Tape stretched tightly across the small boxes emblazoned with the famous lightning bolt.

As the clocks slip past midnight into Saturday, the boxes will yield the latest book in the "Harry Potter" saga - ending months of arrests, gag orders and unparalleled hype.

"This is like no other book on every level," said Lisa Kyes, store manager for Barnes and Noble Booksellers in Bismarck.

As excitement builds for the weekend release, book sellers are extending hours to allow readers a first taste of the much-anticipated book.

Barnes and Noble's festivities begin at 8 p.m. today, with "Harry Potter" movie showings, crafts, trivia and costume parades. Two costume contest winners will receive the first copies when sales begin at 12:01, Kyes said.

Waldenbooks in Bis-marck's Kirkwood Mall will host "Midnight Magic" starting at 11 p.m. today, offering face painting, prizes and games for Potter fans of all ages.

"This is all about the fun and magic of reading," said Russ Krivoruchka, Waldenbooks store manager. "It's all about the kids, and adults who are really just kids at heart."

The sixth in J.K. Rowling's seven-book fantasy series, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," has sparked a nationwide "Pottermania." Eager fans fill bookstore waiting lists and online sellers have processed millions of requests.

Angela Kolden's 15-year-old daughter, Jessica Heuer, already ordered her copy online. Jessica has grown up with the fantasy series, reading the first Potter book in fourth grade, Kolden, of Garrison, said.

"The books definitely have a dedicated following," said Kolden, who admitted that, despite her daughter's attempts, she had not read the series. "You either love it or you hate it, and there really is no in-between."

Reservations began flooding Waldenbooks last year when news broke of the upcoming Potter installment, Krivoruchka said.

Krivoruchka would not specify the number of copies the store received, or the number of reservations, but said, "There are enough copies for everyone who has reserved a book, and anyone else who would like a copy."

Potter fans exhausted Barnes and Noble's stock during the June 2003 weekend release of the fifth book, Kyes said. In anticipation of this year's hype, she said the publisher printed more copies to ensure copies for customers without reservations.

The book's publisher has demanded retailers remain tight-lipped while enforcing the strict release time. Krivoruchka said the security practice prevents stolen copies from leaking into the market at bargain prices.

Fourteen books were accidentally sold last week at a grocery store in Canada, and another copy escaped the shelves Wednesday at a New York pharmacy.

A judge ordered the Canadian customers not to talk about the book, copy, sell or even read it before the official release.

In England, the controversy resulted in the arrests of two men trying to sell a stolen copy of the book to a newspaper.

The popular books chronicle the adventures of Harry Potter and his friends at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The series has sold about 275 million copies, and catapulted Rowling to the wealthiest woman in the United Kingdom.

The boy-wizard has won over a new generation of young readers, and sparked adults' childhood imagination, Kyes said.

Katie Johnson, 10, finished the first 300-plus page book in just over a week. Katie liked the series' magical parts most, she said, and can't wait to work her way up to the sixth book.

"It is fun and it inspires me," the Bismarck girl said. "I think it's kind of cool to be a Harry Potter fan."

(Reach reporter Maggie Stehr at 250-8261 or maggie@bismarcktribune.net.)