There I stood at the Barnes and Noble information desk at 6:30 p.m. last Friday, smiling… There I stood at the Barnes and Noble information desk at 6:30 p.m. last Friday, smiling flirtatiously at the 17-year-old clerk in a weak attempt to get my hands on the latest installation of J.K. Rowling’s phenomenon a few hours early.

I was shot down.

Crossing his eyes to avoid eye contact, in an awkward moment he mumbled something to the effect that the company could be sued if they let go of any of the copies even a few minutes before the stroke of midnight.

I glared at the salespeople costumed as Harry Potter, Albus Dumblerdore, Severus Snape or Moaning Myrtle, as I walked through the store imagining new, more aggressive ploys to get the book.

Alas, I wasn’t able to get hold of my pre-ordered copy until the next morning.

I haven’t opened the last page to learn the ending, nor have I even fanned through the 870 pages to see if anything catches my eye.

No. I haven’t started reading the book.

I think I am afraid of it – it’s just so big. Not the actual book, I’m talking about the concept of the book.

To read a “Harry Potter” book is to have a global experience. The book has spanned the globe, from a third-grader in Tokyo to priests in the Vatican City – everybody is reading.

What makes these books so special? Why has J.K. Rowling become wealthier than the Queen of England?

This past weekend, sales of “The Order of the Phoenix” grossed more profit than the opening of the comic book movie “The Hulk.”

Saturday night, children were not asking their parents for permission to stay up late to watch a movie or play another round of Grand Theft Auto – they were asking to stay up another 15 minutes to finish off just one more “Potter” chapter.

There is a great thing taking place: This book – along with the others in the series – is making kids want to read. And this time they are tackling an 800-page, pictureless novel.

But children are not the only ones reading it and becoming involved in the event.

I saw at least 10 people between the bus and the line at Starbucks with this book in their hands. College kids, professors, businessmen and women were all speeding through the pages while on their way to class, work or during coffee breaks.

What makes this children’s book appealing to an adult audience? What made me want to get my hands on it early? And what about it has drawn so much fire from groups worldwide that are opposed to its publication?

Is it because adults have become so involved in the story that it has become such a controversy?

Rowling has been accused of spreading witchcraft – after the release of the previous book, it was reported in the Minnesota Star Tribune that a New Mexico town actually held a book burning.

In their last issue, People Magazine reported that the books have been accused of being “anti-Christian”, and parents across the country are seeking to ban the book from their children’s school libraries.

I wonder whether or not these people have actually read the books.

I can’t think of anything evil about inspiring kids to want to read a book.

In a Today Show interview last Monday morning, Stephen King talked about why he thought the books have become so popular. He said he wanted to ask Rowling at what point did she stop writing for children?

According to King, it’s this fact that makes the Harry Potter story so successful. She writes for all human beings, not strictly for kids.

The “Harry Potter” series reflects on the human condition, an aspect of the books that, acknowledged or not, adult audiences can appreciate.

Her storytelling does not patronize. Rather it welcomes at first, then it grabs the reader aggressively and doesn’t let go until the very last page of the very last book – which we are all anticipating.

These books are uniting us all; children have found, in Harry Potter, someone who embodies their fantasies about rising out of a limiting environment through magic, while, for adults, it is reintroducing us to a pastime many have forgotten: reading as a distraction from the day-to-day stress and various insanities of our lives.

For all of you who still haven’t introduced yourselves to Potter, I suggest you do, but start with the first book. Don’t be embarrassed. Nobody has to know. When you have quickly consumed them all, you will know what I’m talking about.

Christian Schoening can be reached at [email protected], but, thanks to Harry Potter, she won’t be checking her emails for a while.