Hooked on Harry Potter

Shh... can you heat that? It is the sound of a magic spell spreading through the air. The spell has been cast by J.K.Rowling, whose magic wand is very plain. It is a pen. Rowling is the English author of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's stone and Harry potter and the Chamber of Secrets. This month her third book, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, arrived in U.S bookstores. Just like the first two Potter books, The new one is taking off faster than a speeding broomstick!

Harry is an orphan boy with a lightning-bolt scar on his forehead. He lives in England with Mr and Mrs. Dursley, his nasty aunt and uncle, and their greedy son Dudley. When Harry is 11, he finds out that his parents were a witch and wizard. He is a wizard, too. Harry is invited to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Before long, he is waving a wand, meeting ghosts and mixing potions!

The idea for Harry just "strolled into my head," says Joanne Rowling. "I still do not know where he came from!" Kids sure are glad he's here. The first two Potter books are hits all over the world. They appear in 28 languages!

Anna Hinkley,9,of Santa Monica,California,has read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone"seven or eight times". Will Schultz, 11,from Raleigh,North Carolina,is also a fan."It has all the things I like-humor,action",says Will.

Rowling plans to write one book for each of the seven years that Harry goes to Hogwarts School. How will it all end? She offers only one clue: the last word of the last book is scar. Only Rowling knows what that means, but the rest of us will have lots of fun finding out!