Less than two hours after the store opened, all five hundred copies on the counter had sold out.
The staff had to keep restocking from the storeroom, but each time they put the books on the shelves, the waiting customers snapped them all up.
By three in the afternoon, Alfred had to call the publisher to place an urgent additional order.
"Send another thousand copies!" he shouted into the phone. "As fast as you can!"
The same scene played out in Manchester.
The long line outside Simon Bookstore made even the owner of the bakery next door envious.
Simon stood at the entrance, personally keeping order, a broad smile never leaving his face.
"Don't rush, don't rush! There's enough for everyone!" he called to the crowd in line. "We stocked two thousand copies this time. We've got plenty to sell!"
A young girl at the front of the line bounced excitedly. "Really? I can finally buy it! I've been to several bookstores, and they all said they were out of stock!"
"Don't worry, young lady," Simon said, patting his chest. "I guarantee you'll get a copy today."
Once the girl had bought her book, she walked out of the bookstore clutching it as though it were some priceless treasure.
She sat down on a bench by the street and eagerly turned to the first page.
Meanwhile, in William's regional manager's office in Liverpool, the phones rang one after another.
"What? All eight hundred copies sold out? You've only been open for four hours!"
"Send another five hundred over? No, the stock in our central warehouse is nearly gone too."
"Hello? Is this Bloomsbury? I need to place an additional order! Yes, another three thousand copies for the entire Liverpool area!"
That day, sales of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone across Great Britain surpassed five hundred thousand copies.
What truly caught Barry and Christopher off guard, however, was the popularity of the merchandise.
It all started with a boy named Jack.
He was the same Jack who had been the first to buy the book. After reading the first half, he had become completely hooked on its magical world.
He especially liked Harry's holly wand.
"If only I could have a wand just like it."
Jack lay in bed, staring at the ceiling and talking to himself.
Once the thought took hold, he could no longer shake it.
He went to a toy store, but it had no Harry Potter merchandise at all.
So Jack made a bold decision: he would make it himself.
He whittled a branch into the shape of a wand, painted it brown and gray, then glued a small transparent plastic bead to the end, pretending it was a phoenix feather.
Once he had finished, he spent ages waving the "wand" around his room, feeling as though he really had become a wizard.
The next day, he brought the wand to school.
"Wow! What's that?" Tom, who shared his desk, stared at it wide-eyed.
"Harry's wand," Jack said proudly. "I made it myself."
Tom took it and examined it carefully. "It looks pretty close! Can you make one for me too?"
"Of course."
And so Jack began making wands for his classmates, one after another.
As word spread, more and more people came to him to place orders.
By the weekend, he had received more than twenty orders.
Jack was happily busy, but his mother was not pleased.
"Jack, your room is a complete mess!" his mother said with a frown, standing in the doorway and looking at the wood shavings and paint all over the floor.
"Mum, I'm running a business," Jack said without looking up.
"What business?"
"Making wands. I sell them for fifty pence each. I've already earned ten pounds."
His mother froze for a moment, then shook her head, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
Meanwhile, far away at Bloomsbury Publishing, Barry had also noticed the trend in a report from the marketing department.
"Barry, take a look at this." Emily, the head of marketing, walked into Barry's office with a report.
Barry took the report and glanced at it. "What's this?"
"Our market researchers have found quite a few children in several major cities making props from the book on their own."
"Wands, wizard robes-some are even making Sorting Hats."
"And there's a lot of demand for this homemade merchandise. Some children are even willing to pay for it."
Barry set down the report and tapped the desk thoughtfully.
"You mean..."
"We should launch official merchandise," Emily said.
"Officially licensed wands, wizard robes, scarves, badges-we could even make a complete house outfit."
"That's a good idea." Barry nodded. "But we've never made merchandise before. We have no experience in this area."
"We can work with professional toy manufacturers," Emily said. "I've already contacted three prospective companies, and they're all very interested."
Barry thought for a moment, then made his decision. "All right. I'll leave this to you. Put together a proposal as soon as possible."
Emily nodded, then turned and left the office.
Soon, the first batch of officially licensed Harry Potter merchandise went on sale.
The product range included Harry's wand (made of holly, with a decorative phoenix feather core), a Gryffindor scarf (interwoven red and gold), Hogwarts robes (black, with a house badge), and a miniature Quidditch model set (including a Golden Snitch).
The moment these products launched, they sparked another buying frenzy.
In London's toy stores, parents stood in long lines to buy wands for their children.
One middle-aged man bought three at once, prompting the shop assistant to ask curiously, "Sir, do you have three children at home?"
"No." The man smiled. "One's for my son, one's for my nephew..."
"And I'm keeping the other one for myself." He lifted his head proudly.
The shop assistant paused, then gave him a knowing smile.
In a Manchester shopping center, the Gryffindor scarves sold out on their very first day.
One young girl was so upset at being unable to buy a scarf that she nearly cried.
In the end, the shop assistant took one off a display mannequin and sold it to her.
"Thank you!" Hugging the scarf, the girl smiled through her tears.
"You're welcome," the shop assistant said helplessly. "But please come earlier next time."
At a gift shop in Edinburgh, the miniature Quidditch model sets became the most popular gifts.
One elderly woman bought five sets in one go, saying they were Christmas presents for her grandchildren.
"You certainly have a lot of grandchildren," the shop assistant remarked.
"No." The elderly woman shook her head. "I'm keeping a set for myself too."
"This book reminds me of how I felt reading The Chronicles of Narnia when I was young. It's wonderful."
The shop assistant smiled and packed them up for her, silently marveling, This book's appeal really does transcend age.
Of course, what the Muggles did not know was that some special customers had mingled with the crowds lining up at the bookstores and merchandise shops.