The latest and last in the Potter series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, has hit the stands, at long last. And, for a change, kids, who have to be pulled out of bed to be packed off to school, got up on their own and rushed to the early-Saturday launch.
Kasturi P K, a Class V student of Frank Anthony Public School, was up and about by 4 am even as Gowri Prasad of Class VIII in National Public School, was surfing the internet to read reviews of the book before the launch!
The kids couldn’t wait to get their hands on their copies even as they  participated in the games and contests organised for them by the bookstores that preceded the actual sales. “I finished reading the book by 1:15 pm, taking just half-an-hour off for breakfast,” says Kasturi.
Says Daniel Kurian of Class V in Frank Anthony Public School, “I was so scared for Harry as Rowling has this habit of killing somebody in every book.” “The fourth book said ‘One will live and one will die’, and so I was prepared for anything,” says Daniel’s classmate Cyrus Joseph.
Potter fans are not able to come to terms with this book being the last in the series. “She can’t just stop writing the Potter stories,” adds Daniel.
Kids had no problem spending their pocket money to buy the book but it was their dads who sponsered it in most cases. Says Cyrus, “Dad wants me to read the book to improve my language”. Niharika, a student of Class II at Srikumaran’s School, likes reading Potter but doesn’t understant much. Veda, who will go to Grade I once back in the US, doesn’t understand much either, but asks her parents.