Potter on, kids

The magic number for a certain set of six kids is 32. That’s how many times they’ve read the first Harry Potter book. For some of these readers, a quarter of their lives have passed since the fourth book in the series debuted in 2000, and half of them plan to attend midnight parties at bookstores Friday to celebrate the release of No. 5, “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.” Here’s a window into their obsession.

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Blair Moylan, 11

Toluca Lake

Age at discovery: Sister received it as a present and read it to her when she was 6. She’s revisited the first four books 14 times.

Under the spell: “Whenever a new book comes out in a series, I like to read the first ones, so I’m in step.”

Hopes for No. 5: “I want Hermione [one of Harry’s pals] to be more out there because ... she always figures everything out but she doesn’t get to help much.”

Harry Jr.: After J.K. Rowling completes the final book, No. 7, “she might have another series with Harry’s children.”

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Sami Kharasch,12

Cheviot Hills

Unearthly attachment: A devotee for half her life, she’s read the four books a total of 19 times.

Sign of devotion: Her school’s Harry Potter club has banquets and quizzes on the book. The high-schoolers rule because “most of them have memorized every chapter.”

Must be magic: “Harry Potter makes me want to be a witch or a wizard. I have two younger sisters, and they are really a big pain sometimes. It would be nice to go to Hogwarts [a wizard school] for a couple of days.”

End game: “I wish this series would never end, and I’m very upset that there are only three more.” Her solution? Rowling should rewrite the series from the perspective of Ron, Harry’s best friend.

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Ansel Rosenberg, 11

Westlake Village

Hearing Harry: When his mom played an audiotape of the first book on a road trip, he found the first bookstore he could and bought the books when he was about 10.

Light reading: “Phoenix’s” 896 pages don’t throw him. “It’s just enough for a week.” He’s read each book “seven or eight times.”

Spellbound: The author “doesn’t take half the book to build it up, so it’s always really exciting.”

Last words: “I definitely don’t want Harry to die in the end. That would just stink. I hope Harry will win, and beat Voldemort [the villain], but it might not happen that way.”

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P.J. Henning, 10

Santa Ana

A Hogwarts high: Mom-the-librarian began reading him the books when he was 6. “Now it’s like my favorite thing in the whole world. It’s better than anything.”

In costume: For three years running, he was Harry Potter for Halloween. “Finally, my mom said I should be something different, so I chose Boba Fett from ‘Star Wars.’ ”

Heavy reading: All the Harry Potter books “are really great. The next one is not better than the last one. The only thing that is different is that they get bigger.” [The fifth book is 587 pages longer than the first.]

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Elizabeth Caldwell, 11

Baldwin Hills

A magic age: She found Harry at age 9 or 10 and has read the first book twice. Mom says she was 6. Mother may remember best since the pair read each book aloud together.

Bewitched: “I like it because it’s kind of realistic and magical at the same time. It’s just cool.”

Hero worship: “I would like Harry to grow stronger mentally and for him to just defeat all the bad things that come his way.”

Perfect ending: The series should wrap up with Harry “becoming the greatest good wizard ever.”

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Devon Newkirk-Stone, 11

Lake Elsinore

Fighting words: “The best thing about the books is when they get into duels,” he says of the series he first got lost in at age 8.

Author’s note: “Her writing is really good, and I want to read this one book about her we have in my class.” (“J.K. Rowling: The Wizard Behind Harry Potter,” by Marc Shapiro [Dimensions, 2000]).

The seeker: He hopes No. 5 has “more quidditch,” sort of soccer on broomsticks. “Most of the books only have, like, two matches, and they just talk about practices.”

Down for the count: “I probably would like the books to end with Harry giving Voldemort a double knockout.”

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Selected Events

Bookstores are going Harry Potter-crazy. Most plan to entertain fans while they wait for “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” to go on sale at midnight Friday. A selected list:

Dress up: Don your wizard hats and grab your wands for a countdown to midnight with readings and trivia contests.

Where: Storyopolis, 116 N. Robertson Blvd., Plaza Level A, L.A., 9 p.m. Friday. (310) 358-2500 or www.storyopolis.com.

On screen: Harry Potter movies screening throughout the evening.

Where: The Mystery Bookstore, 1036-C Broxton Ave., Westwood, 8 p.m. Friday. (310) 209-0415.

Potter crafts: Balloon-animal artist and actor Wally Matthews reading.

Where: Barnes & Noble, 6100 Topanga Canyon Blvd., Woodland Hills, 9 p.m. Friday. (818) 704-3850 or for other locations and events: www.barnesandnoble.com.

PJ party: A pajama party and a reader doing excerpts from “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.”

Where: Borders, 1360 Westwood Blvd., L.A., 10 p.m. Friday. Info: (310) 475-3444 or for other locations and events: www.bordersstores.com.

Countdown: A New Year’s Eve-style countdown, with games, prizes and a costume contest.

Where: Dutton’s Brentwood Books, 11975 San Vicente Blvd., Brentwood, 11 p.m. Friday. Info: (310) 476-6263.

Magic formula: A magician, Harry Potter snacks, activities and trivia. Reservations required.

Where: Whale of a Tale, 4199 Campus Drive, Irvine, 10:30 p.m. Friday. Info: (949) 854-8288.

Hagrid rules: Hagrid escorts fans through the store. Owls, costume contests and more.

Where: Imagine That! Children’s Books, 5225 Canyon Crest Drive, Riverside, 11:30 p.m.-1 a.m. Friday. Info: (909) 784-0132.

Quidditch anyone?: A Hogwarts breakfast, Quidditch classes, potion labs and chocolate frogs.

Where: Mrs. Nelson’s Toy/Book Shop, 1030 Bonita Ave., Laverne, 7 a.m. Saturday. Info: (909) 599-4558.

Web connection: For a second by second countdown log on to www.the-leaky-cauldron.org. To meet other Harry Potter fans in your area, www.orderphoenix.meetup.com and www.muari.org -- have meetings set for Friday night around the Southland.