Buy Harry Potter #6 Early — Too Late

USA Today and maybe dozens of other newspapers this week have some articles on Harry Potter #6, due to be unleased on the world Saturday or maybe Friday depending on which company took your pre-order. Who is the half-blood prince and what in the world will happen to Harry? I must confess that I haven’t read but a few pages from this 717,020 word series (not counting the Half-Blood Prince), and I would probably annoy serious fans by pronouncing Harry’s name with a Scottish accent (rolling the r’s and making pot into poot). I can barely help myself.

So, who is this prince? Some think it’s Godric Gryffindor, founder of Gryffindor house. In a poll at scholastic.com, 9% choose that name, but most fans believe it will be a heretofore unknown character.

What does the cover art tell us about the story? Well, Prof. Dumbledore appears to be protecting Harry and himself on the UK cover. Looks exciting. The US cover is much quieter. Harry may as well be Hansel going to the Gingerbread house.

But why bother with clues from the cover when you can drop by your favorite downtown Indianapolis bookstore and buy the book early. That is, you could have on Monday of this week, when an unnamed store put HP#6 on display too soon.

A couple guys got hold of it before the store realized their mistake. Reader Tim Meyer, 33, said he was up to chapter 18 by Wednesday and found the latest book “pretty shocking considering the last five books.”

“I’m not sure what I’m supposed to believe,” he said.

What if I said I believe he is the result of creative promoting by the Corrupt Big Book Industry? Sure, it’s shocking, Tim. What were the sales for the fifth book in Indianapolis? Disappointingly low? Did they need a little honest, coincidental promotion, hmmm?

* that is, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince—This Saturday