Archive notice: This article was originally published on July 23, 2007. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
Never before had an English-language book been preordered so often at Amazon.de. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows also broke all records worldwide and is now the most ordered book in Amazon’s history. Worldwide, more than 2.223 million fans secured their copy. According to Amazon estimates, customers from all over the world saved more than 50 million US dollars when purchasing the book through the Amazon websites – through the reduced Amazon price, voucher promotions and free shipping. Amazon delivers Harry Potter orders through all seven websites to more than 160 countries worldwide.
At the Spandau Citadel in Berlin, Amazon.de shortened the wait until the official delivery of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows for members of the Harry Potter fan club hp-fc with the magical Harry Potter Academy. The approximately 150 fans, who were of course all dressed as characters from the Harry Potter world, were welcomed by magical creatures in the castle courtyard. After that, following appearances by ghosts, gnomes and witches, it went directly to the ceremonial meal in the rustic citadel tavern. Magic tricks and witch spells amazed even experienced Potter fans. At 01:01, the long-awaited moment became reality: By spell’s and the help of the fans, the book appeared with a loud bang before the eyes of the audience. Each fan-club member then received his copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and could immediately begin reading at the Harry Potter Academy. It then became dead silent in the reading room. After almost an hour of reading, the experts gathered to evaluate the first answers to burning questions: Who or what are the Deathly Hallows? Can the ending already be guessed? Does something completely surprising happen right at the beginning?
The results can already be read on launch night in the Amazon.de customer forum (www.amazon.de/harrypotter). Harry fans had already been able to find out about the latest rumors concerning Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows here since July 3 and also post comments and contributions themselves.
The new “Potter” gets the grade “One” – What else the fans say
After the fan-club members had been able to browse through the new Harry Potter volume for almost an hour, Amazon.de asked the academy participants ten magical questions about the seventh volume. Before the fans were surveyed, 43% had already read between 21 and 50 pages.
More than 65% of participants gave Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows a straight “One”. Only 3% are disappointed after the first pages and none of those surveyed has so far not liked the book at all. It is therefore not surprising that 59% want to read the book within the publication night. In doing so, likewise 59% of fans read the book as intensively as possible from beginning to end and 32% as quickly as possible in order to know the end of the story immediately. 8% of those surveyed are even so excited that they read the end of the book first.
What happens at all in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and what awaits the patient readers who will only begin reading the book in the next few days? At the beginning of the book, the reader initially encounters several familiar people, including Severus Snape, Lord Voldemort and Hagrid. But several unknown faces also await the readers. Right at the beginning of the book, “Yaxley” and “Charity Burbage” appear, whose exact meaning and function remain hidden. Furthermore, 30% of academy participants noticed that the book begins at the point where the last volume ended. 24% of readers think the book is written in a completely different style from its predecessors.
Until the book’s publication day, one topic was repeatedly discussed fiercely: Who or what are the Deathly Hallows? 11% of academy participants already have an idea of what the Deathly Hallows are, and 86% think that there is still no indication of this on the first pages of the book.
Some eager readers even think they can already guess what will happen at the end of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. 14% see an indication that Harry will finally triumph over Lord Voldemort. Nevertheless, the beginning of the book initially leaves readers in the dark, because 81% still have no idea about the further course of the seventh volume.
