Some
of the young kids attending the St. Louis Public Library's
"A Night at Hogwarts Central" party said they'd like the
Harry Potter saga to continue.
Kids from St. Louis City were at the overnight event to
celebrate distribution of J.K.Rowling's, "Harry Potter and
the Deathly Hallows." The book was the 7th and final one
in the overwhelmingly successful series.
Tyler Magnuson |
Ten-year-old Tyler Magnuson said he'd like the series to
continue even though Harry has finished at Hogwarts. "When
he's grown up, I'd like Harry to be a teacher at the school,"
the 5th grader at Shaw VPA School said.
The kids who attended the St. Louis library's party were
9 to 12 years old. That made them much younger than Harry
is in the final book. Many of them didn't start reading
the fantasy series until just a couple years ago.
Rachel Bundstein |
Of the kids interviewed by Young Saint Louis.com,
all favored of more Harry Potter.
Since the kids were interviewed before the 7th book was
released, they didn't know whether Harry would live or die.
Some thought he would be killed but most didn't.
Ten-year-old Rachel Bundstein said she hopes he doesn't
die. The 5th grader at St. Rock School said, "I'll probably
be mad at Ms. Rowling if he does."
Loren Williams |
Nine-year-old Loren Williams was sure Harry would survive.
The 3rd grader at Tower Grove Christian School said, "Harry
always wins."
But, most of the kids thought Harry's main enemy, Lord
Voldemort, was going to die at the end of the final book.
And most of them weren't going to be sorry to see him go.
Ten-year-old Paul Sathi said he thought Harry would live.
But, when asked whether Lord Voldemort would die, he said
gleefully, "Oh, yeah."
But, the kids were mixed about who their favorite "bad
guy" was in the series.
Paul Sathi |
Ten-year-old Nora Schoenle and Tyler Magnuson said they
favored Harry's fellow student, Darco Malfoy, as the one
they most loved to hate. He's the son of Lucius Malfoy,
one of the dreaded Death Eaters.
Loren Williams said his favorite among the "bad guys"
was Bellatrix Lestrange. She's another of the Death Eaters.
Nora Schoenle |
Paul Sathi listed Severus Snape as his favorite "bad guy."
However, he admitted that he wasn't sure the Defense Against
Black Arts teacher was all-bad. For instance, in the "Order
of the Phoenix," Snape appeared to be giving Harry lessons
in how to prepare for his fights with Lord Voldemort.
Kids at the library's overnight party had a great place
to camp out. The Central Library building is an old, majestic
building. The second-floor Great Hall is a high-ceiling
room that reminded the kids of Harry's school, Hogwarts.
In addition, the hall was decorated with all sorts of
Harry Potter memorabilia. There was even a giant motorcycle
that was labeled as belonging to the half-giant Rubeus Hagrid.
The party included time for reading since admission included
a copy of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows." There
were chances for Harry Potter video games and trivia.
The
party brochure said there would be snacks and "possibly
some sleeping." Significantly, many of the kids didn't bother
with sleeping bags.
But, they did come with a variety of Harry Potter-style
costumes…and plenty of knowledge of previous Harry Potter
books and films.
Loren Williams said she didn't understand the early plots
when she started reading. Her mother, Theresa, helped. But,
it didn't take long for Loren to catch on. She said she'd
read all six previous books in the last two years.
Also,
she said she was going to see the fifth Harry Potter movie
the day after her library overnight. Her mother said, "This
is our Harry Potter weekend."
Nora Schoenle is a 5th grader at Saint Stephen Protomartyr
School. She said she had read all the previous six books
and had seen all five of the movies.
She admitted that the Harry Potter movies were getting
progressively scarier. But, Nora added, "That's okay with
me."
All of the kids interviewed by YSL.com said they
did a lot of other reading.
Nora said she liked "magical" books. Paul Sathi said he
liked "horror and suspense."
(Editor's note: For more about Harry Potter, you can
click on to Past
Stories. Then, use the Google search engine to look
up, by name, reviews of previous books and films.)
