THERE is magic in the air at a Bolton school thanks to the particular charms of a certain young apprentice wizard you may have heard of.

In fact you could say that at Withins School they've gone Harry Potter potty.

And while pupils of all ages spend most of their day getting to grips with traditional school subjects at lunchtimes two rival teams do battle for a prize beyond value -- tickets to see the new film when it hits our screens later this month.

Anne Smallwood, manager of the school's Independent Learning Resource Centre or library, said the books and now the soon-to-be-a-Box Office smash film have fired the imaginations of the children.

And Mrs Smallwood has organised a competition to beat all others to keep the children keen on the Harry Potter phenomenon.

"In the past when the last Harry Potter book was published we held a quiz in school which was pupils against teachers," she said. "We have decided to go bigger and better for the launch of this film."

Anne put the call out for young Potter fans across the school to enter the competition and they were divided into two house groups -- Gryffindor and Slytherin -- taken from J K Rowling's books.

Each lunchtime teams from each house answer questions on young Master Potter to win points for their house. And the winning team of 25 will get the chance to be among the first in Bolton to see Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone when it opens on Friday November 16.

Mrs Smallwood said: "The competition has really captured the imagination of the children and even those who are not taking part are eager to watch at lunchtimes.

"We have devoted a section of the library to Harry Potter and the two houses include children of all ages and teachers as well because they didn't want to miss the chance of seeing the film."

But Mrs Smallwood said the Potter phenomenon has had a positive effect of the youngsters.

"It has encouraged more and more pupils to read," she said. "As a librarian it is brilliant to see so many young people reading material of such a high quality.

"We set the houses the task of revising their Harry Potter knowledge before the half-term so it is fair to say that copies of the books have been as hard as dragon's teeth to get hold of in the library at the moment."

She added: "Everyone is keen to find out who the winner of the competition will be and then we will take them to see the first matinee showing of the film.

"I'll be there as well, I'm a great fan and I wouldn't miss the film for the world."