guys who (as the conversation 
revealed) had just left a pub as it closed (the beer smell was quite 
clear). :-) One of them started an in-depth discussion of who was to die 
with me, and the whole queue joined in. It was "bloody brilliant"! Most 
people looked like they were about to kill me when I revealed that the 
online favourite is Hagrid - it seems that the thought hadn't crossed most 
of their minds!

As I walked out of the shop with my (adult cover) copy (in a special "I got 
my copy at WH Smith" bag with the OOTP logo), I was possessed to do 
something I have never, ever, done before in over 30 years of reading 
books. I read the whole of the last page. Interestingly (or not) I was 
relieved to find that one character in particular was still alive, as that 
person said goodbye to Harry...

I then started walking home (thankfully, the street lighting along the 
route home is pretty good and sufficient to read by), while reading the 
book from the start.  I started, of course, with the second sentence 
(once  got over the shock of the first chapter's title!)... :-). Normally, 
I can walk it in about 30-35 minutes. Tonight it took me an hour, and I've 
got to the end of the second chapter, which contains more incident and 
characters than probably the first four chapters of any of the earlier books.

I particularly liked the way JKR sketched in a brief "who's who" without 
being quite as laboured about it as she has been before.

Also, in those first two chapters, at least four matters of major fan 
speculation have been resolved or have been brought to an interesting head. 
Especially the last few paragraphs of Chapter Two, which don't actually 
reveal anything, but they *do* open a completely new can of worms! I am 
incredibly intrigued and now must find out more.

Regrettably, I have an early start in the morning to do other things which 
have cropped up, and I am very dismayed that within the next hour or so, I 
shall have to go to bed... :-(

I am incredibly jealous of the Aussies, who get to buy their books at the 
beginning of the day rather than at midnight, 'cos they can get on to 
finish it - I for one will need sleep soon!

--
GulPlum AKA Richard, who hopes to post again about breakfast time...