The Hindu : Britain goes berserk over Harry Potter

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jun 22, 2003

International

International

Britain goes berserk over Harry Potter

By Hasan Suroor

HARRY POTTER'S DAY: The author of the Harry Potter books, J. K. Rowling, distributes Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix in Edinburgh early Saturday.

LONDON JUNE 21. Finally, the spell broke at the stroke of midnight last night as "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix'', J. K. Rowling's eagerly-awaited fifth book, went on sale in Britain in a nail-biting climax to weeks of suspense built up by an unprecedented media hype.

In a bizarre marketing gimmick, just when the pubs were closing down, hundreds of bookshops throughout the country were opening their doors to sleepy Potter fans, some of whom had been queuing up for hours to get their hands on the book.

Hysteria reached a fever pitch as the `magic' moment approached exactly a minute past midnight, and the first copies of the 766-page tome were snapped up in a blaze of TV cameras.

Some TV channels led their midnight news bulletins with scenes of frenzy at bookstores around the country. Shy little boys and girls, clutching their prize copies of the latest Harry Potter adventures, had microphones thrust into their faces for reaction.

They blinked their eyes, mumbled their names, looked at their parents and then uttered the words everyone wanted to hear.

They were "absolutely delighted'', couldn't "believe this is happening'' and were "dying to know how it ends''.

Several major stores such as Waterstone's at Piccadilly in Central London organised Potter-themed events, and W. H. Smith recreated the famous Platform 9 3/4 — where Harry Potter catches the train for Hogwarts — outside its store at London's Kings Cross Station.

Children in Potter `hats' and `magical' costumes were a common sight on a night that clearly belonged to them — and them alone, though adult VIPs were not far behind.

AFP

The Prime Minister of New Zealand Helen Clark, reading the book with Eleanor Stewart (3), minutes after its release in Auckland.

There was the film actor, Dame Judi Dench, who came to Waterstone's party with her grandson but insisted that she herself was a huge Potter fan.

In Edinburgh, Ms. Rowling signed copies of her book for excited children. She was clearly overwhelmed by the response.

"When the Goblet of Fire was published I was desperate to go into a bookshop at midnight and see children's reactions, so this time I'm really pleased I could,'' she said.

Pleased

But she was even more pleased that there had been no crucial leaks from the book despite reports that its copies had been in circulation in some countries long before the official launch.

``I don't think anything crucial has got out, so I am happy. I think it's miraculous, given the number of books that we produced and the number of people involved,'' she said.

The book comes three years after the fourth instalment, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and it is the biggest and heaviest of all Potter books.

The last four books have sold 200 million copies in 200 countries and made Ms. Rowling wealthier than the Queen. Her publishers, Bloomsbury, expect to make a profit of nearly £15 millions this year, thanks to the Potter series.

She has already started the sixth book, and has hinted that in the final instalment — the seventh book — Harry Potter might not survive.

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