Linn-Mar students expand ‘Harry Potter’ love to book donation

Linn-Mar High School used some magic of their own Friday to turn excitement for the next Harry Potter movie into a donation of books.

Several students dressed as characters from the popular J.K. Rowling series Friday. The dress-up day ended first-ever Harry Potter week at the school.

“Everyone on our student council thought that it would be really fun, since there are so many Harry Potter fans, if we had a week to celebrate it,” said senior Ashley Seaton, 17, who dressed as Luna Lovegood.

During the week, students got treats if they donated a book to the “Hogwarts Express” trolley. More than 100 books were collected and will be donated to Toys for Tots.

Senior Katie Hale, 17, dressed as a Hufflepuff student Friday. She said she's been reading books from the Harry Potter series since she was in the third grade.

“As a little kid, you always wish that you could do magic or be a wizard,” Hale said. “As you get older, it's just a fun, fantastic world.”

The movie from the seventh book in the series, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows” premieres in theaters today.