KUALA LUMPUR: Can you feel the magic in the air? Malaysia was under Harry Potter’s spell again when the eighth book of the series, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, was released yesterday.
Fans queued up as early as 6am outside book stores in the Klang Valley to get their hands on the book. Potterheads dressed in Hogwarts robes and Harry Potter T-shirts, and brandished magic wands.
Ashanti Sham Balakrishnan, 31, was the first in the queue at the Kinokuniya Book Store at KLCC here. She was holding the Elder wand, the most powerful wand in the wizardry world, while waiting for the book release.
“I pre-ordered the book a month ago. I have been a Harry Potter fan since I read the first book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, when I was 11.”
Kiranjit Kaur, 43, and her daughters Preyankka, 9, and Kenisha, 6, spent a night at Hotel Mandarin Oriental here to get to the bookstore early.
“We pre-ordered two copies and we are excited to get the book. I started reading the series a year ago,” said Preyankka.
Abdul Muhaimim, 30, came dressed in a Slytherin robe and a magic wand.
“I started reading the series when I was in Form One. I bought the robe and magic wand at Universal Studio Japan. The wizardry ability I want most is Apparition, the magical form of teleportation.”
Kinokuniya store manager Koichiro Satomi said 200 copies of the book were pre-ordered by customers.
Abdul Muhaimim wearing a Slytherin robe, with a copy of ‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’ at the Kinokuniya Book Store at KLCC yesterday.
In Subang Jaya, Selangor, Bookalicious bookseller Leon Ngai said 150 copies were preordered and the reaction from Potterheads was phenomenal, as they did not mind that the book was written in stage-play format.
“We opened at 6.30am and started selling the book at 7. 01am. Some customers volunteered to stay overnight and some came dressed in Harry Potter costumes.”
Leon Ngai said 150 copies were pre-ordered and the reactions from Potterheads have been phenomenal as 250 retail copies were sold out by 3.20pm on the same day.
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is based on a new story by author JK Rowling, director John Tiffany and writer Jack Thorne. The story is set 19 years after the events of the last novel.