Magic brews for Harry Potter fans

There are only 12 more days until the last 784 pages.

By ALISON KEMP

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

Who dies?

That’s one of many questions Harry Potter fans are anxiously waiting to answer.

The final book, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” will be released July 21. Ten days before the book arrives on bookshelves, the fifth movie installment graces the silver screen.

Like all the other movie remakes of J.K. Rowling’s bestsellers, viewers will critique the likeness of “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” to the book with the same name.

“Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” will first show at 11:59 p.m. Tuesday at the Austintown and Niles Regal Cinemas. At 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, the movie will air at Tinseltown in Boardman.

Viewers won’t be able to worry about the movie for too long, however, because of the number of pressing questions the final book will answer.

Burning questions and theories

Is Snape good or bad? Why did Dumbledore trust Snape? Who will teach Defense Against the Dark Arts, assuming Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry opens? What will happen during Harry and Voldemort’s final confrontation? And above all, can Rowling kill Potter, the namesake of the series?

Rowling has said two characters die, but Harry can’t die, can he?

Theories abound with answers to the questions each reader has. The reasons why readers and viewers like Harry Potter abound, too.

“He’s a good person and likes helping people,” said Anna Duricy, 10, of Howland. She has not read all of the books, but she has seen all of the movies and is looking forward to seeing the fifth at 10 a.m. on June 11.

Victoria Sturgeon, 15, of Poland said, “I’m into fantasy,” which is why she likes Rowling’s creation.

Book seven is what she and her two friends Tiffany Ference and Tina Cascarelli, both 15 and from Poland, are waiting for, because it will bring the answers.

“Harry will probably die,” Victoria said. Tina quickly added, “Hopefully, Voldemort will go down with him.”

Victoria and Tina will attend a midnight showing of the movie, dressed to the nines in Potter garb — shirts, wands and formal robes. Tiffany likes Harry Potter enough to go to the midnight showing, but not enough to play the part.

Victoria’s dad, Robert Sturgeon, called the outfits “basic nerd attire.”

The girls just smiled and laughed. They did not deny it.

Tina will be on vacation in Las Vegas when the movie debuts, but that’s not stopping her from seeing it. She said she has everything planned.

None of them were hooked on the books when they first read “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.” It took the first movie to pique their interest, which led them to start anew with the books.

These girls hope the books continue to stay popular.

“They got a lot of kids to read,” Victoria said.

Interest in Harry Potter has been good for Tina and Victoria, too.

“Harry Potter is how Tina and I became friends,” Victoria said.

A family affair

The Buzzacco children — three girls and one boy — are avid readers of the Harry Potter books and also dress up like the characters, watch the movies, play the games and build the Lego sets.

The magic in the books attracts them, permitting an “escape from reality,” said Ursula Buzzacco, 16, of New Middletown.

Ursula gets to read each new book first, since she reads the fastest. Her siblings, Olivia, 14, Anthony Jr., 13, and Angela, 10, don’t really mind, even if Ursula leaks something about the plot. Anthony and Olivia flipped to the end of book six to find out what happened before they started reading, anyway.

Their father, Anthony Sr., recalled being at Wal-Mart at 7:30 a.m. to get that book for his children. Ursula had it finished by dinner.

When they read it, Ursula was crying, Olivia was shocked and Anthony expected that Dumbeldore would die. They hope Harry will fare better in book seven, but Anthony thinks Harry and Voldemort will go down together.

The books have given them many hours of entertainment, especially when the children dress up like the characters and act out scenes from the books and ones of their own creation. The girls are typically Harry, Hermione and Ginny, while Anthony is Dumbledore.

They can’t wait for the movie.

Fran Atwood’s three grandchildren, Sara Shorokey, 12, Mimi Shorokey, 10, and Nicholas Rossi, 8, all of Boardman, got her hooked on Harry Potter.

“Once we read No. 1, we couldn’t stop. We were really into it,” Atwood, 79, said.

None from this family of fans wants Harry to die.

“If Harry dies, I will definitely be in tears,” said Sara, who cried when Dumbledore died. Nicholas is confident Hermione is the one who will die.

The movies leave them all asking for more because so many parts are left out. Sara and Atwood agree that “The Sorcerer’s Stone” movie was the best so far, because that book was the shortest, meaning the least amount had to be cut.

“We’re just anxiously waiting,” Atwood said.

Millions of other Harry Potter fans are waiting for the answers, too. Just for some perspective, Amazon.com has about 1.1 million pre-orders for “Deathly Hallows.”

akemp@vindy.com