‘Harry’ hysteria hits town

As days turned into hours and hours into minutes, the countdown to the release of the newest instalment of the Harry Potter saga reached a fevered pitch last week.
As the much-anticipated release of “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” approached Friday night at midnight, dozens of locals—some in their pajamas—lined up to be one of the first in North America to own a copy of J.K Rowling’s latest effort.
Nearly 100 people were lined up outside Betty’s on Scott Street to get their book. At the front of the line was 12-year-old Garett Fox.
“I love the whole set,” he said of the first four Harry Potter books.
He was the first in line, getting there before 10:30 p.m. But waiting an hour-and-a-half wasn’t too big of a deal for him, either—he’s been waiting for quite some time for this book to be released.
To pass the time, he had re-read the preceding stories. “About three times, waiting for this one to come,” he grinned.
But Fox wasn’t the only one waiting to get their hands on the elusive book, which came with strict instructions to vendors not to release before midnight on June 21.
“You just get into it [the series] and you can’t put it down,” said Karen Treflin, who was second in line. “I’ve been waiting forever for this one.”
Harry Potter fans of all ages were lined up.
Nikki Wiedenhoeft was planning on buying two copies of the book—one to read now to her children and another as “a keepsake” that they won’t open.
She had her two-year-old daughter, Callahan, with her in line Friday night and felt the keepsake could be hers one day.
Not everyone in line was there for hours. Some showed up 15 minutes prior to midnight and took a spot in line 20-30 from the front. Matthew Kellar, 10, and his mother, Luella, were two of the many deep in line.
“I like Harry Potter because it’s funny,” Kellar said. “I like when they use their spells to knock each other down.”
For Cassandra Halvorsen, 15, her wait would be well worth it.
“’Cause it’s the next one,” she said of why she was standing in line to get the book. “They’re the best books in the world. They’re just so good. They’re different from all the other books.”
The appeal of the Harry Potter storyline has many fronts—from the pure fantasy of the story to plausibility of the characters.
“I kinda relate to Ron a little bit,” said Halvorsen of which character she was like (Ron Weasley is one of Harry’s classmates at Hogwarts and best friend to the protagonist).
The series’ characters and magical world also have drawn kids away from the TV set and back into the pages of books.
“[I read them] because their fun to read,” said Katie Blais, 14. “They keep you reading.”
A similar response could be heard by many youngsters that night, but for Katie’s sister, Sarah, along for the wait Friday, the books aren’t as good as television.
“I don’t like reading,” said the 12-year-old. “I prefer the movies.”
Betty’s nearly sold out of its 300 copies Friday night, already having more than 80 on reserve before its doors even opened. By Monday morning, there were only five or six copies still on the shelf.
The book set a staggering sales record as fans snapped up nearly five million copies worldwide in the first day—twice as many books as last year’s best-selling hard-cover novel, “The Summons” by John Grisham.
It was a good night for the store, but for co-owner Doug Anderson’s son, Will, it was a good night for another reason. He was chosen to be Harry Potter at the opening, standing guard at the door and adding to the magical ambiance inside.
Betty’s was decorated to look like it came out of the pages of the series, including cobwebs and a life-size Dumbledore mannequin—the head wizard at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
“He’s been pumped for a month,” Doug said of his son’s enthusiasm for playing one of the world’s most famous literary characters—even if it was only for a short time.