Harry Potter to work his magic again

Book sellers are gearing up for the release of the last book in the Harry Potter series in just over two weeks' time, with midnight openings and themed parties planned in book shops across the country.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the seventh book in the JK Rowling series, is due for release on July 21st, but tens of thousands of copies of the book have already been ordered by Irish fans.

Waterstones Ireland has been taking orders for the book since last year, and is currently receiving hundreds of orders every week at its branches.

"All of our branches will be open at midnight on the night, and our stores on Dawson Street, Cork, Belfast and Drogheda, and possibly others will be holding special events," said Ann Geraghty, assistant manager of Waterstones on Dawson Street.

The Dawson Street store will stay open from 7pm on Friday July 20th, after normal closing time to allow Harry Potter fans to queue inside until midnight, when the first copy of the book can be sold.

"We're going to cordon off the children's section, and have sweets and refreshments, a professional wizard, a minstrel, face-painting, balloon-modelling, as well as live owls in the store," said Ms Geraghty.

She said she does not anticipate that stocks will run out. "We're very definite we'll have enough copies to go around.

"In addition to the reserved copies - and we've taken deposits for both the children's and the adult editions, we'll also have plenty available for general sales."

The adult version of the book has the same content as the children's, but has a darker, plainer cover "so that people can read it on the train", said Ms Geraghty.

The release of the book will come just over a week after the fifth Harry Potter film, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, is released in Ireland on July 12th.

The film, which had its premier in London this week, features 15-year-old Evanna Lynch from Termonfeckin, Co Louth, in the role of Luna Lovegood.

In The Ticket tomorrow: Michael Dwyer on the filmHarry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix