It’s a Wrap! Harry Potter’s Final Party

Swarthmore Avenue swirled with activity Friday night as close to 500 people lined up for the 12:01 a.m. sale of the seventh and final J.K. Rowling book, ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’ at Village Books. A mock-up of Hogwarts Express, the train that students catch to Rowling’s mythical magical school, was in front of the store. Steam, produced by dry ice, floated out of the smokestack and wafted eerily over the street. The scene included children, teens and adults dressed as characters from the books, including Harry Potter, Hermione, Hagrid and Dumbledore. ‘It’s exciting, it’s like Halloween,’ said Bob Kelly, who had brought soccer sideline chairs to sit in while waiting. He thought it was nice that the chairs had a literary importance. Also in line was Corrine Bourdeau, who had just hosted a Harry Potter book party for about 20 people at her home, where she served Pottertini’s, a drink that uses ‘mudblood’ orange. ‘It’s the last Harry Potter party,’ Bourdeau said. ‘It’s so sad.’ Bordeau’s guests joined the throngs of people a festive atmosphere that was best described as a cross between Halloween and New Year’s Eve. Butterbeer and assorted donated goodies, like pumpkin pasties, cockroach clusters, cookies and cupcakes were free. Eve and Jack Capitti-Bloomfield, under the supervision of their mother, Theresa Capitti, were technically first in line at 2:30 p.m., but the winner of the poster contest, Kathyrn Wilson, was allowed to move to the front. It wasn’t a huge jump, because Wilson had come at 3:15 p.m. and was already third in line. At 11:58 p.m. Bob Lefsetz, a friend of storeowner, Katie O’Laughlin, started the countdown. ‘Okay, everybody, two minutes! Two minutes!’ he shouted, and when he completed the final 10-9-8 countdown, a big cheer went up as the door opened. O’Laughlin’s entire staff of 10 worked inside the store, distributing the books and directing people to either the cash register or the pre-paid line. Inside the store, Kenny Turan, film critic for the L.A. Times and former editor of the Book Review section, looked on with delight. ‘It’s so great to see these kids with the book and the excited look on their faces,’ he said. ‘It’s the kind of pure pleasure your rarely see in adults when they buy a book.’ The 12-year-old Piccard twins came out of the store holding a copy. ‘I’m thrilled, but it’s the beginning of the end,’ Emily said. ‘I’m excited, but I’m sad–it’s the last book,’ Grace added. At 12:40 a.m., Johanna Cooper came out with three books. ‘I have two kids and each has to have their own copy in order to prevent fighting,’ she said. The third copy was for a friend leaving for Ojai early the next morning. ‘She told me to leave it on my doorstep and she’d pick it up,’ Cooper said. ‘I had chemo today and I’m still here to slug through this.’ Near the end of the line, Beth McCarthy waited almost an hour before reaching the store. She said she knew she could buy the book for about $20 at Ralphs and Gelson’s, ‘but that’s okay, I’m just going to come and wait in line to support our local bookstore.’ O’Laughlin, who lives in the Palisades, closed her store at 2 a.m., but soon returned to open the doors at 8 a.m. Saturday. By Monday morning, many Palisadians were bleary-eyed from a weekend of reading the 759-page book. Many were trying to finish it before friends, relatives or the media leaked portions of the plot or revealed which characters die. Reviews across the country praised the way Rowley brought her epic series to a conclusion. ‘If you haven’t read any of the books, you could read this one and understand it,’ said Dayna Tortorici, who works at Village Books. ‘For people who have read them all, it’s a gift.’ According to the book’s publisher, Scholastic, Inc., 8.3-million copies were sold in the first 24 hours, and this popularity continued at Village Books, where 728 books had been sold by Tuesday afternoon. ‘This book is different because with previous Harry Potter books all the action at the store took place that night,’ O’Laughlin said. With this book, the store was packed with customers on Saturday and Sunday’and on Sunday many of the customers weren’t local. When O’Laughlin shut the doors on Saturday night, she wisely left a recorded message giving the store’s address, as well as saying there were copies available. On Sunday, when she picked up her messages, she heard a man at the Santa Monica Promenade shout out, ‘They have copies!’ Apparently Borders and Barnes and Noble were all out. (The Post will publish the winners of the Village Books poster and costume contests next week.)