It's the summer of Harry Potter. And the first time in Potter history that a movie and book about the boy wizard have been released so close together. The film of J.

K. Rowling's fifth book, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," hits theaters July 11. Ten days later, the seventh and last book in the series, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," goes on sale at midnight at bookstores.

That convergence both thrills and puzzles Rowling's fans. You can never get enough Potter," says Kelly Turner, 30, a financial service representative in Columbus, Ga., who remembers asking, "What's the big deal?

" until she happened on the first movie, "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," on HBO in 2002. "I was hooked and immediately bought all the books that were out at the time," she says. She's now in her 21st reading of the series.

But Emerson Spartz, who founded the Potter fan site mugglenet.com eight years ago when he was 12, questions what "seems like a cross-promotional nightmare." Spartz, a student at Notre Dame and co-author of the best-selling "What Will Happen in Harry Potter 7," says, "I would think that both Warner Bros.

and Scholastic would want to spread the buzz out for a longer period of time." It was announced more than a year ago. The book's publication date was revealed in February.

Scholastic's Kyle Good says the timing had little to do with the movie: "We just wanted to get it in the hands of readers as soon as we could." Warner executive Diana Nelson says the studio scheduled a summer release knowing that it could coincide with the final book. "We're thrilled that it did," she says.

"It truly will be Harry Potter month." But could the final book, in which Rowling has said two characters will die, overshadow the fifth movie? "Only in the best of ways," Nelson says.

"We've always said this franchise is driven by the books." Carol Fitzgerald, president of BookReporter.com, a Web site for book discussions, says the convergence of book and movie "will only build excitement.

" Paul Dergarabedian, president of Media by Numbers, which analyzes Hollywood box office trends, sees no "downside for either the book or movie" in what he calls "nirvana in the Harry Potter universe." It's the fourth Potter novel to be released in the summer, which Good calls "a great time for reading and relaxation for kids." After the film of "The Prisoner of Azkaban" was released in June 2004, sales of Harry Potter books rose 87 percent in the next four weeks, according to data from USA TODAY's Best-Selling Books list.

News-Leader.com is pleased to be able to offer its users the opportunity to make comments and hold conversations online. However, the interactive nature of the Internet makes it impracticable for our staff to monitor each and every posting.

Since News-Leader.com does not control user-submitted statements, we cannot promise that readers will not occasionally find offensive or inaccurate comments posted on our site. In addition, we remind anyone interested in making an online comment that responsibility for statements posted lies with the person submitting the comment, not News-Leader.

com. All comments posted should comply with the News-Leader.com Terms of Service.

"Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" stars (left to right) Robbie Coltrane as Rubeus Hagrid, Emma Watson as Hermione Granger, Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter and Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley. A magical month for Harry Potter fans Spoilers fly for final chapter in Rowling's series 'Dracula's Castle' for sale Men fall to death after Stones concert Radcliffe feels nerves, not magic in kiss Range of outdoor events is never-ending MSU grad's film is at Moxie It's the summer of Harry Potter.