Witching hour for bookworms

WIZARDS, warlocks and witches whisked their way to Fountain Gate last week for the much-anticipated release of the latest Harry Potter novel.
About 150 fans headed to the Angus and Robertson store hours before the official world-wide release time of 9.01am to make sure they were one of the first to get their hands on the seventh, and final, book in the popular series. Many people who attended the launch took the time to dress up as their favourite character from the J.K. Rowling series. Franchise owner Roberta Clark said the response from local bookworms had been amazing.
She said staff had processed more than 1500 pre-release orders in the weeks leading up to the big day from the two Angus and Robertson stores at Fountain Gate and one at Cranbourne.
“The majority of these pre-orders were collected within hours of release on Saturday morning and an additional 400 copies we had on top of the pre-orders were all snapped up by mid-afternoon,” Ms Clark said.
She said the store organised several fun events throughout the day including best-dressed and colouring competitions. However, it wasn’t just the customers who got into the action.
“Our bookshop staff thought the hype was the perfect excuse to get into the Harry Potter spirit with some elaborate costumes,” she said.