Potterific

by ANDREW LAZOR

The employees of Metropolitan Bakery — from left, Carl Stone, Teresa Engst, Sarah Melusky, Luke Sirinides — dressed up as students of Hogwarts School.

In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Albus Dumbledore warns the titular wizard-in-training that “difficult times lie ahead.” Anyone who hadn’t reserved their copy of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the series’ sixth installment that debuted July 16, could certainly sympathize with this sentiment. Chestnut Hill was abuzz with “Pottermania” to celebrate the release of author J.K. Rowling’s latest book. From a midnight release party at Borders on Germantown Avenue to the full-fledged “Harry Potter Day” sponsored by the Chestnut Hill Business Association on Saturday, fans of the series both young and old were treated magically.

Readers anxious to get The Half-Blood Prince gathered at Borders on Friday evening to partake in activities celebrating the release. Children enjoyed getting their faces painted like their favorite character and creating their own magic hats and wands. The store’s café provided treats for the crowd and also screened some of the Potter movies. Around midnight, patient fans took numbers and received their copy of what many devotees are calling the most indispensable installment in the series to date. The book was so highly anticipated that it jumped to number one on Amazon.com’s bestseller list close to a year before it was even released; over two million copies were pre-ordered worldwide.

While there was no shortage of little Harrys, Hermiones and Dracos running about the store, anyone expecting this to be a purely youth-driven event was pleasantly surprised. Many adults were just as excited as the kids to get their hands on The Half-Blood Prince.

Mt. Airy resident Karen Batt pre-ordered her copy several months in advance; she wore a “friendly muggle” sign at the release to make sure little wizards felt comfortable around her (a muggle is someone with no magical abilities). “[The books are] so well-written. I think they can appeal to adults because of what Rowling does with words. Harry is a Cinderella, underdog figure. And I’ve always had an interest in fantasy and science fiction,” said Batt, who explained she was a Trekkie in her younger years.

Dr. Vincent Kling is a professor of English at La Salle University who teaches a class on Potter. He believes that Rowling’s series appeals to so many different people because of the painstakingly realistic characters. “There is no age range for the Potter books, because there is no age range for profoundly honest enactments of the most basic, urgent, compelling human struggles expressed as entrancing narratives,” said Kling. “No adult who takes the trouble to read the Potter books with an open mind can be anything but impressed.”

After the book’s official release, Potter enthusiasts gathered in Chestnut Hill on Saturday for an entire day of events organized by the CHBA. The association planned a similar event for the release of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix in 2003; the first “Harry Potter Day” was a huge success. “People liked it so much, we decided that if [Rowling] came out with another book we would do it again,” said Peggy Miller, manager of the CHBA. “I think there’s a whole aura about the books. The kids have a love and fascination with them. For stores [in Chestnut Hill] it translates into a successful promotion. We tried to make it fun for kids, basically a celebration of the book.”

Avid Potter admirers dotted the Hill from top to bottom, their pointy hats, capes and brooms in tow. Activity tables featuring face painting and button-making lined storefronts on Germantown Avenue. Eateries like Bredenback’s Bakery, Cosimo’s and Taste of Philly offered hungry fans specialty Potter foods like Hagrid’s Hotdog and Dumbledore’s Swedish Eggs. A complimentary “Knight’s Bus” trolley escorted children up and down the street. Highlights of the day included a scavenger hunt that required children to find Potter-related clues hidden in various storefronts and a high-spirited costume parade that began at Top of the Hill Plaza.

Dressed in full witch regalia, Cassandra Carpenter of Mt. Airy came out to Harry Potter Day with her daughter Shea. Both are big fans of the Potter books and looked forward to participating in the parade. Carpenter has a simple explanation for why she finds the series so appealing. “I think it’s the magic,” she said. “Of course, kids are naturally drawn to it, but I think many adults still haven’t lost the faith. It takes you back to your childhood and things you loved to believe in.”

Kling feels that the popularity of Rowling’s books lies in the fact that the plot deals with much more than just fantastic feats of wizardry. “[The books feature] solid plotting and writing, but also [deal] with a search on the part of young people for values that go beyond the consumerist world,” he explained. Many values presented in the novels “urge an adherence to the ideals that have to become ways of living for any decent humanity to emerge as a child becomes an adult.”

While the hype over The Half-Blood Prince will surely die down in the coming months, it’s safe to say that the yet-to-be-written seventh Potter book will be met with similar, if not greater, fanfare. While each and every diehard Harry Potter reader could probably cite a different reason for why they love the series, the origin of its appeal is far from complicated. Mt. Airy resident and fellow “friendly muggle” Harold Cohen, who accompanied his wife, Karen Batt, to the Borders release event, summed up the globe-spanning literary phenomenon. “[We live in] a world where we can’t deal with terrorism, where we can’t deal with worldwide poverty, and where more and more people are unable to make a living,” he said. “All Harry has to do is wave a wand. We want that. I want that.”