Leaving Harry is hard, especially when you're 17
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BY BRIAN CHRISTOPHERSON / Lincoln Journal Star
No, she doesn’t have the Harry Potter robe. Yes, she does have the pleated skirt like the girls at Hogwarts wear.
“I wish I had a cloak, but I haven’t been able to find one that I like,” Michaela Riecken says.
She’s a senior-to-be at Ashland-Greenwood High School and is just a tad excited about the final book in the Harry Potter series coming out Saturday at 12:01 a.m.
Here's a list of release celebrations for "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows." All stores will begin selling the book at 12:01 a.m. Saturday.
-- Barnes & Noble, 2910 Pine Lake Road and 5150 O St.
Midnight Magic Costume Party gets under way at 9 p.m. Friday at the SouthPointe location and 8 p.m. at the O Street store. Come dressed as your favorite Harry Potter character and take part in a variety of activities including a potions class, coloring contest, scavenger hunt, Harry Potter trivia contest and a Nintendo Wii Harry Potter game booth.
People who have reserved a copy of the book can pick up a wristband to save a place in line beginning at 6 p.m. Friday.
-- Lee Booksellers, Edgewood Center, 5500 S. 56th St.
Release party begins at 10 p.m. Friday and runs until 12:30 a.m. Saturday. Activities include a live owl presentation by Raptor Recovery from 10 to 10:30 p.m.; a costume contest where partygoers should dress as any character from Harry Potter; a traditional "Spell"-ing bee featuring "spell" words from the books; games; trivia; and prizes.
The store will close as usual at 9 p.m., then reopen at 10 p.m. Curt Bright from The String Beans will play songs to help count down the last 15 minutes before the release.
-- University Bookstore, basement of the Nebraska Union, 14th and R streets.
Festivities get under way at 8 p.m. Friday. They include magic, fortune tellers, secret passwords, ghosts and wizards. Harry Potter-style games and decorations, a costume contest, lightning bolt tattoos and rides on the Hogwarts Express also will be available. At dusk, the bookstore will show the movie "Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire" in the greenspace near the store.
Landmarks from the books, including Platform 9 3/4 and the Leaky Cauldron, will be re-created. The UNL Dairy Store will create a special Harry Potter-themed ice cream, and free samples will be served. A costume contest will award prizes in several categories including “Best Harry Potter” and "Best Ghost."
-- Lincoln City Libraries
Gere Branch, 2400 S. 56th St. A Harry Potter movie marathon will run from noon to 6 p.m. Friday and 10:30 a.m. to noon Saturday, with crafts and refreshments also available.
Anderson Branch, 3635 Touzalin Ave. Magician Jeff Quinn will perform a magic show all about Harry Potter at 10:30 a.m. Saturday.
Audience members at both events may participate in a drawing to be among the first to check out a copy of "Deathly Hallows."
OK, more than a tad.
“I know a lot of people who are saying Harry’s going to die in the seventh book,” she says. “I don’t know if he will. I don’t think he can. He’s just a strong character.”
Ah, but there’s also plenty of sadness accompanying the hype to J.K. Rowling’s final bow to Pottermania: “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.” Saying goodbye to Harry is not an easy thing, especially when you’re 17.
After all, when asked why Harry Potter captured her fancy, Michaela responds: “I think the fact that I’ve grown up with him. I started out with him in the same age. He’s gotten older with me. I can relate to him in so many ways, without the magic I mean.”
The book came out late in 1998. Harry was just a little kid. So was Michaela.
Lucky for her, Grandma worked for a book company. She could get a Potter book to Michaela right after they came out.
“It got me into chapter books,” Michaela says.
Now, she’s into John Grisham — all books, really. Harry got her started.
She guesses she’s probably read each book three times. The sixth book is her favorite … so far.
Her favorite character is Luna Lovegood.
“I’m in love with her character. She’s so unique and so into her own person. It’s awesome the way she can be herself.”
Dain Finke was in fourth grade when his teacher started reading the class “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.”
Now, he’s 17, a year from graduating from Lincoln East, touring colleges in North Carolina, thinking about majoring in pre-med. Still hooked on Harry.
“It’s this different world. It’s kind of like going on a trip whenever you read the book,” Dain says. “It’s just really cool to sit down and read a book and be in another world.”
Every time a Harry Potter book has come out, he’s gotten it on the first day. He’s always done with it by the second day.
“I kind of don’t sleep much until I get it done.”
He’s bummed his trip to North Carolina kept him from seeing the new Harry Potter movie when it came out, especially since he heard it might be the best movie to date.
And yeah, it stinks the book series is ending, but he’s willing to think Rowling knows what she’s doing.
Some things run on too long until they’re unoriginal.
“I think it’s great that she’s stopping it in its prime,” he says.
Just a couple of kids who grew up with Harry.
Of course, Rowling’s triumph is that she made readers of all ages feel like a kid inside her pages.
Linda Hillegass, co-owner of Lee Booksellers, said goodbye to 17 a while ago. But that doesn’t mean she hasn’t been re-reading the entire series again leading up to Rowling’s last Harry Potter entry.
“I love it,” she said. “It’s better than a vacation.”
Such is the power of Harry’s magic.
Reach Brian Christopherson at 473-7438 or bchristopherson@journalstar.com.
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