Muggles celebrate Potter countdown at Grand Hallows Ball Several hundred fans at Borders for midnight book release BY LAYLI WHYTE Correspondent The Mayer family of Tinton Falls (l-r) Bryan, Andy, Lisa, Lauren and Alex wear their wizard finery to the Grand Hallows Ball at Borders July 20. Below: Mary Freehill checks her crystal ball as the midnight release of the final Harry Potter book approaches. EATONTOWN - Muggles of the world, rejoice! The seventh and final installment of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter book series was released last week, finally to reveal the outcome of the epic battle between good and evil. On Friday, witches, wizards and muggles alike joined together at Borders bookstore on Route 35 in Eatontown to await the much-anticipated - and somewhat bittersweet - moment when the cartons containing "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" were opened. In the hours leading up to that moment, the normally subdued bookstore became the scene of the Grand Hallows Ball, filled with children in capes and on broomsticks chasing each other through the aisles, while adults debated whether Professor Severus Snape is truly good or evil at heart. SCOTTFRIEDMAN Snape, the potions teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, has been a foe of Harry's since book No. 1, "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone." On the other hand, Professor Dumbledore has argued time and time again that Snape is absolutely on the side of good and is dedicated to fighting Lord Voldemort, the true villain in Harry's world. "Snape is good," said Dona Yasser, Oakhurst. "He's conflicted, but good." Yasser, dressed in an emerald-green cloak and matching pointed hat, looking very much like Professor McGonagall, said that the one great evil deed done by Snape in book six, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," was done at the behest of Dumbledore. Maggie MacStudy, Oceanport, who said she is a professional witch, agreed. "Snape is vicious," she said, "but good." Eatontown's Brad Mahlof could only say that he believed Snape to be "bad" and that he hoped "Harry lives" through to the end of the final book and beyond, which is another question in every Potter fan's mind. Twins Megan and Alisa Coakley, Tinton Falls, dressed in Fred and George Weasley costumes, had differing opinions on the outcome of what has become known as The Great Snape Debate. "He's bad," said Megan. "I just don't like him." "Well, he could be under the Imperious Curse [a curse that causes victims to be under the control of someone else]," said Alisa, "so he can actually be good and bad at the same time." The Weasley twins, to those Potter fans out there, are known for trouble-making and seeming to share a brain as they finish each other's thoughts. Alisa and Megan may have different opinions, but in their Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes (Fred and George's magical joke shop) T-shirts, and their red hair pinned up to look like the wizard twins' shaggy mops, the Coakley twins were hoping to do well for themselves at the costume contest that night. The competition was stiff, judging by the cast of characters wandering around the stacks. There was a small girl wearing what looked to be a large pillowcase and oversized ears, who could only have been Dobby, the house elf, with her two mismatched socks. The eccentric Luna "Loony" Lovegood, a student who befriends Harry and his crew in book five, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," was decked out for the evening, complete with radish earrings. Divination Professor Trelawney was in attendance, standing next to a very convincing Snape during the actual Snape Debate, held in the center of the store, with people arguing both sides. There was also a gentleman in a suit sporting a small mustache, who could have been an ordinary muggle, but had an air of bureaucratic denial about him that could only belong to the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge. In fact, even Dr. Seuss' Thing One and Thing Two showed up for the great unveiling, genres be damned. Yasser, the McGonagall look-alike, was one of the judges in the costume contest, so her three children, costumed as Hermione Granger, Draco Malfoy, and a pint-sized Quidditch-playing Harry, would be unable to participate, but she said that did not spoil the fun that the books have provided for the entire family. "My daughter got the first book for her 10th birthday," said Yasser. "She started reading it, and when she went to sleep, I took it and read it in one night. The next day, I went to the library and checked out the second, third and fourth books and we passed them around the family. We argued over who got the book next. With the new one, I'm the oldest, so I get it first. "Of course," she continued, "I'll probably stay up all night and have it finished by tomorrow. With the last book, I stayed up until 11 o'clock the next morning reading." The Borders staff was not immune to Potter-mania, with a larger-than-life Hagrid, Hogwarts' half-giant groundskeeper, a very convincing Lucius Malfoy, Draco's father and the worst thing to happen to Harry since Voldemort, and even the annoying newspaper reporter, Rita Skeeter, handing out wristbands to those who reserved books, so they could be sure to be finished by the time this article is printed. Aubri Ann Fox, dressed as Skeeter for the occasion, is the training supervisor at the store. "We really don't know how many books were reserved," she said. "We had some count, but there was this last-minute rush, and we have no idea. I'm sure we have enough." At 10:30 p.m., she said that nearly 450 wristbands had been handed out, and that each hour brought more and more Potter fans to her table near the store entrance. MacStudy said that she was number 498 and was expecting to wait for her copy of the book until 1:30 a.m. She said that she did not want to speculate too much on what will happen in the conclusion of the Harry Potter series, because she didn't want to build up something in her mind, only to be disappointed. "I need to keep a clean mind," she said. "This is my fantasy. It's my own little world." For the several hundred Potter fans who were milling around Borders July 20 waiting for the midnight hour, Harry's story would come to an end, the characters they have grown to love (and hate) would meet their destinies, and the truth about Harry's lightning-shaped scar would finally come fully into focus.