Harry Potter Mania

ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
Harry Potter Mania
Fans all over the world celebrate the release of the sixth Harry Potter book
At the magical moment of midnight on July 16, the waiting had finally come to an end. After weeks of rumors and secrecy, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince finally went on sale.
Fans in costumes celebrated the release at book parties all over the world. At a bookstore in New Delhi, India, kids with broomsticks got into the spirit of Quidditch. In the United Kingdom and Australia, fans crammed into tiny bookstores and lined up, or 'queued,' to get their hands on the book as soon as it went on sale.
Rowling뭩 Magical Midnight Appearance
The biggest party took place in Edinburgh, Scotland, where a castle was transformed into a glowing Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Seventy lucky kids arrived at the castle in horse drawn carriages, and made there way to the great hall for a special visit with J.K. Rowling herself. After reading aloud from the new book, Rowling answered a few questions about Harry뭩 dark future.
Muggle Madness
In the U.S., 5,000 bookstores hosted Potter parties on Friday night. Kids (and adults) dressed up as their favorite witches and wizards and tried, for one night, to forget that they were mere muggles.
In downtown New York City, Mercer Street outside the Scholastic store was transformed into Potter Place, with Ollivanders Wand store, Moaning Myrtle뭩 bathrooms and more. Mary Grandpre, the illustrator of the book뭩 American edition, made a special visit to Books of Wonder, another New York City bookstore.
"We had over 2,000 people show up," Peter Glassman, owner of Books of Wonder, told TFK. "One of the highlights for me was the kids, and the excitement and the looks on their faces. Watching children be that excited about books -- that뭩 what it뭩 all about."
At festivities in Chicago, Illinois, fans organized a friendly game of Human Chess. In Omaha, Nebraska, kids participated in a Defense Against the Dark Arts class or took their chances with Divination.
Record Sales
In the U.S. alone, 6.9 million copies of book six sold in the first 24 hours. That's more than any other book in publishing history! Half-Blood Prince even smashed the previous Potter publishing record set in 2003, when Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix sold 5 million copies in its first day.
What is the secret to Rowling's success? In an interview with TIME magazine, the author said she worked hard planning and outlining the plot of book six before she began writing. "I took three months and just sat there and went over and over and over the plan, really finetuned it, looked at it from every angle," Rowling said.
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