Both. My birthday is July 28th and the book came out July 25th. My mother pre-ordered the Amazon "special edition" of the book for my birthday. What she didn't know is that I'd pre-ordered the book locally. I also worked at the midnight release party as a volunteer. A Star Trek club I used to belong to was contacted by a local Boarders Book store to help them keep the people waiting entertained. We all dressed up in Harry Potter costumes and created all kinds of activities. We had a sorting ceremony in one area of the store. Reading from the earlier books in another area. We had people wandering through the store with Harry Potter trivia questions. And the part I was involved with was a green-screen picture project. My (now) ex created several Potter themed backgrounds that we could then insert people into. It was a blast.