Final HP launch

Pagal for Potter!

By Uroos Ahmed

KARACHI: The morning of July 21 saw Park Towers coming to life with children and adults of all ages coming in one by one to collect their copies of the last Harry Potter book, ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’. The launching ceremony, scheduled for 4:00 am on July 21, was cancelled due to a bomb threat at Park Towers earlier in the night.

The children had initially suffered the most disappointment. “I had been counting down the days to the launch ceremony, and was really excited about going to get the last book at 4:00 am,” said 12-year-old Mehr Ahmed. “We didn’t make a fuss when my mother sent us to bed early. Then 30 minutes later she told us the devastating news. I couldn’t believe it.” Mehr said that she wanted to make the bomber understand the devotion to the Harry Potter series, adding, “I wanted to tie him up, make him read all the books from the beginning to end, and then bomb him!”

Eight-year-old Zain Ahmed felt the same. “Since July 1 we had all been looking forward to the final book, and then we were told that there was no launch,” he said. “Now I have to wait till 10:00 am to get my book. I’m very disappointed.”

“I couldn’t wait to get started on the book. I slept early, around eight last night, so that I could come to the launching ceremony and start reading as soon as I got my copy,” said excited 13-year-old Asma Aijaz. “But when I woke up in the morning I found out the launch had been cancelled. I finally got the book around 10:30 this morning.” With crossed fingers, she added, “I can’t wait to find out how it ends. I just hope J.K. Rowling doesn’t kill Harry!”

It was not only the children who were let down. Even grown-ups were disappointed over having to wait till morning to buy the book. Mariam told Daily Times that, although she had not been a Harry Potter fan for too long, she had actually made plans till 3:00 am so she could wait for the launch.

Others who had not yet read the book were impressed with the service provided by the bookstore. People who had booked their copies received text messages till after 9:00 pm. The government also issued a notice announcing the launch’s cancellation. “I was informed of the launch ceremony being cancelled well in advance,” said Sameea Rashid, a mother of two who had brought her children to get the book early in the morning. “The cutest was the text they sent to customers on how the event was to be an invitation to all the little witches and wizards to find out the fate that awaits Harry!”

There seemed to be a lot of argument over children wanting to read the adult version of the book. “The shopkeeper said that there isn’t much difference in the books apart from the easier English in the children’s version, so I am letting my children get the adult one,” said Sualeha Siddiqui with a wink. “But obviously I will proofread it first.” She said that Harry Potter had fostered a fondness of reading in her children and she trusted that the adult version would be just as child-friendly. The bookstore has suffered a big loss, according to its representative Ronnie. It had prepared live characters from the book to mingle with the crowd during the ceremony. “We had two containers full of props and costumes to make the entire area look like a scene right out of Harry Potter,” he said. Over a thousand books had already been pre-booked by mid-day, but a lot of people had purchased copies without prior booking as well. “I can’t imagine the amount of money and effort that has been wasted,” added Ali Rizvi.

Mehr added that it had taken her six hours to finish the book. “I had lunch at 5:00 in the evening because I couldn’t stop reading the book. At first it was boring because I already knew the ending from an Internet link my uncle sent me the previous day, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. The ending is really awesome!”