By Gazelle Emami
While it’s the most highly anticipated event of the summer, the release of the seventh and final installment in the Harry Potter series on July 21 is hardly just another summer spectacle. Twelve years ago, J.K. Rowling was scribbling away in cafes, creating one of the most widely beloved characters of all time. Now, about a decade since Harry Potter and the Sorceror’s Stone’s release, we’ve finally hit the end of this larger-than-life reading marathon. And Harry deserves a little glory to usher in his final stand. 
With the build-up reaching its final, condensed moments, the Bay Area is swarming with Harry Potter release parties the night before—because trying to sleep on the eve of a Harry Potter release is worse than Christmas Eve when you’re five. Fortunately, Harry Potter is better than Santa and can be in our hands at the stroke of midnight. What follows is a list of many midnight parties around the Bay Area. It is at these parties that readers will devotedly sport colors that pledge their allegiance to Gryffindor or Slytherin, boast their knowledge in trivia games, and raise their glasses of Butterbeer in support of our favorite hero, all just hours before the gratifying sound of ripping cardboard signals the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I wouldn’t be surprised if the world just implodes in anticipation. Do I sound a little like a crazed fan? Maybe because I am.