Harvard Square to be Hogwarts Square

Just when you thought you were safe from iPhone hysteria, a new hype hoo-ha about Harry Potter is heading your way, and helping to amp up the buzz is Harvard Square, which plans to briefly rename itself Hogwarts Square.

Hogwarts is the wizard school where Harry is enrolled, something that's hardly news to Potter buffs who are eagerly counting down the hours until just after midnight on July 21, when the seventh and supposedly final Potter book, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," goes on sale.

Some might think Harvard would be immune to a frenzy that has beguiled fourth graders and reportedly resulted in 1.4 million book "preorders" at online book-seller Amazon.co.uk, but they'd be wrong.

Not to be outdone by London, where author J.K. Rowling plans a midnight reading for her book's release date, Harvard Summer School and the Harvard Square Business Association are organizing "the most grand celebration of literature in Harvard history."

To association executive director Denise Jillson, a Potter-fest at Harvard Square is a no-brainer.

"'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows' and the hallowed halls of Harvard," she said, connecting the dots.

The square's Potter gala is set for July 20, in the hours leading up to the book's release.

Plans call for a concert featuring such bands as Harry & the Potters, and there will be a scavenger hunt for owls, bats, and red stones at the Harvard Museum of Natural History, organizers said.

According to Jillson, Harvard Square is one of the rare venues that can handle such an event.

Yes, it's hard to imagine revels of such scope unfolding at Central Square, or even at Stanford University.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)