In the early morning Saturday, July 21 many Harry Potter fans were flipping from page to page of the newly released “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.”

According to Scholastic, 8.3 million copies were sold in the United States in the first 24 hours, pre-orders included.

Bookstores around the Raleigh area held events highlighting the midnight release of the seventh and final Harry Potter book.

Jackie Klein, community relations manager of the Briar Creek Barnes and Noble bookstore, said there were about 650 to 675 people at their location. She said the festivities began at 6 p.m., featuring, among other things, tarantulas and owl demonstrations.

Many students had been long awaiting the release of the final book. Heather Myers, a junior in zoology, was one of them, and said she began reading the series as a middle schooler on vacation.

“I started reading [the first book] and I could not put it down,” Myers said. “As soon as I got home I got the second one.”

Michelle Ribar, a senior in psychology, said she read the latest book in about nine hours.

“I started at midnight, on Sunday technically. I finished around 11 the next morning, only taking food and bathroom breaks.”

Ribar was working a 12-hour shift at a University Housing service desk as a summer conference assistant. She said she pre-ordered the book on Amazon.com in January.

Only a little ways into the book, Josh Fisher, a junior in electrical and computer engineering, said “it is dark, but very action packed.”

According to Fisher, he began reading the series in the 8th grade with his class, reading the first, second and third books and then took a hiatus until his freshman year of college.

Staff member of the Patrick Beaver Memorial Library in Hickory, N.C., Paul Lowe, a junior in political science, worked during a Harry Potter party on the Thursday before the release date.

“It was shenanigans that Thursday,” Lowe said.

According to Lowe, children and adults alike attended the event and were equally excited.

According to Myers, the ending was fairly predictable because of a prophecy made in an earlier book concerning Harry Potter and Voldemort.

“The prophecy from Professor Trelawney [said] that ‘Neither can live if the other survives’ ,” Myers said. “It had to happen to fulfill the prophecy. I feel I have closure now.”