Harry Potter

"Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling, center, posed with actors Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson as they arrived for the film premiere of "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" at the Odeon Leicester Square in London's West End Sunday, Nov. 3, 2002.

Rowling Through The Years

Rowling posed in a New York bookstore Oct. 17, 1998. Rowling rode to the top of bestseller lists in Britain and the United States with her engaging children's book about Potter, a bespectacled 11-year-old wizard.

Rowling reacted after a reporter pointed out that Harry Potter is now available in action figure form, at a press conference in Toronto Sunday, Oct. 22, 2000.

Rowling shows off the OBE (Order of the British Empire) that she received at Buckingham Palace in London March 2, 2001. At the time, Prince Charles, who presented her with the award, revealed that he is a Harry Potter fan.

Rowling, with her husband Neil Murray, at the world premiere of the second Harry Potter film, "Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets," in London, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2002. At the time, Rowling was pregnant with her second child.

Harry Fever

A line formed outside the Uptown Theater in Washington Friday, Nov. 16, 2001, waiting to see "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone."

Lauren Kent, 20, right, of New York, sat inside a New York theater and knitted a Slytherin house scarf as she and Joe Weiss, 21, Brooklyn, waited for the film "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" to begin Nov. 14, 2002.

Matthew Dockery, 7, reading the latest book in the Harry Potter series at a book store in Las Cruces, N.M., after his baseball game Saturday, July 8, 2000. In libraries and online, in bookstores big and small, copies of "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" flew out as fast as they were found by readers anxious for the series' fourth installment.

T.J. Ikeda and his mother Cindy Ikeda, were dressed as film characters Harry Potter and professor Minerva McGonagall, for the first showing of "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" in Bakersfield, Calif., Nov. 15, 2002.

In November 2002, Chase Aaron, 7, right, dressed as Harry Potter, investigated owl pellets to find out what owls like to eat at the Bone Appetite booth at the Harry Potter Nature Party at Clemson (S.C.) Elementary School. Many such events have used interest in the Harry Potter books as a springboard to education.

Dressed as Harry Potter, Daniel Powers 5, of Kittery, Maine, enjoyed a Halloween party at Smith Barney in Portsmouth, N.H., Oct. 30, 2002.

Reed Mathis, 2, dressed as Harry Potter, stands outside the College Park Loews Theatres after seeing the second Harry Potter movie Nov. 15, 2002, in Indianapolis. He attended the movie with his parents, Christy and Philip, who took a vacation day to take him to the opening day show. "He watches (the first Harry Potter) movie every day," Christy said, "and he hasn't taken off his costume since Halloween."

Selling Harry

These promotional buttons for "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" are part of a $3 million-$4 million marketing campaign by Scholastic, Inc. The publisher already has distributed 3 million bumper stickers, 400,000 buttons, 50,000 window displays and 24,000 stand-up posters with countdown clocks for the latest Potter book, which goes on sale June 21.

Shown is a Harry Potter figure and display at a Kmart store in Troy, Mich., Oct. 29, 2001. "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" worked magic on retailers, which badly needed a big hit for the holiday season.

Playing Potter

Daniel Radcliffe, who plays the part of Harry Potter, is shown in this undated handout photo from a scene in Warner Bros. Pictures "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone."

Actors Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley, left, and Daniel Radcliffe as "Harry Potter" are shown in a scene from "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" in this undated handout photo.

Daniel Radcliffe photographed at a photo-call in London on Aug. 23, 2000. Radcliffe had just been picked to play Harry Potter in the first Harry Potter movie.

Radcliffe was flanked by co-stars Emma Watson (Hermione) and Rupert Grint (Ron) in October 2000.

Two years later, in November 2002, the young stars (Rupert Grint, Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson) arrived for the celebrity film premiere of the second Potter film, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" at the Odeon Leicester Square in London's West End.

Grint, Radcliffe and Watson posed for photographers during the worldwide launch of the DVD/VHS at Leavesden Studios in north London, Tuesday, April 8, 2003