Who: Leo Weisberger, 11, a sixth-grader at Turkeyfoot Middle School who is an aspiring actor and avid Harry Potter fan. He lives in Lakeside Park with his parents, Jon Weisberger and Melissa Lucas, and his younger brother, Sidney Lucas.

Leo Weisberger

        What: His collection of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books.

        Where: In his admittedly messy bedroom. “Going in there is a bad idea,” he says, grinning.

        The magic begins: Leo's interest in the boy wizard began nearly two years ago. “So far, I have all four books in the series,” he says. “They're pretty cool.”

        Avid reader: “I like the Harry Potter books because they take place in a made-up culture,” he says. “It's a whole other world.

        “They are very well written. Reading them is a form of escapism. It's all fantasy and not too serious. They don't deal with heavy subject matters.”

        Lookalikes: With his dark brown bangs and round eyeglasses, Leo realizes that he bears more than a passing resemblance to Harry Potter. “My friends all say I look like him. Everybody calls me "Potter.' ”

        That includes grown-ups.

        Aw, gee! “Not so long ago,” Leo recalls, “I was going to fifth period and the arts and humanities teacher stopped me in the hall. Then she called the assistant principal over. Well, the assistant principal handles discipline and I thought I was in trouble. Then she asked him, “Does he remind you of anyone?” And the assistant principle said, “Yes, he looks like Harry Potter.”

        “Imagine that,” he says, rolling his eyes. “All because of a movie.”

        “We ought to send Leo off to Hogwarts school,” his brother says, teasingly.

        Copycat: “I don't purposely want to look like Harry Potter,” Leo says. “I looked like this way before the Harry Potter movie. So, instead of spiking my hair or dying it blonde, I've just stayed the way I am. This Harry Potter stuff didn't beat me.

        “Plus,” he adds, removing his spectacles and holding them out for inspection, “my glasses are real.”

        Method actor: Leo, who takes drama lessons, saw the movie Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone on the second day of its release. He enjoyed Daniel Radcliffe's performance in the title role, but feels that as an actor, he would have approached the part differently.

        “I just know that I would have done a better job,” he declares. “But, who knows? Maybe they'll cast me in the sequel.”
       Share your prize possessions with Marsie Hall Newbold by mail: c/o The Enquirer, Tempo, Prize Possessions, 312 Elm St., Cincinnati, OH 45202 or e-mail: marsolete@aol.com.

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