Midnight is approaching quickly, and we all know that this week, your minds haven’t really been on whether the space shuttle Discovery would launch or whether Chief Justice Rehnquist would retire. Much more pressing questions have been crowding your thoughts, such as…

Who is the half-blood prince? Now that the vapid Cho Chang seems out of the picture, who will be Harry’s next love interest -– Loony Lovegood? Ginny Weasley? Which important character is slated to die next? Is Dumbledore evil?

That’s right, in just a few hours, rabid fans will be storming local area bookstores to secure their copies of “Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince”, the sixth installment in the obscenely popular children’s fantasy book series. Fans have been ordering copies online, calling up stores to snag their reservation, and frantically rereading Book 5 (and Book 4, and Book 3…) to refresh their memories before the main event. And most chains and independent stores are doing their part to mark the occasion.

Image of the U.K. version of “The Half Blood Prince,” which our friends at Londonist will be getting about six hours earlier than us. Lucky gits.