BLOOMINGTON - As a yellowish half-moon low in the sky shined through whispy clouds, a black-shrouded Dementor, all of 4 feet tall and wearing sneakers, slipped through the doors.

He passed someone who must have been Ginny Weasley keeping careful count of people's comings and goings.

Inside, he entered a brightly lit room densely packed with witches, wizards and professors milling about. They chatted, read, played games or listened to professor Severus Snape do dramatic readings.

The atmosphere was fun expectation mixed with tension.

Was it Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry on the first night of term? Close. It was Barnes and Noble Booksellers in Bloomington on what would be the last night of its kind: a Harry Potter book-launching party.

At the stroke of midnight, when Friday turned to Saturday, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," the seventh and final book in the boy wizard's tale, was set to go on sale.

The almost 600 Potter fans in the store counted down the time in different ways. Some had Polaroid pictures taken with a Harry Potter cardboard cutout and then decorated frames for them. Some had their faces painted, and others waited for the costume contest at 11 p.m.

Most seemed to find a corner to camp out, wait and talk.

Marni Bishop and Ann Spangler, two moms from Gibson City, nestled with their girls in the management and small-business aisle. The four girls were enjoying the latest teen magazines.

"We're moving tomorrow, and my husband is home packing," Bishop said of leaving him at home. "I said, 'I'm sorry, but I have to go. This is too important. Goodbye.'"

The moms and daughters share a love of the books, and Spangler said she loves making a nest of pillows at home,

curling up with the kids and reading about Harry, Hermione, Ron and the rest for hours at a time.

Spangler said they have been planning the night's outing for a year.

They all agreed they want Harry to vanquish Lord Voldemort, but not all of them thought he would live to tell the tale.

"They might kill each other," speculated Katie Spangler, 12. "They have the same wands and the same powers."

Her mother said she hopes Voldemort will go - and maybe the foul little house-elf named Kreacher, too.

"I want them all to go on to live happy wizard lives in secret parts of London and at Hogsmeade," said Ann Spangler, confessing that on a recent visit to London she went to King's Cross Station to look for Platform 9 3/4, the starting point for the train to Hogwarts.

Ann Spangler said she doesn't want Harry to die, but she wants a definite ending to the series. She concedes that killing Harry will assure that.

"I want a real ending," she said. "I hope she (author J.K. Rowling) sticks to her guns and ends it with seven books. We'll do the happy-ever-afters ourselves."

A few aisles away, 16-year-old Dan Hatch of Normal sat by himself in the science fiction aisle. He was watching AC/DC videos on his iPod.

"I don't want Harry to die, but most people think he will," he said. "It would be a dramatic ending. I know some people will die, but I hope it won't be Harry."

Hatch said he's always loved books, but he picked up Potter fever from his mother. She was on the third book when he decided to read them.

As for the future, Hatch said he still has the movies of the last two books to look forward to. Beyond that, he hopes Rowling will start another series, even if it's not in the universe of Harry Potter.

Store manager Mary Harper-McAvoy predicted earlier it would be a crazy and fun night. She should know; she dressed for the occasion as Potter's divination teacher, professor Sybill Trelawny.

"Harry Potter is such a big draw for people. Your Harry Potter fans are so passionate," Harper-McAvoy said. "The big question is, 'Who's going to die?'"

Twin City bookstores pledged to stay open until the last customer received a book.

"However long it takes. As long as there are people waiting to get the book, we'll stay open for them," Harper-McAvoy said.

Larry Glock, inventory manager at Borders Books in Normal, said Friday was busy, and store officials expect more business this weekend.

"A lot of people don't want to stay up until midnight. … It'll be hopping (today) just as much, maybe even more," Glock said.

Greg Cima and Michelle Koetters

contributed to this story.