What's in a name?
The Potter series has been translated into 64 languages. Here’s what the pubescent sorcerer is called in five of them:
1) Lithuanian: Haris Poteris
2) Bulgarian: Xari Potûr
3) Arabic: Hari Butar
4) Russian: Garri Pottyer
5) Japanese: Harii Pottaa
Throwback
People did enjoy reading serials before that Potter kid showed up. Here are five vintage titles:
1) The Time Quintet by Madeleine L’Engle: from A Wrinkle in Time to An Acceptable Time, Meg, Charles Wallace, and the rest of the Murray kids saved everyone, from their own father to entire planet.
2) Sweet Valley High by Francine Pascal: oh, those Wakefield twins. Did anyone actually care what Elizabeth thought?
3) The Fudge Books by Judy Blume: we like to think of Peter Hatcher as the Woody Allen of kid-lit.
4) The Baby-Sitters Club by Ann M. Martin: raise your hand if Stacy McGill was your favorite sitter. Yeah, us, too.
5) The Hardy Boys by Franklin W. Dixon: god, Nancy Drew was so much cooler than those bozos.
Lyric sheet
From Harry And The Potters’ “My Wizard Scar Still Burns For You”
Oh, Ginny Weasley
You’re so dreamy
Ginny Weasley
Ron’s gonna kill me
So you know that Voldemort is trying to kill me
And I don’t want you caught in between
Like Sirius Black and my mom and my dad
I don’t want to lose you
So I can’t see you
I don’t want to lose you
So you know I can’t see you
But my wizard scar still burns for you
From Harry And The Potters’ “The Foil (Malfoy)”
Your blood may be pure
But your heart is spoiled
You wouldn't be so tough
Without Crabbe and Goyle
Malfoy wouldn't be so cool if I wasn't around
I'm his enemy at school
He really wants to get me down
Draco Malfoy what’s your problem?
All your friends think you're rad
’Cause you treat me so bad
Draco Malfoy what’s your problem?
All your friends think you're rad
’Cause you treat me so bad
You think you’re so cool
’Cause youre Slytherin’s seaker
You're only that good cause you're a dirty cheater
You hate muggle-borns like Hermione Granger
I wouldn't be surprised if you became a Death Eater
Draco Malfoy what’s your problem?
All your friends think you’re rad
’Cause you treat me so bad
Draco Malfoy what’s your problem?
All your friends think you're rad
’Cause you treat me so bad
Midnight parties
Without the assistance of a time-turner, it’d be difficult to hit all of these Potter bashes at once. Choose your favorite July 20-midnight fête from the handy guide below. But remember, neither therapists nor Denial Spells will be made available if you spoil yourself with a sneak peek at Deathly Hallows’ epilogue. Repeat after us: celebrate now, break down later.
1) Harvard Book Store/Harvard Yard: Harry and the Potters, Draco and the Malfoys, and the Hungarian Horntails are booked to play a free set in Harvard Yard from 7 to 9 pm, preceded by a speech from Andrew Slack of the HP Alliance; from there, apparate to the Harvard Book Store (1256 Mass Ave, Cambridge; 800.542.READ) for their HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS RELEASE PARTY, which features more music, fortune telling, and an in-store Marauder’s Map.
2) Prizes, spellbinding crafts, and an HPIQ scavenger hunt are among the many activities filling the fifth-floor reading room of the Barnes & Nobles at Boston University’s MIDNIGHT MAGIC COSTUME PARTY (660 Beacon Street, Boston; 617.267.8484). The festivities kick off at 9:30 pm.
3) For a full twelve hours (1 pm–1 am) Coolidge Corner is turning itself into the Brookline version of Hogsmeade Village with its POTTERPALOOZA. Brookline Booksmith (279 Harvard Street; 617.566.6660) will function as your home base in an indoor/outdoor street festival complete with Potter-themed food at local restaurants, contests, and performances.
4) Beginning at 11 pm, guzzle butterbeer, pumpkin juice, and treacle tarts at Porter Square Books (25 White Street, Cambridge; 617.491.2220). The Underground Railroad Theater will present an in-character, in-costume reading from the book at this HARRY POTTER PARTY.
5) Dress up as your favorite character and catch a Knight Bus to your local Borders Books and Music for a GRAND HALLOWS BALL that will include a Potter spelling bee, the Great Snape Debate, and the crowning of a king and queen.
Deathly Hallows Stats
1) Amazon.com pre-orders: 1.5 million and counting
2) Initial print run by Scholastic: 12 million copies
3) Page count: 784 (US version)
4) Harry turns: 17 years old
5) Deaths: two major characters
What’s next?
1) Two Warner Bros films: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
2) At least three Harry Potter conferences: Prophesy (August 2–5) in Toronto; Portus (July 10–13, 2008) in Dallas; Level Two (July 23–26, 2009) in San Jose; and possibly 2010 in Orlando (the location of the yet-to-be-constructed Wizarding World of Harry Potter Theme Park).
3) One last Harry Potter book? Billionaire J.K. Rowling’s made no promises, though she might change her mind if she needs a little rainy-day cash.
