PORT TOWNSEND — Harry Potter fans in Port Townsend will have an opportunity to hear the first four chapters of the new sixth book, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, read out loud at Port Townsend Public Library, 1220 Lawrence St., starting at 12:01 a.m. Saturday.
Parents and children are welcome to bring blankets and pillows to the event, which will end at about 2:30 a.m.
Xavier Frank, 10, will be there.
“I like Harry Potter because of the magic,” said Frank, who is hoping to finish the fifth book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, at home by Friday night.
Meanwhile, The Imprint Bookstore, 820 Water St., Port Townsend, has more than 200 books in stock and has taken 100 pre-orders for the book.
“Orders have speeded up in the last week with all the publicity,” said Judy Hartman, who works at the bookstore that will open at 10 a.m. Saturday.
“But we’re ready for it.”
Yes, not even the North Olympic Peninsula is immune from Harry Potter mania.
10.8 million copies in U.S.
While most people will buy one of the 10.8 million first-edition prints being churned out in the United States — a new publishing record — after Saturday morning, some people simply can’t wait that long.
Port Angeles resident Cyndie Bousquet, in her 40s, is one of them.
On Thursday, she pre-ordered a deluxe edition of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which features color illustrations, at Port Book and News, 104 E. First St., Port Angeles.
“The whole family is going to get their own copy of the book,” Bousquet said.
“But only I get the deluxe edition, because I’m the mom. I’m the one who works.”
Two years ago, Bousquet waited in line for two hours with about 300 others to buy a copy of the fifth Potter book just after it was made available at midnight.
“I got home at about 2 a.m. that night,” Bousquet recalled.
“I was so tired that I read one page and went to sleep.”
This year, she’s having someone else stand in line and transport the book to her so she can read to her heart’s content into the wee hours.
Pre-orders growing
Alan Turner, owner of Port Book and News, says they’ve already received more than 220 pre-orders for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and fully expect hundreds of people to attend the midnight Harry Potter book-release party tonight.
“It doesn’t matter how well a plot is laid out,” Turner said, explaining the Potter books’ phenomenal sales.