Re-Bewitched by Harry Potter

Friday, June 29, 2007

Page 15

AT THE SIDEBAR (Column)

Re-Bewitched by Harry Potter

By J’AMY PACHECO

Two years ago, I wrote here about a newfound fascination with the Harry Potter series of books.

Although we’d enjoyed the Harry Potter movies, for years neither my daughter nor I had been able to conjure up any interest in the popular series of books about a fledgling wizard. But people kept giving us copies and, desperate for something to read one summer weekend, I finally picked up the first book. I read it, and enjoyed it enough to start the second.

By the end of the second book, I was hooked. To make a long story short (or to make a short story out of six rather long ones), I raced through the entire series – 3,341 pages – in less than two weeks. I stayed up late nights and I carried the books with me everywhere I went, hoping to squeeze in a few minutes of reading. I suspect I would have tried reading in the car, if I thought I could do it without crashing.

With each book, the students at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry grew older. Their stories grew more complex, their situations more grave, and the villains more frightening. Reading the books back-to-back had a definite advantage, and with each volume, I was drawn further into Harry’s story.

I read the last book, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” in two days. By the end of the enormous volume, there was war within the Hogwarts castle, and I was desperate to find out who the good guys were, and who the bad guys were.

For the first time, I understood why fans are willing to line up at midnight to receive copies of each new Harry Potter book. I understood what motivated fans of unreleased movies to spend weeks camped out on a sidewalk just to be first to see a new installment.

I raced to my computer to find out when the seventh book would be out. I thought I was going to die of disappointment when I discovered it had not even been written.

I was hooked on Harry, and devastated that I was going to have to wait to find out what would happen to him. I even found myself wishing that I had not read the books until the last volume of the story was complete.

I discussed the books with everyone I met who had read them. I tried to get my daughter to read them, just so we could talk about them. (No luck.) I scoured Web sites related to the books and author J.K. Rowling, hoping for some hints or clues about the final book – or at least a date when it would be available.

Months went by, and I slowly started losing interest in Harry Potter’s future. Although I was mildly interested in speculation about who would die in the last book, I lost my obsession, and started a new series of books. Even announcement of the final Harry Potter title failed to raise my interest above anything but passing.

And then, one day, a bookseller with whom I frequently chat at my favorite bookstore asked me if I’d reserved my copy of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.” It would, she assured me, be available to me seconds after July 20 turned into July 21. I signed up for a reserved copy, and started counting down.

Each time I enter the bookstore, I check the almost life-sized Harry Potter cutout to see how many days remain until I can read the book. A few days ago, however, it occurred to me that over the past 23 months, my memory of what was going on at Hogwarts has grown a bit foggy. I would, I realized, have to read the series again to get the full effect of Book Seven.

Yikes.

So here I am, trying to cram 3,341 pages of reading into about three weeks. I’ll have to average about 159 pages each day—every day—to get through the first six books in time for the seventh.

That wouldn’t be a problem, if I didn’t have other tasks like dinner preparation, laundry, child rearing, housekeeping, work, this column—a million things to keep me away from Harry.

My daughter suggested I skip the first five books and just watch the movies. One’s not even out yet, but even if it were, it wouldn’t be the same. The books are filled with details and events that never make it into the movies. What if I miss something? What if it’s something that is crucial to my understanding of Book Seven? It would be too much to bear.

In fact, I can’t even decide whether I should see the newest movie – due out July 11—or wait until I’ve re-read the book. The agony is overwhelming.

No doubt about it—Harry Potter is back. And so is my obsession!