Fans lining up for Harry Potter book-what say ye?
 

LONDON - Readers waited in sheets of rain and blazing sun Friday, from Sydney to Seattle, to get their hands on "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," the seventh and final volume in the schoolboy wizard's saga.

In a now-familiar ritual that is part sales frenzy and part Halloween party, bookstores in Britain were flinging open their doors at a minute past midnight to hordes of would-be warlocks, sorcerers and ordinary, non-magical Muggles. Shops throughout the world were putting the book on sale at the same time, and the United States will follow as midnight strikes Saturday in each time zone, from 12:01 a.m. EDT.
J.K. Rowling, who created the magical lad in "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" a decade ago, was giving a midnight reading to 500 competition-winning children in the grand Victorian surroundings of London's Natural History Museum.

For many of the keenest fans, the place to be was Waterstone's bookstore on Piccadilly in central London. Dozens of die-hard fans sheltered under umbrellas and plastic ponchos, undeterred by torrential rain. Some passed the time by jotting predictions for the final novel in notebooks, while others encouraged passing drivers to "Honk for Harry."

"This is the biggest Harry Potter party in Europe, so it's worth the wait," said Laura Halinen, 23, from Kuusankoski, Finland.

Rowling's books about the bespectacled orphan with the lightning-bolt scar have sold 325 million copies in 64 languages, and the launch of each new volume has become a Hollywood-scale extravaganza.

Chellie Carr, 17, a fan since the age of 9, said she had pestered her mother to bring her to London from her hometown of Okemos, Mich.

"For all the other books she said, 'No. It's just a book.' But for this one, she said yes," said Carr, who wore a homemade black cloak lined in green for Slytherin, one of four houses at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

"Deathly Hallows" has a print run of 12 million in the United States alone, and Internet retailer Amazon says it has taken 2.2 million orders for the book — 47 percent higher than the pre-order for the sixth volume, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince." Britain's Royal Mail says it will deliver 600,000 copies on Saturday — one for every 43 households in the country; the U.S. Postal Service said it would deliver 1.8 million copies.

"It is completely crazy," said Deborah Tilley, a spokeswoman for Britain's Waterstone's bookstore chain. "It has never been quite this busy."

From London to Los Angeles, Potter-mania spans the globe. Tel Aviv's Steimatzky bookstore was due to open at 2:01 a.m. local time Saturday (a minute after midnight London time), defying criticism from Orthodox Jewish lawmakers for opening on the Sabbath, when the law requires most businesses in Israel to close.

In India, stores were opening at dawn for special Harry Potter parties. In Bangkok, British ambassador David Fall was to hand over Thailand's first official copy of "Deathly Hallows" to the first customer in line at the Emporium Shopping Complex. The mall was decked out with a re-creation of King's Cross Station's platform 9 3/4, where Harry and friends catch the Hogwarts Express to school.

Phnom Penh's Monument Books — Cambodia's only outlet for the book — expected its allotment of 224 copies to sell out within hours.

Excitement was building in the United States, which gets the book a few hours later than most of the rest of the world. Enthusiasts, some rereading previous Potter volumes, lined up in sunshine outside book stores in Los Angeles and New York.

Portland, Maine, was going all-out with a 12-hour Mugglefest to celebrate the book's launch. Fans wearing robes and carrying wands were riding the Hogwarts Express into a re-creation of Kings Cross station, and an old red-brick warehouse foundry along the city's waterfront was converted into the magical shopping street Diagon Alley, where Hogwarts students buy wands and other magical paraphernalia in Rowling's books.

Security for the launch is tight, with books shipped in sealed pallets and legal contracts binding stores not to sell the book before the midnight release time.

In Ireland, 2,500 people who bought tickets for a launch party at Eason's bookshop on Dublin's O'Connell Street had to sign contracts to be admitted into the store at 11 p.m.

"It's been hard work," said children's book buyer David O'Callaghan, who is dressing up as a werewolf for the occasion. "We've had to sign an embargo, and every customer has signed an embargo, and we send all the signed forms off to an auditor — he's the equivalent of Voldemort — who says things like, 'The signature on account number X214 does not match.' But it's all worth it when you see 2,500 people in O'Connell Street, dressed up and waiting for their book."

Despite the security, spoilers have sprouted on the Internet, including photographed images of what appeared to be all 700-plus pages of the book's U.S. edition. Publishers would not say whether the leaked pages were genuine.

In France, the daily Le Parisien played spoiler, telling readers how the final installment ends, in a small article which it printed upside down. The book's French publishing house, Gallimard Jeunesse, condemned the newspaper's revelation, saying it showed "a total lack of respect for J.K. Rowling" and "disdain for readers."

As many as 1,200 copies were shipped early in the United States by an online retailer, and The New York Times and The (Baltimore) Sun published reviews of the book ahead of the release.

Rowling said she was "staggered" by the embargo-busting reviews and called on fans to preserve the secrecy of the plot.

"In a very short time you will know EVERYTHING," she wrote on her Web site.

The six books have been building to a final confrontation between Harry and his evil nemesis, Lord Voldemort, scourge of the wizarding world. Fans are on tenterhooks because of the prophecy, revealed in Book 5, that one must inevitably kill the other.

Amber de Jager, 19, from Rijswijk in the Netherlands, said she expected "relief, but a lot of tears as well" when she finished reading.

"I think it will have a bittersweet ending," she said.



I hope there aren't any parents on AFF who will be buying Harry Potter books for their children, though I'm sure there will be a few. Whats your opinion of this? Devilish and satanic or innocent fun? Its witchcraft straight from the pits of hell which satan is using to get an "upper hand" on children so he can use them for his kingdom in IMHO!

who cares

I'll be buying it for myself, but I won't wait in line for it. I'll walk into the store tomorrow, there will be a big stack and I will pick it up with my other purchases... no waiting in line required...

I don't believe that Christians should have anything to do with Harry Potter
book, movies, etc...., and yes I have a TV, but anything that has to do with
the occult and magical powers we should avoid.

A couple of weeks ago, I was watching a documentary on the occult. one of the points was that there has been an increase in interest in the occult in Brittian as a result of the Harry Potter deal.

they were not making a value judgement on practice of Wicca, or occult. Simply that there was more of it because of HP.

For all the overt witchcraft in these books, the really scary thing is how it starts off light and ends dark. It was a gradual progression where it started off as something children could read (supposedly) but became quite dark and sinister near the end... Had it started off like that perhaps it would not be as popular as it is with parents..

But that is how the enemy works and has always worked, even to this day ALL enemies work this way, but subterfuge and gaining trust....slowly taking over. That has been the best weapon any invasive force has ever used...Think of the Trojan horse...and by the time the real "drama" begins the victim is lulled into a false sense of security.

Does anyone know why the Sorcerers stone was called the Philosophers stone in the UK? Man people are really being lulled into a stupor

She did not invent it for her books

The philosopher's stone, in Latin lapis philosophi substance that supposedly could turn inexpensive , is a legendarymetals such as lead into gold ("chrysopoeia" in the Greek language) and/or create an elixir that would make humans younger, thus delaying death. For a longtime it was the "holy grail" of Western alchemy. In the view of spiritual alchemy, making the philosopher's stone would bring enlightenment upon the maker and conclude the Great Work.[1]

Alchemy itself is mostly an original concept and science practiced in the ancient Near East, Egypt, Greece, and India. However, the concept of ensuring youthful health apparently originated in China, while the concept of transmutating one metal into a more precious one (silver or gold) originated from the theories of the 8th century Arab alchemist, Jabir ibn Hayyan (Latinized as 'Geber'). He analyzed each Aristotelian element in terms of the four basic qualities of hotness, coldness, dryness, and moistness. Fire was both hot and dry, earth cold and dry, water cold and moist, and air hot and moist. He further theorized that every metal was a combination of these four principles, two of them interior and two exterior.

From this premise, it was reasoned that the transmutation of one metal into another could be effected by the rearrangement of its basic qualities. This change would presumably be mediated by a substance, which came to be called al-iksir in Arabic (from which the Western term "elixir" is derived). It is often considered to exist as a dry red powder made from a legendary stone — the "philosopher's stone".[citation needed]

In the 11th century, there was a debate among Muslim chemists on whether the transmutation of substances was possible. A leading opponent was Avicenna, who discredited the theory of transmutation of substances:

"Those of the chemical craft know well that no change can be effected in the different species of substances, though they can produce the appearance of such change."[2]

16th-century Swiss alchemist Philippus Paracelsus believed in the existence of alkahest which he believed to be an undiscovered element from which all other elements (earth, fire, water, air) were simply derivative forms. He believed that this element alkahest was, in fact, the philosopher's stone.
Jabir's theory and the concept of knowledge that metals like gold and silver could be hidden in alloys and ores, from which they could be recovered by the appropriate chemical treatment. Jabir himself is believed to be the inventor of aqua regia, a mixture of muriatic (hydrochloric) and nitric acids, one of the few substances that can dissolve gold (and which is still often used for gold recovery and purification).

Gold was particularly valued as a metal that would not rust, tarnish, corrode or otherwise grow corrupt. Since the philosopher's stone would turn a corruptible base metal to incorruptible gold, naturally it would similarly transform human beings from mortal (corruptible) to immortal (incorruptible).
Essentially one of the many theories was that gold was a superior form of metal, and that the philosopher's stone was even purer and superior to gold, so much so that if combined with lesser metals would turn them into superior gold.

A mystical text published in the 17th century called the Mutus Liber proported to be a sort of symbolic instruction manual towards concocting a philosopher's stone. Called the 'wordless book', this was a collection of 15 illustrations.

The Latin American spiritual teacher Samael Aun Weor stated that the Philosopher's Stone is synonymous with the symbol of the stone found in many other spiritual and religious traditions, such as the stone Jacob rests his head upon, the cubic stone of Freemasonry, and the rock upon which Christ lays the foundation of the temple.[3]

“ Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on it shall not be confounded. Unto you therefore which believe it is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, and a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence. - 1 Peter 2: 6-8

” He states that this "stone of stumbling" and "rock of offense" is the creative-sexual energy, which in Kabbalah is Yesod ("foundation") that must be transmuted through sexual alchemy. It is said to be rejected by the "builders," meaning those who seek spiritual edification, because they reject the transmutation of sexual energy, and instead use it to achieve sensual pleasure.[4]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosopher's_stone

England has quite a bit of literature and folklore tied up in their colorful history. It doesn't surprise me that she was able to write these books.

I have only viewed a couple out of the series to see what all the hullabaloo was about. I can see by the characters, costuming, script props, lighting, directing, and just everything - why people are enthralled with them.

I don't care for this type of movie and would never read the books, but I can see why.

It isn't surprising, either, that people are excited to get this last book. It's been played up and played up. I think they did that over the 'Cabbage Patch" dolls. lol

Nonetheless, I do believe that HP does put the idea into a child's mind to be interested in the occult. I think it started with Disney, through the years, in the first place.

From a purely business and marketing viewpoint, what Rowling has accomplished should give every entrepreneur a shot in the arm.

"Hey, if she did that with that, would could I do with my idea...?"

Exactly!

As is true in many cases the movies are well done but pale in comparison to the books.

I love the Harry Potter series of books. They are some of the best written fiction I have ever read. It is witchcraft in the fantasy sense of the word only.

I understand that for young minds that don't have a Christian value system it can glamorize witchcraft but the same can be said for the Bewitched TV series in the 60's and 70's yet I don't see that show having had a big impact on society regarding witches. Harry Potter witchcraft is more in the vein of The Wizard of Oz type fantasy. I know Pentecostal folks who have loved The Wizard of OZ book and movie for decades and witchcraft (both good and bad witches) are part of that story.

Bottom line is that the Harry Potter series is one of the best written series of book in a very long time.

I will have my copy of this final book tomorrow.

It's a shame folks aren't interested in reading the Bible like they are interested in reading HP books.

No surprise to me.

The HP books are works of fiction brilliantly written to entertain.

The Word of God is inspirational in parts but is not a work of fiction, contains many hard things as well as inspirational, includes geneologies, doctrine, etc.

Apples and oranges.

Your sentiment is correct that it is a shame but it is also a shame people aren't as interested in the bible as they are cars, movies, bowling, dancing, drinking, boating, working to get ahead, etc, etc the list goes on and on.

It is not a HP problem!

Well people are interested in the supernatural so where are the churches that have the supernatural miracle working power of God in them to draw people to Christ ?

Harry Potter? That's about witchcraft, isn't it? And witchcraft is as the sin of rebellion, isn't it? And that's like, bad, isn't it?

Okay, I'm being goofy and backwards, here's the real deal:

1 Samuel 15:23
For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.

It is unwise for Christians to get in to this stuff. Harry Potter is tame material, but it is opening the door in the minds of millions of young people. The question yet remains, what is coming next for which the door has been opened?

i have NO DESIRE to read or watch anything having to do with harry potter.

I survived watching almost every episode of Bewitched and I Dream of Jeanie so I think I will survive.

Oh, and I have seen the Wizard of OZ many times!

I would not want a Harry Potter in my possession, or my family's. Anything that glorifies things that God calls an abomination---I don't want anything to do with. The enemy has used these writings/movies to get kids everywhere enthralled with the dark side, and to make them think that it's acceptable. Everyone is saying that this latest book is alot "darker" than any of the others; it's been a downhill progression from the seemingly innocent first book.

The great thing about living in a free country is that you don't have to!

This is pretty much how Dr. Dobson reviewed HP. He said that you have to decide if you child will view it as fantasy or take some elements as serious.

I saw only the first two episodes. I thought they did an excellent job. As with any movie not all details can fit into the grand scheme of filming, as you know. It makes the reading more to look forward to. I don't think I will read them though.

you know......i have NEVER thought of comparing HP to these shows... :hmmm times are different now days.

The Wizard of Oz is almost a stage play. I loved it!

Thank the LORD!

I grew up watching these shows too, but my parents didn't know any better. I would not ever let my kids watch the reruns on TV, because I realize now that these shows were used to desensitize kids to witchcraft, because they were cute and funny. But now they can have shows like "Charmed" and we accept them as a generation because we grew up thinking Samantha was cute. I still say.....what one generation tolerates, the next generation will celebrate.

By the way, we were Pentecostal through and through, and my parents bought me a Ouija board one year. They honestly did not know about things like that.

:jaw

Hmmm.....maybe there are residual effects to having watched I Dream of Jeanie. To this day I still try to get Mrs. CC1 to dress up in an outfit like Barbara Eden's!!!!!!!!!!!:killinme (I also have a sneaking suspicion that Keith4Him married his wife because of her name)

:slaphappy

Being a bit hyper tonight and knowing I can sleep late tomorrow this thead inspired me to drive the three miles to Wal Mart to see waht HP mania is like at 12:01 am the day a new book comes out.

I had passed by the BooksAMillion bookstore on the way home from church at about 10 pm tonight and the parking lot there was already full.

At Wally World at about 12:05 am there was about 50 people in line with probably 50 having already gone through to get their HP book from a teenage Wal Mart employee who looked remarkably like Harry Potter himself.

What was interesting was the demographic of these avid first purchasers. In short there was no definable demographic. The crowd was pretty evenly split between college age guys and gals (not the nerdy type either - the guys I saw looked like they played football or at least went hunting a lot!), 10-15 year old kids with parents, 30ish yuppie couples, and a few athletic tough looking black dudes probably in their 20's.

I only saw one eccentric pair and it was a mother son combo. He had hair longer than most Pentecostal women stringing down his back and looked like he must still live at home in the basement. Other than him everybody else was remarkably normal. I did not see Elder Epley there.

my cousins had one and my mother warned me she'd used the switch on me like never before if I thought about playing that satanic game!!!! I was skeered of mama cause i knew she meant it! I also knew she completely knew what she was talking about!

I think it's wonderful this women set herself free from Welfare system! As for the devil, I think he already in the church having a field day with the power hair thing and the false outward dress as a sign, I could go on~! .....:drama

PLEASE! There is no comparison! People having convictions and striving to please God (btw i don't agree w/ the "magical hair" thing and i don't believe its as wide spread as some like to think) and celebrating witchcraft.... apples and oranges... don't think so sis cupcake! :drama :winkgrin

It is no more evil than Star Wars... oh, but I guess it is okay if instead of "Witch" you call them something like "Darth Vader" or "Darth Maul". The entire series of movies is about learning how to use supernatural forces either for good or for evil.

I'm with CC1 on this, so don't really have a lot to say. I'm going to go buy the book today, will read it over the weekend and my life will go on without a single negative effect... other than that I will have wasted the $16.97 or whatever on a book that I could have spent at Fuddruckers with all of the Pentecostal people after church on Sunday night.

I have some very strong opinions on this and have hesitated in answering, realizing the point would be made of what we watched as kids.

To begin with, the author of Potter admitted on a radio program in October 1999 that she studied the occult in order to write more accurately.

I would ask those who defend this book as good reading and entertainment, have you ever visited the HP website?! I haven't in a few years, but this was what I found when I did...

On this site there is a ‘Wizard Store’ where kids can buy t-shirts and other items with the Potter logo, and there is even a place where one can ‘enroll’ in the school Harry attends.

The supplies needed for the school are books on witchcraft, potions, and spells, a guide to transfiguration, a wand, and a cauldron.

Children are then asked what they would like to do if they could cast a spell on themselves...fly or become invisible, among other things.

There is a section on the site, called ‘Divination’. In this area, children can play ‘games’, such as, ‘Tea Leaf Reading’ and ‘Crystal Ball Reading’…and this is supposed to be harmless entertainment.

Just in case someone is thinking that none of this will have an impact on the kiddies, a 9 year old girl was asked about Harry Potter. She said, “I’d like to go to a wizard school, learn magic and put spells on people. I’d make up an ugly spell, and then it’s payback time!” A 10 year old girl said, “I want to be a witch!”, and an 11 year old boy said, “It would be great to be a wizard because you could control situations and things like teachers!”

We had our own experience with my niece, who after reading, told me that white witchcraft was good and there is no such thing as hell. All is well now and she is Spirit filled, but it was a long haul.

Adults...do what you want. I certainly would never try to tell you what you should or shouldn't do, but I would STRONGLY disagree with a child reading Harry Potter.

Barb,

I don't disagree that HP can dispose mushy young minds towards being accepting of witchcraft.

Everything is context. The books are pure fantasy and great fiction. For kids who have Christian parents to put things in context I don't think there is a problem. However for heathern kids or kids whose families are nominally "christian" but are unchurched and unlearned it does at least open them to thinking positively about words like "witchcraft" and the idea of spells, potions, etc. Probably the vast majority of those people also keep HP in context as fantasy and not related to reality but I am sure there are a few it leads astray just as any number of things can do.

Hon, my brother and SIL are saved and sanctified and still my niece was hooked.

At any rate, I agree about the role parents have in this. Parenting is such a tedious thing...finding the right things to do and not do...say and not say.

My respect to those who do this with diligence and succeed.

There are a lot of movies that kids have watched that lead to the mindset the children have now - "revenge". Hardly anything you watch doesn't have an element of getting even as the plot.

I can see why some kids would buy into the thought of attending a school like HP. Casting spells and getting even. Reminds me of Columbine.

I remember when there was all the hubbub about violent cartoons. I watched Bugs Bunny at my grandpa's house every weekend growing up and never tried to jump off of a cliff with an umbrella... but I guess that is just me. Even at an early age, I always understood the difference between fantasy and reality... I guess that is why I have such a hard time with religion.

LOL! Brad, you reminded me of when I sweep dirt under the living room carpet. We lived in a huge Victorian home and had those circular braided rugs.

I was watching Popeye and saw him do it. lol

My mother said, "Where did you learn to do that?!!!"

I did dare tell her Popeye. I thought she wouldn't let me watch it anymore!! :killinme

My son will be getting his copy today or tomorrow. We have watched all the movies. I think there is a difference between young kids who don't know the difference between corcery and prayer seeing it and older kids who do know the difference but just appreciate the books/movies for their good vs evil battles. I would not want my kids reading it or viewing it if they were too young to understand this. In my mind, it is no different than Lord of the Rings or Chronicles of Narnia.

I didn't read the books and only watched two of the movies. One thing I noticed and I don't know if it carries this throughout the whole series, but the kids were represented as being fallible and that evil never wins.