Are you a Potter-maniac or a “Twilight” devotee?

The battle between good and evil is so timeless, it's almost tiresome.

But the clash between Harry Potter and those "Twilight" vampires? Well, bring it on.

It was thought that, perhaps, with the accelerated mania produced by Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart's tragic romance as Edward Cullen, the strikingly beautiful vampire, and Bella Swan, his forbidden love, that Stephenie Meyer's "Twilight" series might have eclipsed the popularity of J.K. Rowling's wizard.

That turned out to be a silly thought.

"Twilight" fans are fervent, no doubt. And some, such as Vicki Boyd of Mechanicsville, couldn't even get through a "Harry Potter" novel, but devoured Meyer's quartet of Edward-based books in two weeks.

But, despite risking the wrath of legions of 13-year-old girls, a completely unscientific consensus indicates that most likely, Rowling's Harry, who returns to movie theaters Wednesday in the second-to-last adaptation of the Potter series, will be the guy still being talked about generations from now.

"In 50 years, Harry Potter books will stand the test of time, like the 'Narnia' books. 'Twilight?' Who knows," said Andrew Necci, a manager at Richmond's Creatures'n Crooks Bookshoppe. "I might turn out to be wrong, but I feel as if 'Twilight' will be identified with this decade the same way John Hughes movies are identified with the'80s."

Though "Twilight" garnered mostly positive reviews from literary critics upon its release in 2005 -- and the series has sold more than 40 million copies worldwide -- it's often quietly noted that Meyer's books don't contain the rich characterizations and deft prose in Rowling's creations.

Or, as Stephen King told USA Today's Weekend magazine this spring, "The real difference [between Rowling and Meyer] is that Jo Rowling is a terrific writer, and Stephenie Meyer can't write worth a darn. She's not very good."

But Boyd, a 35-year-old former middle school teacher studying for her master's in library science, said although, admittedly, she has never been much of a fantasy lover, she credits Meyer's writing with drawing her into the genre.

"They're so well-written," Boyd said of the "Twilight" books. "I took them everywhere. I would have them in the car and read them while sitting at a stoplight. I didn't get any housework done. I didn't function at all for two weeks.

"I just think the overall love story is so good, you didn't want to put it down. The love story is so real. What woman anywhere doesn't want to date a dangerous guy? There is just something exotic about dangerous guys -- whether he's riding a motorcycle or driving a Mustang."

Vampires and wizards pop up frequently in literary history. But there is a substantial difference between the horror icon that is Bram Stoker's "Dracula" and romantic Edward, just as Harry Potter has different intentions than "The Lord of the Rings'" Gandalf.

"Wizards and vampires have familiar elements to them -- the escapism into both worlds and being able to step outside your typical life is a big appeal to children and adults -- but the characters have been expanded to meet the needs of the day," said Stephanie DeiCas, a children's literature instructor in Virginia Commonwealth University's School of Education. "Edward is this fantasy-romance type guy, and that kind of reflects the demographic attracted to [the 'Twilight'] books. And with Harry Potter, he can do things that humans can't do. He's always trying to make things better and make changes in the world, which might reflect the audience, too."

Julia Brankley, a 16-year-old rising junior at Mills Godwin High School in Henrico County and a Harry Potter fan since third grade, said she gave "Twilight" a chance, enjoyed it initially, but has since had a change of heart.

"Once it became so popular, I started to see some of the flaws in the story, some of the things that didn't really match," she said. "I think it's a good book -- I just don't know if it deserves the popularity it's been getting. It's mostly boy-meets-girl and they fall in love. One of the things about Harry Potter is it separates you from the world as it is. Once you enter Hogwarts, everything else is collateral."

Everything else is extremely lucrative, too.

Last summer, the Potter series toppled another record when combined worldwide sales of Rowling's seven books surpassed 400 million copies.

"We have a display of Harry Potter books in the store that just keeps selling, so there's no reason to take it down," Necci said.

The five movies all reside within the 55 top-grossing movies of all time (in the U.S.), with 2001's "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" the most successful with a gross of $317,557,891.

Worldwide, the five movies have sold more than $4.5 billion in tickets -- and Fandango cites that as of last week, 27 percent of its advance ticket sales were for "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince."

Meanwhile, "Twilight," released in November, has earned a U.S. gross of almost $200 million, with an international take of almost exactly the same amount.

Even though the next installment in the series, "New Moon," won't be released until this fall, the amount of hype and tabloid shots of Pattinson imply these well-coifed vampires aren't disappearing anytime soon.

And that's fine by Boyd, who said she has now been inspired by the "Twilight" books to take another stab at "Potter."

"It's really opened my eyes to say, you can't close off an entire genre without giving it a chance," Boyd said. "It's broadened my horizons in a way I didn't think was possible."

Contact Melissa Ruggieri at (804) 649-6120 or .