Megan Schaller didn?t have to wave her “wand hand” to summon the mile-leaping Knight Bus loaded with other stranded wizards.
It was parked in the lot of the Cockeysville Library in Baltimore County.
The 9-year-old Jacksonville Elementary student was one of about 200 Harry Potter obsessed fans to board the bus ? a purple, triple-decker tram that made its first appearance in the third installment of the wildly popular series about a boy wizard ? Friday on a 37-stop national tour. Young fans waiting to board traded speculations for author J.K. Rowling?s seventh and final book, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” due in bookstores July 21.
“They?re always very interesting but something happens at the end that keeps you wanting to read the next,” said Schaller, a petite blond decked in Harry Potter garb and clutching a wand. “Like a twist.”
The promotional tour sponsored by the book?s publisher, Scholastic, launched last week in New York City and should reach 8,000 fans before returning just in time for the book release, officials said.
After making their own “snitches” ? winged, golden balls ? wand bookmarks, orb pendants and sipping “polyjuice potion,” fans boarded the bus to view artwork from the final book and sat in a video booth to tape their predictions on what?s to come.
Several forecasted an epic battle between Harry Potter and villain Lord Voldemort. But who would win was fiercely debated.
“Harry gets tougher and tougher each time,” Alex Dua, 8, said to his friend, Matrix Slowinski, both third-graders at Padonia Elementary School.
The series finale could be one of the fastest-selling books ever. In May, Amazon.com announced it had taken more than 1 million pre-orders worldwide, easily beating pre-orders for Rowling?s 2005 release, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.” Barnes & Noble reported in April that pre-orders for the final book has broken all records, ranking first on the company?s Web site since it became available for pre-order Feb. 1.
“I can?t remember a book that?s had not only popular appeal but such a broad age appeal,” said James Fish, director of the Baltimore County Public Library system. “You have third-graders reading a 700-page book. It?s wonderful.”
What will your childrenbe reading once they finish the last ‘Harry Potter’ booik? Respond below in our comment section.
