Harry Potter Midnight Release Party at The Woodlands Barnes & Noble

THE WOODLANDS, TX — It's been nine years since the last Harry Potter novel came out, five since the last movie was in theaters. For an entire generation of young fans the spectacle that defined Harry Potter — the midnight book releases, the red carpet world premieres, the unending amount of merchandise — are almost legends passed down from parents and older siblings.

To mark the release of the new book, "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child," The Woodlands Barnes & Noble is reviving one of the key pieces of Potter-mania: the midnight release party.

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For years teens, tweens and adults would all pack into bookstores mill around in costumes waiting until midnight on the day the newest Harry Potter book could be sold. It became something of a tradition among the Potter fans.

Of course this was before everyone had e-readers and Twitter, and of course this is a play not a novel, so it will be interesting to see if the same sense of community can be created now.