Harry Potter Emptied Oxford’s ER

In December 2005, researchers from John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford reported that children’s injury visits dropped sharply on the release weekends for "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" and "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince." They reviewed 7- to 15-year-olds who came to the emergency department with musculoskeletal injuries during summer weekends from 2003 to 2005. On the book-release weekends of June 21, 2003, and July 16, 2005, attendance fell to 36 and 37 children, compared with an average of about 67 on control weekends. The researchers proposed the most straightforward explanation: children opted to stay indoors reading rather than risking outdoor injuries.

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