The epic date that millions of people have been waiting for has finally been set.

I was… The epic date that millions of people have been waiting for has finally been set.

I was informed of this date when I checked my e-mail inbox and found that Borders had sent me a letter. Aside from the fact that I still don’t remember how the bookstore ever got my e-mail address, I immediately freaked out when I read the subject line. I whipped my calendar out and scribbled down some notes for the day of July 21st that ended with about 10 exclamation points.

By now, I am safely assuming that most dorks like myself know where this column is headed. July 21, 2007, has now been permanently lodged in people’s minds as the greatest day in entertainment history. Yes, that’s right. The seventh and final book of the Harry Potter series – “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” – is arriving in stores on that day.

The series of the boy wizard, Harry Potter, has taken over the world. While it may have started out as a simple fantasy story for kids, it has become popular with teenagers and adults as well. Every country has tons of Harry Potter fans that range from the casual reader to those slightly intimidating people who dress in full wizarding gear and line up at the bookstore the day before the book is scheduled for release. Harry Potter is also the first book series that I’ve ever known to inspire an entire genre of music. I’m serious – it’s called wizard rock, and it’s pretty catchy.

But after I was completely finished being a dork and starting a countdown on my calendar, I realized that this final release date will also be a sad one. The wait will finally be over, but fans won’t get to spend time arguing about what character is going to die next – please, please let it be Ron. And I can’t help but wonder if the idea that reading is fun may die out as well. Harry Potter was heralded as the book series that helped kids start reading again, but once the final book has been read, kids may once again see no point in reading.

Reading Harry Potter was the one nerdy thing that no one was ashamed of admitting to. It was actually worse if you dared to say that you never read the Harry Potter books, which I claimed for a while in high school until my friends forced me to pick up the first book. Once I finally sat down and started reading the book, I was hooked.

I think the reason that Harry Potter caught on so fast and enchanted so many people was because of the story’s ability to let people escape for a while. Whenever I was stuck in algebra class during high school, I would start reading one of the books and instantly be at Hogwarts rather than dreary, cold Bethel Park. Of course that severely affected my grade, but as an English major, I still stand by the idea that I’ll never need to learn math.

Studies have shown that by doing something silly or acting like a child, adults can lower their stress levels, and a lower stress level equals a healthier person. I think that the escape Harry Potter and all his friends offer can be credited with keeping people healthy. While the books were originally intended to be children’s novels, children weren’t the only ones showing up at those “Midnight Madness” parties. With the end of the series, many adults might go back to ignoring the childish and sillier sides of life.

Of course there will still be movies for a few more years, which will keep some fans happy. But overall, the era of Harry Potter is coming to a close. From now on, any new reader of the series will not have to deal with waiting for J.K. Rowling to finish her manuscript and set a date, nor will she spend time trying to figure out how the finale will go down. I’m glad to be part of the generation that grew up on Harry Potter and attended midnight showings of the movies and book releases. It was a fun activity that helped create bonds between numerous different groups of people. I still remember how shocked I was when I wandered into the release party of the fifth book during high school, only to find a group of the “popular” kids dressed up as Gryffindor school kids. With only one more release date to go, people will soon have to find something new to occupy their time.

I just hope that the phenomenon that takes Harry’s place will be just as childish and full of fantasy.

E-mail Shannon at [email protected] to tell her who you think is going to die in the seventh book.