Copies of the seventh and final volume in the Harry Potter series are flying off the shelves in bookstores around the world as fans of the boy wizard celebrate the release of his final fight against the dark arts.
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" hits the shelves across most of the world at 2301 GMT Friday, in a co-ordinated release timed to maximize sales from London and Toronto to Hong Kong and Mumbai.
"I have been waiting so long for the last book and now I don't have to wait any longer,'' nine-year-old Laura Reeves told The Canadian Press as she stood outside London's Natural History Museum, the site of a middle-of-the-night reading by Potter author J.K. Rowling.
Rowling is closing the book on the boy wizard with her final title in the seven-book saga -- "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallow."
"It is the final confrontation between Harry -- the boy wizard -- and Lord Voldemort," Sandra Martin, senior feature writer with The Globe and Mail, told 麻豆影视net.
Lord Voldemort, once a student at the school Potter attends, is a dark wizard who seeks immortality.
"The Lord Voldemort wants to actually conquer the physical properties of death. ... It is a struggle between hope and despair, between life and death, and it is the final confrontation," Martin said.
About 500 lucky children from around the world won the privilege of attending the event in London, Potter's birthplace, at which Rowling would sign books and read from the book.
One of those fortunate fans was nine-year-old Matthew Pincin of Richmond Hill, Ont., dressed in Harry Potter garb and wearing the boy wizard's distinct round glasses.
Before the reading, Matthew told CP that he was the envy of all his peers in Canada.
"Some are jealous and one of my friends went home and asked their mom if they could come with me,'' said Matthew, who won a Raincoast Books contest to come to London and have his book signed by Rowling. "I'm the only kid from Canada that's going to meet her.''
Some of those not lucky enough to have won a spot at the museum reading headed to the next best party in town -- Waterstone's bookstore in Piccadilly Circus.
Hysteria for Harry
Diehard fans at Waterstone's, most of them dressed as characters from the books, celebrated with a rambunctious party.
Some held the book triumphantly in the air as they left the store, while others sat down in the street and immediately began reading the title.
"I was both excited and very sad because this is really the end,'' 22-year-old Robin Ryder of Paris told CP.
"I can't wait to start reading it and I'm trying to tune out the people who are yelling out what happened.''
While London has been the hub of Pottermania, bookstores around the world planned to open at midnight to put the last Potter book on sale.
In Toronto, a block of Bay Street in the downtown core was shut down for the largest book party in Canada.
In Tel Aviv, one bookstore planned to defy lawmakers by opening early on the Sabbath.
Meanwhile, stores in Taiwan and India were providing early-bird customers with "magic breakfasts and one Sydney store had planned a train ride to a clandestine site where fans could buy the book.
One bookstore in Mexico City was planning an all-weekend party featuring screenings of the Potter movies and readings of the books.
The hype and speculation reached such a fever pitch that some psychologists were even bracing to treat distraught children after they learned of Potter's fate.
Leaks and secrecy
Despite millions of dollars spent on trying to keep the book's contents a secret, there have been several leaks in the days leading to its release.
The hysteria prompted Rowling to send out a public appeal asking "everyone who calls themselves a Potter fan to preserve the secrecy of the plot.''
Rowling said she was "staggered" upon learning at least two U.S. newspapers published reviews on Thursday based on copies they obtained ahead of publication.
In France, newspaper Le Parisien on Friday published an upside-down summary of the final book's epilogue, giving readers a chance to turn the page if they didn't want to ruin the surprise.
Some critics, dark wizards as they're known among Harry Potter fans, have panned the writing and the plot twists.
But readers have paid no heed of the criticism. Just 13 years ago Rowling was an unemployed single mother.
Today, she is worth US$1 billion and is the second wealthiest female entertainer in the world after Oprah Winfrey.
Her six books have sold 325 million copies in 64 languages.
With a report from CTV's Genevieve Beauchemin and files from The Canadian Press
