Grace Sullivan, 8, has read all six Harry Potter books, and she plans to devour the seventh as soon as it comes out. She has theories about what might happen.
"I think that Dumbledore will not be dead, actually," said Grace, who was wearing a black felt cape left over from Halloween, when she went trick-or-treating as Harry's good friend, Hermione.
Her mother has an even more radical theory. "My mom thinks that Neville is the chosen one, actually," she said.
Grace, who is entering third grade at St. Louis School in Clarksville, was one of about 15 youngsters in a weeklong Harry Potter camp at Howard Community College last week. The camp, for children ages 8 to 12, has been offered every summer since June 2001, said Sara Baum, director of Kids on Campus at HCC.
These days, Harrry-mania is at a fever pitch. The fifth movie, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, will open Wednesday. And the final book of the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, will be released July 21.
But Baum said the Harry Potter camp at HCC, which runs from 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, has been steadily growing more popular, with no particular spike in interest this year. "It has not wavered. That's the surprising thing," she said. "Even when there wasn't a book or movie coming out, interest has been high all along."
This year, four sessions are being offered, representing a gradual growth from the two that were offered the first year, Baum said.
Lucy Dembin, who taught two sessions of the camp last summer and is teaching two this summer, said her campers are curious about what will happen in the final installment of the series. Speculation has been rampant, in part because author J.K. Rowling has said that at least two main characters will die.
"A lot of people have been telling me that Harry's probably going to die," said Kate Weiss, 10, entering fifth grade at Resurrection-St. Paul School in Ellicott City.
Dembin, a counselor at Glenelg High School, signed up to teach the class because she is a fan. "I think I read the first four in a month. I was hooked. Maybe two months," she said.
Like millions of other people, she has preordered book No. 7, so it will arrive July 21. But now she is thinking of going to a bookstore at midnight to buy one as soon as it is released. Bookstores locally and around the world are planning to stay open for Potter fans who want to buy it as soon as it is released.
"I think that Harry will definitely get Voldemort," Dembin said, referring to a character so evil that most people in the book dare not even say his name. "But I don't know if he's going to die. I think it can go either way."
At camp, participants take part in Potter-related craft projects, such as making brooms and wands; play games and discuss the books.
The campers are divided into four groups named for the schools at Hogwarts - Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. Over the course of the week, they earn "house points," as Hogwarts students do. On the final day, the house with the most points gets a reward, Dembin said.
"It's really fun," said Emily Hamburger, 10, entering fifth grade at Clarksville Elementary School. She said she has read the first five books and has seen all the movies. "They're really interesting and fun to read," she said.
Eric Hansen, 9, entering fifth grade at Hollifield Station Elementary School, said he likes the books, but his mother is the one who really cannot wait to find out what will happen. "My mom's read all the books," he said.
For the final day of camp, Dembin planned to show Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. "We're going to have a big feast, just like they do at the end of the year at Hogwarts," she said, writing on the board a menu that included pizza, chocolate chip cookies, veggie trays and fruit.
She plans to teach students how to make "butter beer," a popular drink in the Harry Potter books. "It's going to look just like how they describe it in the books," she promised. Of course, it will be nonalcoholic.
Camper Ethan Hennessey, 9, entering fourth grade at Atholton Elementary School, said he has read all the books "except for one," and he is eager to read the final one. "Dumbledore may not be dead," he said.
Nine-year-old Emma Balkin, entering fourth grade at Longfellow Elementary School, came to camp wearing black-rimmed Harry Potter glasses and a felt cape with the Hogwarts seal on it. Her mother had added a red, lightning-shaped scar to her forehead.
"I like that they have a lot of adventures, and the characters are very interesting," Emma said of the books.
The program "Partners with Potter" has two more sessions, July 23-27 and Aug. 6-10. Information, 410 772-4102.