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At midnight, the spell was broken

The last Potter book is released to eager fans.

By SARAH MISHKIN and STEPHANIE GARRY
Published July 21, 2007

Ten years ago, a scrawny 11-year-old with a weird scar on his forehead learned something fantastic: He was a wizard. Harry Potter, the boy who lived.

Millions of readers went along with Harry as he made his way into a world of dragons, broomsticks and Potions class.

On Friday, they couldn't wait to read about his latest adventures.

The Carrollwood Barnes and Noble filled to capacity Friday night, and approximately 50 customers waited in line just to get into the store about 10:30 p.m.

Gaby Lopez, 17, of Tampa said she has been reading the books since fourth grade and was sad that, between graduating from high school and reading the last Harry Potter book, it felt as if her childhood was ending.

"But I'm glad that so many people got into it," she said, laughing.

By 12:01 Saturday morning, the Era of Harry had reached its finale.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the final book in the series, reached the hands of readers, thousands of whom queued up hours early at book sellers around Tampa Bay to get a copy.

Emotions were mixed as fans, many in costume, paced stores, waiting.

Since the publication of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, released in England in 1997, millions of readers have fallen for the magical world created by author J.K. Rowling. The first six books have sold more than 325-million copies in at least 63 languages. The series has spawned feature films, and a Potter theme park will open at Universal Orlando in late 2009.

At Border's in Tyrone Square Mall in St. Petersburg, employees dressed as Harry Potter characters for the "Grand Hallows Ball." They held a spelling bee and a costume contest.

Manager Ryan Peel said he's been reserving books since February. "I think the weekend's more important than the first initial day," Peel said.

Fans sad to see it end

At nearby Barnes & Noble on Tyrone Boulevard, customers started waiting outside the store at noon. Employees let them in at 6 p.m., giving them wristbands to distinguish those who had reserved books from those who hadn't.

To keep them busy, the store held a trivia contest and offered a crafts table where fans could make medallions representing their favorite house - Slytherin, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw.

The books trace the coming of age of Harry Potter and his best friends as they fight to prevent the resurgence of Lord Voldemort, an evil wizard who had terrorized the wizarding world until he vanished after trying to murder the infant Harry. Twelve-million copies of this last book were printed by Scholastic Inc., Rowling's American publisher.

Keleneka Stansel of Lutz worried that the ending of the series will mean an end to the community of Potter fans who have found each other online.

When Stansel miscarried last year and was hospitalized for three weeks, her Potter friends deluged her and her family with hundreds of cards and gifts and books, she said.

"Friendship and loyalty, and Harry Potter learning to trust people and be able to depend on that trust - that's what the books are all about really, more so than the battle of good against evil," she said.

Potter 'like folklore'

Still, she said, fans will spend months, at least, picking apart Rowling's intricate plotting and foreshadowing, trying to answer the questions - there will surely be some - left unanswered.

"Harry Potter has achieved a status somewhat like folklore," said Daniel Nexon, an assistant professor of political science at Georgetown University and editor of Harry Potter and International Relations. "The characters have escaped the novels and become part of our common currency of meanings and symbols."

The story is just such a well-written, human story that fans and scholars of literature alike will surely keep reading it, finding resonance between it and their own lives, said English professor James Thomas, who taught an introductory English class about Harry Potter at Pepperdine University.

"They're kissing their Cho Changs with great trepidation while they're reading it," Thomas said of his students, referring to adolescent Harry's awkward first kiss in the fifth book. "I did that 40 years ago, but it all came back."

Local bookstore managers expected to sell hundreds of books at midnight and said they stocked up enough books to last through the weekend.

Dan Noah, the manager at a Border's in Clearwater, said the excitement is unprecedented, a 35 percent increase in book reservations since the last release.

Palm Harbor resident Julia Ceraolo, 14, won an essay contest two years ago for a piece she wrote about sharing a love of Harry Potter as her sister Olivia, 16, died of bone cancer in 2004.

Winning the contest got Julia, who lives in Palm Harbor, a ticket to London for the release of the sixth book, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Julia went to New York on Thursday for a Harry Potter release reunion outside the publisher's headquarters.

"I'm excited because it's another book, but it's still really sad because we'll never have this kind of moment again," said Julia, who will be a freshman at East Lake High School this fall.

Sarah Mishkin can be reached at smishkin@sptimes.com or 813 225 3110.

[Last modified July 21, 2007, 01:42:09]