As the hour draws near to the release of the sixth and latest novel in the Harry Potter saga, die hard fans across the globe are already lining up to be the first to receive their copy. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince goes on sale at midnight tonight, but is officially released worldwide in its original English version at the stroke of midnight on Saturday U.K. local time.

Several major publishing companies are already bracing for the impact of the Harry Potter phenomenon. One such American publishing company, Scholastic Inc, reported yesterday that it planned to print a record 10.8 million copies of the sixth installment in the Harry Potter series in just its initial run. Another publishing company that's feeling the impact today is the online juggernaut Amazon.com, which reportedly sold over one million copies in advance worldwide. Back in April, when Amazon.com began to sell the
novel in advance, it issued a press release explaining how it would be teaming up with UPS and the United States Postal Service to ensure that its pre-orders would be delivered by the July 16 release date. It turns out that it is an impossibility, and that depending on the kind of shipping that was chosen at the time of purchase and whether the Harry Potter gods have it in their favor, fans who anticipated starting the novel tonight may be waiting several days to weeks for their copies of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

Although many fans may be pissed about not getting their goodies on time and other may have to wait painstakingly in ten hour lines at the book store, there are a few that are pleased to see the demise of the new novel, mainly the Pope and concerned parents. El Papa had this to say about the Harry Potter books, "they erode Christianity in the soul." Bottom line, the church believes all the sorcery and witchcraft in the novel is corrupting the precious souls of the youth. Another source of antagonism towards the new novel comes from those overly concerned PTA moms that claim the new book flirts with the dark side. To that I say, ever heard of Star Wars.

Anyway, as you're driving down the street tonight on the way to your midnight yoga class, and you see long lines of people dressed like witches and nerdy little kids, don't freak out, it's just the Harry Potter phenomenon.