THE CURSED CHILD

Harry Potter fans celebrate

book at midnight Pages party

by Micah Worner

Harry Potter fans battled wizards and witches to attend a late-night party at Pages bookstore to celebrate the release of the final book in the popular series.

“I was jumping up and down at home before I came here,” said Iman Arafa, who came to the Potter party with her two sisters. “It’s a big deal for us that there’s another book coming out.”

“Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” magically appeared at midnight and flew off the shelves like so many other J.K. Rowling books.

Pages employee Danielle Major, who grew up reading the books, helped plan the party, which included a movie screening, a trivia contest and a Muggle Wall where readers could write their favorite memories of the books.

The store was not allowed to sell the book before 12:01 a.m., Harry’s birthday.  

“We weren’t allowed to touch the book before then,” Major said. The store sold out of its 80 copies and has already received a new shipment.

The “Cursed Child” is different from the other books in the Harry Potter series. It is actually the script for the “Cursed Child” play, which is running in London.

“There’s a lot of dialogue and stage directions in the book,” Major said. But like all Harry Potter books, it “creates an entirely new world” and the “themes and messages are applicable in all our lives.”

Rahma Arafa said she and her sisters grew up with the characters from the book and could really identify with Harry, Ron and Hermione.

“Their teenage problems that go with the story, it’s pretty relatable,” Arafa said. “It’s all very magical.” ER