Has it been

a while since you read about a good Quidditch match?

Are you

dying to find out what's new with Professor Dumbledore

and the rest of the staff at Hogwarts? Do you even know

what either of the previous two questions means?

If the

answer is yes, then you know that the new Harry Potter

novel will be released Saturday. If the answer was no,

read this article and you'll be caught up.

Harry

Potter is a young boy in England. His parents have died

mysteriously and he is sent to live with his boorish

Muggle (meaning human) uncle, aunt and cousin, who treat

him terribly. Eventually, Potter finds out he is a wizard

and is sent to attend school at Hogwarts, a school for

upcoming witches and wizards.

Over the

first three books, Potter befriends Ron Weasley and

Hermione Granger, makes his dormitories Quidditch team,

(Quidditch is like lacrosse played up in the air on

broomsticks) gets into some mischief and saves the day.

The new book, titled "Harry Potter and The Goblet of

Fire," promises to be a great read for fans. It is

close to 800 pages long, longer than any of the first

three novels.

The last

installment, "Harry Potter and The Prisoner of

Azkaban" was a fan favorite, offering more chills

than the previous two books and delving deeper into the

mythology of the characters.

Bookstores

all around the country are going crazy. Amazon.com has

close to 300,000 pre-orders of the book and has signed an

agreement with Scholastic Press to ship the books out

July 7, as long as none of the books are delivered before

July 8. Amazon also promised free express delivery to the

first 450,000 pre-orders received.

Barnes and

Noble Booksellers in Fayetteville will have a Harry

Potter release party starting at 11 p.m. July 7. There

will be Harry Potter look-a-like contests, a magic show,

prizes and snacks. At midnight, the book will go on sale.

Omega Books

in Peachtree City will open at 9 a.m. Saturday, July 8

and will have a drawing for Harry Potter hats.

"We'll

be selling a lot of books that day," said George

Duncan of Omega Books. "We have over 200 pre-orders

and over 500 books ordered from the publisher. There will

be plenty of books available, but nobody knows what will

happen until it happens."

Omega Books

sells all bestsellers for 10 percent off the price and

many customers at Omega have discount cards which gives

them 20 percent off of each purchase.

Until the

book comes out, the world will remain in the clutches of

Harry Potter fever. And once the dust settles from the

thousands of avid readers rushing around to obtain the

book, the fever will begin for the next installment and

the movie, which is scheduled to be relased in November

2001.

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