On Friday, June 24th, Barnes and Noble hosted an activity-filled event as part of their book series to get Harry Potter fans excited about the new book, The Cursed Child (Parts One and Two).

Barnes and Noble hosts events over the summer that bring in readers under a shared community, whether it’s anime, DC comics or a popular book series.

“Harry Potter is always a special thing,” Mary Wendt, Barnes and Noble’s merchandise manager, said. “Every summer, we do have big events like this. Usually for about a month and a half, we do something.”

Friday’s event included a variety of games including a scavenger hunt throughout the store to find Golden Snitches from the series, trivia and other arts-and-crafts style activities.

Though many were dressed normally, a few devoted fans came dressed as their favorite characters from the series, complete with the lightning-bolt scar Harry Potter is known for.

“I just wanted to meet others in the fandom because there are barely any at my school,” Emily Baker, 12, said.

Baker and her friends came to the event to meet fellow fans and cosplayers in Tuscaloosa.

“I can’t survive without this now and to deal with my obsession, I talk about it with other people,” Allison Katona, 12, said. “It’s like a therapy session now.”

Mary Katherine Lee, 13, said she was excited for the new book as it would answer questions about Harry Potter, his friends and what 19 years has done to the world of Hogwarts.

“I’m just excited because I want to hear the story about the kids,” Lee said. “It’s just gonna be really cool because when [Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows] ended off 19 years later on the epilogue, everyone was just like ‘No!’”

Barnes and Noble will also be hosting a midnight release party for The Cursed Child (Parts One and Two) on July 30th.

“It’s nice to have something new finally after years of having nothing new to look forward to,“ Wendt said.