Forget the Quidditch World Cup: Falls Church has the honor of being named the “Harry-est Town In America” by Amazon.com.
Residents of Falls Church pre-ordered more copies of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows”, the final installment in the popular series, thanany other place in the country.
The company did not release how many books were ordered in Falls Church, though the company has sold more than 1.3 million copies in total.
Close behind Falls Church were Fairfax and Vienna, which ranked 3 and 4 on the Amazon list, respectively.
“Virginia certainly had a pocket of areas that were very popular with the book,” said Amazon spokesman Sean Sundwall Monday.
More books were also sold in D.C. than in any state, Sundwall said.
“Apparently even the politicians are into Harry Potter,” he said.
As a result of the competition, Amazon donated a $5,000 gift certificate to the Mary Riley Styles Public Library Foundation Trust of Falls Church.
Now that the last Harry Potter book is coming out, Sundwall said he didn’t know whether Amazon would run a similar-style promotion in the future.
“Harry Potter is its own animal and carries with it its own news cycle that other books, even the most popular of books, don’t,” Sundwall said. “If there’s another ‘DaVinci Code’ out there, maybe that would make sense,” he said.
A number of area bookstores will be celebrating the release of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” Friday evening, as midnight draws near and the books go on sale. Some of the highlights include:
*The AFI Silver Theatre in Silver Spring will be screening all five Potter films at various times throughout the week, beginning Monday evening and ending Saturday.
*A Likely Story in Alexandria will host a party featuring Latin Incantations, herbology classes, palm readings and fortunetellers beginning at 8 p.m.
*Books-A-Million, with eight locations in the D.C. area, will host midnight parties featuring costumes, trivia contests, face painting and wand making.
*Olsson’s Books, with six locations near D.C., will feature costumes, refreshments and prizes at their midnight gatherings.
*Borders Books’ events vary by location, but in Silver Spring, a Grand Hallows Ball will be held, with Ellsworth Drive transformed into the books’ Diagon Alley.
*Barnes & Noble stores throughout the region will host in-store scavenger hunts, raffles, and jelly bean competitions.
