Its Official: Harry Potter Mania Has Hit Full Throttle

Ever since Harry Potter fans competed the sixth book, 'Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince' they have been speculating on a number of theories about what will happen in the final book and will J K Rowling answer all of their questions. Many Harry Potter fans think it would be impossible to tie up all the lose ends, unless JK Rowling wrote an enclosed sized book, which no of them would object to reading.

However the seventh and final Harry Potter book is not going to reach such huge proportions, but it will be the second longest book to date. The months have gone by and Harry Potter fans quietly carried out their discussions of book seven and the next instalment of the films, 'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix'. That is until the past couple of months.

The buzz began to build around Christmas time when Harry Potter fans started to get antsy feet about the progress of the final Harry Potter book. A trailer appeared for the next movie, which will arrive in theatres on July 13 along with some high-resolution photographs from the movie. J K Rowling just told fans that she was working away on the book. Many thought it could even be another year before a release date was announced. J K Rowling said that she now had a couple of potential titles for the final book but gave nothing else away.

Then came the title. The final book was to be called 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.' There was a special impromptu PotterCast to announce and discuss the new title. At first it didn't sit quite right with many fans, now it is seared into their brains as if second nature.

February 1 came and in a very quite way J K Rowling announced the release date of 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows' via her website. It was a very modest affair from something would cause endless 'squeeing' amongst Harry Potter fans. Pre-orders for the book put it at the top of bestseller lists and it isn't even due out until July.

Fandom forums began to buzz a little louder with more intense and frequent theorizing about the book. Who would die? Is Snape good or evil? Who is R.A.B.? While Harry return to Hogwarts? How will Dumbledore appear in the book? The list goes on and on and on.

The last couple of weeks have hit fast forward and Harry Potter mania has hit high gear. The page count for the U.S edition of the book was confirmed to be 784 pages, making it the second longest in the series. Today the U.K. publisher of the Harry Potter books, Bloomsbury confirmed that the British edition would have a total of 608 pages. Scholastic, the U.S. publisher of the book joined the European and Canadian publisher by deciding to go green and print the entire first run of 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows' on recycled paper. It was announced by Scholastic that the first print run would be a record breaking 12 million copies, and that is just for the United States.

In recent film news Harry Potter fans were becoming increasingly worried about Emma Watson's future. The talented actress was rumoured to want to quit her part in the films, as she was tired of being "known as that girl from Harry Potter" and wanted to lead a more normal teenage life. Reports of a stalker entering her school did not help calm speculation. Warner Bros attempted to assure fans of Emma Watson's continuation in the films, but nothing was confirmed. Emma Watson had made the role of Hermione her own; if she dropped out this would be bad news for the final two Harry Potter films. To everyone's relief last week Warner Bros were able to announce that Emma Watson had officially signed on and would play Hermione in the final two movies. Harry Potter fans could breath again.

Yesterday, information about the audio versions of 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows' was announced. It would be released on the same day as the books, in case Harry Potter fans couldn't get enough Harry Potter fix on that day. It was also announced that the British audio book would be released on the same day as the book, the first time this has ever happened.

Today the Harry Potter frenzy turned into full-blown Harry Potter mania. The jacket covers for all editions of the final book were announced, sending Harry Potter fans stampeding to their favourite fan sites to begin in depth analysis and discussion regarding any possible clues. Popular fan site 'The Leaky Cauldron' which has prepared itself for such stampedes was having trouble this afternoon and fans may have to try a few times to access the site. Their forum 'The Leaky Lounge' will be heaving tonight.

More is surely to come. Maybe be a chapter title or two or a subtle and very cryptic clue dropped by J K Rowling herself. Arthur Levine was interviewed on the Today Show this morning when he announced the book jackets. When questioned about the book he said, that he "sobbed and sobbed" while reading the book. He was then asked by interviewer, Vieria, "That means someone we like dies, doesn't it?" to which Levine replied, "Well, it means it is a very, very emotional book."

So brace yourselves for a summer of Harry Potter like none before. The fifth film will be released on July 13 followed just one week later by the release of the final book. It can truly be said the Harry Potter mania has arrived and hit full throttle.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6503683.stm
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http://books.guardian.co.uk/news/articles/0,,2044782,00.html
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http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/189746/its_offical_emma_watson_to_continue.html
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/184909/harry_potter_and_the_deathly_hallows.html
http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17828868/