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Harry
Turns Seventeen and
Oh,
What a Party!
News > Local: 20 July
2007
Booksellers
staying open late for release of long-awaited Potter finale
BY TELEGRAPH STAFF
For fans of young wizard Harry Potter, the wait is almost over.
Nearly nine years after the release of the first Harry Potter book,
author J.K. Rowling is set to release her seventh and final novel
in the series, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,"
concluding Harry's seven-year saga as a student at Hogwart's School
of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
To celebrate, some local booksellers are marking the event with
a night of midnight magic, before selling their copies starting
at 12:01 a.m. Saturday.
In Dixon, Books on First, 202 W. First St., will stay open tonight,
offering entertainment and the store's own version of Bertie Bott's
All Flavored Beans before the sales begin.
In Sterling, Waldenbooks in Northland Mall is having a free Harry
Potter party. Register at 9 p.m.; the festivities start at 9:30
and include a Harry Potter spelling bee, costume contest, candy
walk and a midnight reading of the first chapter.
Across the street, Kmart will hold a party with treats, starting
at 11 p.m. and ending at 1 a.m.
In the sixth book in the series, "Harry Potter and the Half
Blood Prince," Rowling shocked readers when she decided to
kill off a beloved character, Professor Dumbledore, showing that
nobody is safe - including Harry himself.
Worldwide sales of the first six books have topped 325 million copies.
U.S. publisher Scholastic has printed 12 million copies of "Deathly
Hallows," and stores say the initial supply may be gone by
sundown Saturday.
And,
from our own girl reporter on the scene:
Oh,
what a night! We had Carolina Dog come play 7-9pm on
Friday, and after they decided to wrap it up around 10pm,
our Harry Potter expert Julia Morss -- newly arrived in a
fast drive from Eastern Illinois University -- began pulling
open all of her bags of decorations, trivia contest sheets
(for two levels of players), prizes and more!
We
began at 11pm by announcing an on-paper "virtual"
quidditch contest for all Houses of Hogswarts. Everyone
over 13 years of age also had a chance to throw an entry into
cauldron to win a trip for 4 to London! sponsored by Independent
Muggles for Harry, an organization which includes Books
on First!
Voted
best in-the know costumes were Anne Etchison, Claire Etchison,
Ashley Hill and Leah Bollman. All costumed guests were
invited to be first in line at 12:01 to buy the book.
We sold 60 copies in 1 hour!
Read
more about the Sauk Valley area fun online at: Kids
(and adults) go wild about Harry Potter finale
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