Harry Potter: The Word Wizard

It was not the book itself that inspired the wonder in the 16-year-old’s eyes, it was those who stood around him, the vastness of the crowd that showed up at a South Coast Plaza bookstore Saturday to buy the latest Harry Potter book. In a culture that didn’t seem to care about the written word, he said, he didn’t think such people existed.

“A craze over a book?” said Kayvan Noroozi of Irvine. “I thought we cared about Pokemon . . . ‘Star Wars.’ When I read the books, I imagine and wonder. When I play Nintendo, I don’t wonder about anything.”

When White Rabbit Children’s Books at South Coast Plaza opened at 10 a.m., dozens already had gathered at the store’s metal gate, like travelers awaiting entrance into the castle.

Kayvan and his 9-year-old sister, Mona, didn’t have the money to buy the 752-page “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.” The two, who take turns reading books to each other every night, just wanted to be there, “to be part of the adventure,” said Mona.

Across Orange County, it was more of the same. When the Metro Pointe Barnes & Noble Bookstore in Costa Mesa opened, 100 people were waiting to get copies. The Borders Books and Music in Costa Mesa sold all of its 360 copies by late afternoon.

The crowds were even bigger Friday night, book store managers said. At the Metro Pointe Barnes & Noble, book buyers took numbers to await their turn at the counter, as children played Harry Potter trivia games. While the store usually closes at midnight, it stayed open an extra hour. “We got No. 86 and I thought, ‘Wow, we’re going to be here for a while,’ ” said Cynthia Magana of Costa Mesa. It was just shy of 1 a.m. before Magana and son Nathan, 12, had book in hand.

Once the gong sounded at Barnes & Noble in Pasadena, staffers dressed as wizards rushed in with rolling carts of books. As children received their books, they sighed and rocked them gratefully in their arms.

“Harry Potter has problems real kids do,” said Shannon Gleason, 13, of Hollywood “like teachers and bullies.”

Parents were unfazed by the hour. “Anything to encourage him to keep reading,” said Nancy Ruiz of Alhambra, who let her 11-year-old son, Nicholas, stay up to purchase his book.

The frenzy over the arrival of the children’s book was fueled by clever promotional campaigns--the book could not be bought before the wee hours of Saturday--and insatiable fans. They were eager to dip back into the world of the orphan, Harry, who didn’t realize he had magical powers until he began a long course of study at the Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Harry, now 14, continues his coming of age in the newest installment, the fourth of a planned seven-part series by British author J.K. Rowling.

Bookstore managers say they never have seen such furor over a book. “It’s astonishing,” said Kevin Reichert, an assistant manager at the Borders in Costa Mesa. It’s heartening that people want to read . . . not just to read anything, but to get lost in a story. I thought it would be some hard-core fans who came out [Friday] night. They were all hard-core fans.”

Elsewhere on Friday night, a crowd of more than 100 children and their parents flocked to the Irvine Marketplace bookstore for a special 11 p.m. opening. The crowd awaited the magic hour of midnight, when more than 200 of the books were carried away and children feasted on sugary treats and hot chocolate.

Owner Alex Uhl said that in the days leading up to “Goblet of Fire’s” release, many parents had begun calling area bookstores looking for the best event.

At times, the crowd at Uhl’s shop appeared to grow frantic, bustling about in the tiny bookstore, comparing their costume capes and showing off the magic marker lightening bolt tattoos they had drawn on their faces. Only the the antics of a magician and a balloon twister kept the squirming horde in check.

At many bookstores, families already were arguing over who would get to read the new Harry Potter first. One family, rushing to their car outside the Costa Mesa Borders, was debating over who would get to hold the book in the car.

“It’s amazing how much we love Harry Potter,” said 50-year-old Max MacKay of Costa Mesa. “It’s an adventure. I can escape into this other world. I can dream. I’m reading the second book right now . . . I’m 16 years old.”

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Times Staff Writer Carla Hall contributed to this story.