Bookshops run out of latest Harry Potter
A stack of golden tomes drew Harry Potter fans to bookshops around New Zealand yesterday morning, as an eighth title in the beloved franchise went on sale.
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child – a two-part script of a play that last night premiered on London’s West End – is credited to playwright Jack Thorne, play director John Tiffany, and Harry Potter creator JK Rowling.
In Auckland, the Dorothy Butler Children’s bookshop was packed to the rafters and sold out of all copies of the new book.
Every child was in a Hogwartsinspired costume, with exquisite attention to detail – there was even a snitch, Harry’s Nimbus 2000 and his owl, Hedwig.
Staff member Helen Wadsworth said the store conservatively ordered just over 60 copies, which all sold out within minutes.
A rousing countdown to 11.01am (NZT) – the book’s global release time – could be heard at Unity Books in Wellington, after a small but enthusiastic band of fans had streamed through the shop doors minutes earlier.
The Cursed Child begins with the scene that ended the final book – Harry and wife Ginny bidding their children farewell at Kings Cross station at the start of the Hogwarts school year.
A 26-year-old man, sporting a hand-knitted Gryffindor scarf and socks emblazoned with the Deathly Hallows symbol, said he’d been looking forward to the book’s release, based on early reviews of the play.
The story centres on Harry and his son, Albus, who is uncomfortable with the family legacy. There is also a storyline involving Hermione and Ron, now parents to a daughter, Rose.
Presales of the book through Amazon are at the highest level since 2007, when Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was released.
An American woman in the line at Unity Books gleefully remarked she got a few hours’ head-start on the book, compared to friends back home.
In Christchurch, Rosa Opie, 13, her sister Grace, 10, and friend Jessica Hickling, 10, were lined up with about five other people at South City Paper Plus, awaiting the Cursed Child’s release.
They had a Harry Potterthemed sleepover last night and were up at midnight eating cake to celebrate the character’s birthday. Born on July 31, 1980, Harry turned 36 yesterday.
‘‘We’re really big fans. We’ve read the series and really want to read the new one,’’ Jessica said.
Sarah Noach, on holiday in Christchurch from Australia, planned to forgo sightseeing for the day to read the book.