Actress June at Oxford BookstoreJunior and (below) children busy writing their stories at Crossword bookstore. Pictures by Sanat Kumar Sinha and Anindya Shankar Ray

With the fifth Potter film Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix set to hit theatres and the last book of the series due later this month, magic has manifested itself in the city, not only among children but also among adults.

The June 8 afternoon saw children gathering at Oxford Bookstore Junior for some serious muggle mania in the run-up to the release of J.K. Rowling’s latest installment of the boy wizard’s adventures, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. With more than 50 students, from pre-school to high school, and actor June (with children Shivangi and Shivendra in tow) present to cheer them on, the afternoon saw Potter fans clamouring to answer questions during the quiz show called OWL (a la the Ordinary Wizarding Levels exams in the books).

The questions tested Potter-knowledge, with queries like “the creature that Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Quirrel, lets in”, and “what Dumbledore sees when he looks into the mirror of Erised”. Ankita Gupta, Class VIII student of DPS Ruby Park was ready with every answer. The Potter fan has read every book several times. “I have already booked my copy of the latest book. I can’t wait to find out what happens. But I don’t want Voldemort to die, though he is the villain. I also don’t want Draco Malfoy to come to any harm either. I think he did what he did to obey his parents.”

Spelling Bee saw them trying to come up with spellings of their own, and explaining it. The Crystal Ball contest was also announced, where fans could write their own ending to the book. The answers for both contests will be announced on the day of the book release. A magic show saw a chicken being made to emerge from a closed vessel, to the delight of the kids.

Said June: “The Harry Potter series is today’s fairytale, written keeping in mind that children’s lives are dominated by gadgets. Though there have been talks of Harry dying in the last book, I hope that he returns the way James Bond did because of readers’ demands.” Sunday’s event was a curtain-raiser for the big bash on the eve of the book release on July 21, where children can come dressed as characters from the book.

While it was a quiz contest at Oxford, a Harry Potter story writing competition was organised on June 5 at Crossword bookstore.

The introductory lines were: “Where he had come from, Harry had no idea. But there he suddenly was: a small slim man with light brown hair standing at the foot of the staircase…. ‘we must follow him,’ said Harry as the man leaped though into the hall.”

The event was open to children between 10 and 18 years and four Potter fans braved the Thursday afternoon downpour to participate in the event. Said Snehal Rawul, who studies in Class VIII of Mahadevi Birla Girls’ Higher Secondary School: “I’m a very big fan of Harry Potter and when I heard about the contest, I thought that I just have to participate! I came straight from school despite the rain and waterlogging.”

Parents too braved a flooded Elgin Road with their wards. “My son won the event last time before the release of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. So he was very keen on participating this time as well,” said Samar Kumar Ghosh, a parent.

The children gave a free rein to their creativity. “My story ends with an unexpected twist,” said Rohit Chatterjee, a Class VIII student of The Future Foundation School. “I ended with ‘I woke up with a start.’ I was actually dreaming of Harry in the story,” he added with a smile.

Shankhanil Ghosh, a Class IX student of South Point High School, said: “In my story, there is a fight sequence between Harry and Voldemort in which Voldemort dies. Harry lives on. There is still so much evil for him to fight.”

Snehal, on the other hand, ended her story on a more gruesome note. “In my story Ron and Hermione die. And Sirius comes back and Harry finds out that he supports Voldemort,” she said.

The children have various pet theories about what will happen in the upcoming book. “Either Harry will die or his friends will die,” Rohit said confidently. Shankhanil wanted a happy ending. “I don’t want any of them to die. Just Voldemort. But I doubt Rowling will write according to my wishes,” he said.

Snehal felt: “Harry and Voldemort have to die. I think other publishers will start writing Harry Potter books if Rowling doesn’t kill him off in this book. But I don’t want him to die. I’m okay with Hermione dying,” she shrugged, adding: “I don’t like geeks.”

whatsup

On academic standards

Oxford Bookstore, Calcutta, and Education World will present a seminar on ‘Raising Teaching-Learning Standards to Global Norms’ at Oxford Bookstore, 10.30am to 1.30pm. Ranjan Mitter of Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, will be the chief speaker. The topics for discussion are: New trends in school management, infusing technology into educational institutions, contemporary school leadership qualities, developing human resources in academia, eco-tourism, ayurveda, nature and environment.

Education through entertainment

The Assembly of God Church School, Park Street, is organising the fourth inter-school Mark Buntain Memorial Quiz on July 11. Barry O’Brien will be the quizmaster. The theme for the day will be ‘Good Entertainment Educates’.