Harry Potter party themes abound Sixth episode hits bookstores at midnight Friday

Kids (and adults) across the world have had July 16 marked on their calendars for months now – this Saturday is the day the sixth installment in the Harry Potter saga, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” hits stores. With a record first printing of 10.8 million copies, literally millions of people will line up to buy their copy this Saturday.

In what’s become a bit of a ritual since Potter hysteria gripped the lives of 9-year-olds everywhere, bookstores have planned midnight release parties.

Author J.K. Rowling will appear at only one of these – a gala in Edinburgh, Scotland, when 70 lucky kids get to arrive in horse-drawn carriages to Edinburgh Castle, where they’ll feast on Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans, chocolate frogs and butter beer, and listen to Rowling read a chapter from her new book.

Festivities in Maine for Friday night might not be on the scale of a party in a real castle, but area bookstores have put a lot of creativity into the events they’ve planned.

Nancy Burnham, manager of the Belfast Mr. Paperback, is hosting her third Harry Potter party since “The Goblet of Fire” came out in 2000.

“The party starts at 9 p.m.,” Burnham said. “We are having four live owls from Birdsacre in Ellsworth on display. We’re inviting people to wear costumes for the costume contest, and we’ll have lightning bolt tattoos and wand making. Bell the Cat [the cafe next door to Mr. Paperback] will serve pumpkin juice.”

The Mr. Paperback in Caribou will also be having a party, with Potter-themed refreshments, a showing of a Harry Potter movie and giveaways.

The Owl and Turtle Bookshop in Camden is working with the Camden Public Library. Manager Joseph Barber said Mad-Eye Moody and Hagrid, both Potter characters, will make appearances.

“We’re going to start at the library at 9:30 with a masquerade and a confections contest,” said Barber. “Then at 11:15 Hagrid will lead the young witches and wizards down Tannery Lane [in Camden] to the Owl and Turtle, where we’ll have refreshments and games and a trivia contest, with Mad-Eye Moody as quiz master. The winner gets a deluxe edition of the book.”

Port in a Storm Bookstore in Somesville has something different planned. Laney Correa from Trenton headed up a team of teenagers in organizing a version of the Tri-Wizard Tournament, the challenge that Harry faces in the fourth book.

“It’s not exactly like the tournament in the book,” said Correa. “We’re having a trivia elimination round, and then an obstacle course with puzzles and word searches and things. The grand prize will be a copy of the book.”

Borders in Bangor will be giving out line tickets starting at 7 p.m., so people eager to buy the book don’t actually have to wait in line. The party starts at 9 p.m., according to manager Gibran Graham.

“Our midnight magic party will have games and activities and all kinds of stuff,” he said. “We’ll have face painting and mask making and trivia, and a table with different spells and experiments and magic potions. We definitely want people to come in costume as well.”

Elsewhere around Bangor, Harry Potter-theme events will be held at the Airport Mall’s Mr. Paperback and The Briar Patch in downtown.

Mr. Paperback’s party starts at 9 p.m. and runs until 1 a.m. and will include a live radio broadcast with Z107.3, costume contests, wand making, face painting, a pinata, and a reading from the book.

A representative from the Leaky Cauldron, a Web-based fan club, will be at the Airport Mall, and free snacks and drinks, featured in the book, will be served.

The Briar Patch is opening at 7 a.m. Saturday and is serving crumpets and marmalade, items eaten by Harry and his friends in the book.

In Old Town, Dave’s Book Shop owner John Simpson said, “I’ll be here at midnight with a box [of Harry Potter books].” As a treat to local readers and those who make the trip to the Canoe City, Simpson is offering the books for $21.

As per publisher Arthur A. Levine’s strict rules, no one can even open a book until 12:01 a.m. Saturday morning. Rowling dropped a bombshell when she revealed that a major character will be killed in this book, so the levels of anticipation for this sixth Potter book are incredibly high. So high, that two British men were arrested after trying to sell leaked content of the book to newspapers. Not even Voldemort himself could sneak a peek at “The Half-Blood Prince.” (Nok Noi Hauger contributed to this report.)

Mr. Paperback: Belfast location, Reny’s Plaza on Belmont Avenue, 338-2735; Caribou location, 32 Skyway Drive, 492-2080; Owl and Turtle, 32 Washington St., Camden, 236-4769; Port in a Storm, 1112 Main St., Somesville, 244-4114; Borders Booksellers, 116 Bangor Mall Blvd., Bangor, 990-3300; Bangor Mall Mr. Paperback, 942-9191; Briar Patch, 27 Center St., Bangor, 941-0255; Dave’s Book Shop, 39 N. Main St., Old Town, 827-4510.