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JK Rowling, everyone, Stewart advised us, as the author walked into the spotlit center of the stage. She squinted and smiled at the crowd, looking a bit confused, as if she had taken a wrong turn and wasnt sure how she wound up standing in front of thousands of people, some of whom were blinking back tears and shouting, We love you JK!! and Rowling for President! There were giggles, whoops, shrieks and catcalls; minus the presence of waving light sticks and bad beer in paper cups, the overall environment was that of a rock concert.
The crowd calmed itself as Rowling reached the large, throne-like chair from which she was going to read an excerpt from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. She held a copy of the familiar purple-and-green-covered U.S. edition in her right hand, her thumb and forefinger holding her place. We could all see the pages vibrating minutely --- one of the most prolific, popular novelists of all-time appeared to have a case of stage fright. As she sat, one last catcaller added, Dont kill Harryplease!
Rowling grinned, then covered her mouth with her hand. The plea appeared to calm her. She took a long look at all of us and said slyly, Well, Ill do my best --- but no promises!
She began reading the passage she had chosen from Half-Blood Prince. I could see her falling into the story, forgetting that there were thousands of us listening to her measured voice. The chapter she had chosen highlighted the meeting between Albus Dumbledore and a young man named Tom Riddle, the boy who would become Voldemort.
As Rowling was the last author of the evening to present a reading, the floor opened up for pre-selected questions. With King and Irving flanking her, Rowling fielded queries from the crowd. A girl of about 15 stood and asked, What would Hermione see if she gazed into the Mirror of Erised?
Many audience members, including me and my friends, leaned forward. We all wanted a very specific answer to this question, considering we had watched a certain stormy teenage romance boiling to the surface over the course of the last four books.
Rowling furrowed her brow and seemed to seriously consider the question. She began slowly, gazing around the auditorium at our eager faces.
Well, of course, Hermione wants to see Voldemort defeated, like everyone else. So, if she looked into the Mirror now, shed probably see herself, beside Ron and Harry, defeating him and restoring peace to the wizarding world. My girls and I, who anticipated a slightly more romantic response, wilted a bit.
However, Rowling got a mischievous glimmer in her eyes and added, And, I do believe, shed also see herself --- er, rather entangled --- in a certain someones life. Much of the audience let out wolf whistles and cheers. And I think I have dropped rather large hints as to who that person is in the past several books, despite some confusion over the matter!
As the room erupted in laughter and groans, I took a good look around. Here we were, thousands of us, giddy about the romantic entanglement of two fictional characters. Here we were, paying hard-earned money, not to see a band or a circus or a Christmas show, but to listen to writers read their work and discuss the joys of reading and the art of writing.
For lack of a better word, JK Rowling has done something magical by creating Harry Potter and the world in which he lives. That room held people as young enough to be in the first grade and old enough to be collecting Social Security, every single one of them dedicated readers. I loved that evening, watching some of my favorite authors (because, booklover that I am, Im a fan of King and Irving as well) treated with the awe reserved for celebrities and the reverence reserved for excellent teachers.
With Harry Potter, Rowling has made that awe and reverence widespread, to the extent unseen in our lifetimes. In a society where everything comes at you twice as fast as you can register it and four times as loud as it needs to be, theres something wonderfully calming about knowing, come July 21st, that tens of thousands of Americans will be sitting quietly --- and reading.