When Being a Fan Pays

July 19, 2007 — -- A 45-year-old nuclear physicist who can speak fluent Klingon? That's so 20th century. Instead, how about an impish 9-year-old wheeling around in Heelys and belting the lyrics to one of the latest hits in wizard rock:

"We've got to save Ginny Weasley from the Basilisk … We've got to save the school from that unseen horror."

Meet the fans of the 21st century, whose ardent devotion to "Harry Potter" could put even the most die-hard "Star Trek" fan to shame.

And the frenzy is approaching its absolute zenith this month. The fifth movie, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," was just released, and the seventh and final book in the series, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," will be published this weekend.

Fans have spent the last decade — and in some cases all their lives — reading about, hearing about, singing about and watching the adventures of the bespectacled boy wizard.

And their love for Harry Potter has helped them turn being a fan of fantasy and science fiction, once seen as the purview of awkward adults, into a moneymaking industry.

The opportunity to hang out with fellow "Potter" fans doesn't come cheap.

Enlightening 2007, a recent convention housed inside appropriately Gothic buildings at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, charged $250 to $400 a head. More than 350 "Potter"-atics attended.

The event boasted a "Great Hall" that mimicked Hogwarts' famed dining room and magical classes, including spell casting and potion making. There was even a red carpet premiere of the fifth Potter movie complete with real and fictional reporters. Rita Skeeter and her purple quill made an appearance.

Rachel Kulik and her dad flew from Phoenix to attend the four-day event sponsored by Bonding Over Books, a nonprofit group that tries to get families to read together.

"It's my 16th-birthday present," she said of the outing, which cost her father more than $1,000.

But for Kulik, who has been reading the books since she was 6 years old, the chance to meet and mingle with other "Potter"-addicted Muggles and bring to life the magic of the books was priceless.

Her only sour note? The house she was "sorted" into.

"I'm in Dragon," she said with a moan. "I'm way more of Hufflepuff. I'm very loyal to my friends."