Clallam: Potter mania sweeps bookstores at midnight

Scores of children and adults, some dressed as their favorite characters, swarmed bookstores in Clallam County Friday night for fresh copies of the newest Harry Potter book.

Port Book and News and Odyssey Bookshop in Port Angeles both stayed open late so readers could buy “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” by J.K. Rowling when it went on sale at 12:01 a.m.

At both stores, people began arriving at 9 p.m. to secure their copy of the book, the fifth installment in Rowling’s hit series.

“Despite all the hype, it’s really great to see the enthusiasm of young people for our book,” Odyssey owner Craig Whalley said Saturday.

He said about a fifth of the late night crowd were 12 years old and younger, and the rest of the crowd was split between teenagers and adults. The youngest in the crowd, he said, took the store’s quizzes on Harry Potter very seriously.

“They really know their stuff,” he said.

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The rest of the story appears in the Sunday Peninsula Daily News Clallam County edition. Click on SUBSCRIBE to get the PDN delivered to your home or office.

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