Launch Parties
The release of the seventh and final installment of Harry Potter on Friday night was high school graduation–a bittersweet celebration. We joined in on the excitement surrounding the midnight release in New York City (for strictly journalistic purposes, of course).
Scholastic, the books’ American publishing house, conjured up a “Diagon Alley” behind their HQ. A 20-foot-tall “Whomping Willow,” “muggle” message board, face painting, wizards performing magic, and even a “Moaning Myrtle Restroom” greeted the delighted kids (and adults). 
At Barnes & Noble, the legendary Jim Dale (voice of the Harry Potter audio tapes) recited from the previous six books to an audience packed with thousands (and thousands more outside). He jokingly opened the first copy to come out of the box at midnight and started reading from the last page.
Living On Online
As we’ve mentioned before, and as this outpouring suggests, book reading has never been so interactive. Bereft fans are flooding HP networks like MuggleNet and The Leaky Cauldron to mourn the end of the series, listening to the Mugglecast podcast, even hopping on avatar sites like WeeWorld to create Harry-themed avatars that can be used in their IM services (and created fan pages there…).
Harry Potter Alliance
Wizard rock bands Harry and the Potters, Draco and the Malfoys and the Remus Lupins have shown their support for the Harry Potter Alliance, a group on MySpace aimed at inspiring action against the genocide in Darfur through the political themes in Harry Potter. From MuggleNet:
Many Harry Potter webmasters have spoken out about this before. MuggleCast’s Laura Thompson runs Operation Sudan, which has raised thousands to aid the region. Veritaserum.com’s founder, Matthew Vines, a teenager, has successfully advocated in his local area to divert more than $38 million from the corrupt regime, an act of tenacity that has probably saved thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of lives.
As we approach the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and fans around the world come together to celebrate, fans are yet again teaming up to make a difference. We’re asking you to join in the effort today. The Harry Potter Alliance is a group that encourages fans to use the messages in the Harry Potter books to help make a difference in the world. And now there’s a concrete way to do just that. Through the Harry Potter Alliance, Harry Potter webmasters are helping fans educate, inform and act to end the suffering.
They are also putting out a special podcast through PotterCast’s feed featuring interviews with world leaders on this subject. Leading up to the release, the group was encouraging fans to have Harry Potter House Parties (HP HPs?). “At these house parties, themed around Harry and the messages of love and hope within them, there are several activities you and your friends can take part in to help raise awareness and have fun while doing it. They range from lighting a candle, to sending an email, to writing a letter, to calling special awareness hotlines.”
Now that Pottermania is over, everyone is hoping that youth will transfer their newfound reading habit onto another book. It seems something different, perhaps better, is happening. The fervor the books inspired is being transfered to real causes. Fans are turning into activists. Hermione would be proud.
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1 Harry Potter News | Harry Potter Movie | Harry Potter Trivia | Harry Potter Books » Blog Archive » Harry Potter Inspires Political Activism // Jul 24, 2007 at 3:19 pm
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2 » Thursday’s NGT News Roundup » Next Great Thing // Aug 9, 2007 at 2:49 pm
[…] Halo 3 Pre-Orders Surge Past 1 Million; Big Marketing Campaign Planned [GameDaily Biz] With 1 million pre-orders, Halo 3’s launch was set to break records. By adding partnerships with Burger King, 7-Eleven, Mountain Dew, Comcast and Pontiac, it it looking more and more like the premiere of Harry Potter 7. […]
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