A 'Harry Potter' Battle: Falls Church vs. Fairfax

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THE ORANGE LINE in the Virginia suburbs is known for being crowded and generally uncomfortable during rush hour. So what happens when people start putting down their copies of Express and start reading hard-cover versions of the next installment of "Harry Potter"? Trouble, that's what. According to an analysis by Amazon.com, Falls Church and Fairfax record the highest number of pre-order sales of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" per capita. Respectively, the local cities rank No. 1 and No. 2. The suburban Tacoma, Wash., suburb of Gig Harbor, comes in as No. 3, followed by Vienna, Va. Who knew there was so much fantasy escapism in Northern Virginia? Crowded roadways and trains will do this to people.

Anyhow, on July 15, Amazon will take the most recent census data and weigh that against pre-sale numbers and name the most "Harry-est" town in the land. So good luck. The winning town gets to give a $5,000 Amazon.com gift card to a charity of choice.

We have a suggestion for Fairfax to try to throw its Harry Potter competitors in Falls Church off: Underwrite a special performance of "Equus" at the State Theatre. That'll be sure to throw off the local Falls Church Harry Potter fans.