Like so many Potter readers, Heyman has filled time between new releases by rereading the older Potter books and trying out other fantasy series. She mentions Christopher Paolini's "Inheritance," for which the second of three planned volumes comes out next month.
The New York buyer said she would return the book; in the Canadian case, a judge ordered purchasers to avoid disclosing the plot if they wouldn't return their copies. According to some reports, they were even told not to read it.
The scene is likely to repeat itself at midnight local time in the United States and Canada, and fans are snapping up the book in spectacular fashion.