The 1-inch scar La'akea Moniz got on his forehead from running into a tree isn't shaped quite like a lightning bolt, but it's close enough; the 9-year-old feels a cool connection to one of his favorite fictional heroes.

La'akea is a huge fan of author J.K. Rowling's wizard wonder Harry Potter and considers "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" his favorite in Rowling's series.

"I thought it was the best so far," said La'akea, who dressed up as Harry for Halloween not once, but twice.

La'akea is among the millions expected to watch the latest Potter-book-turned-flick, "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," opening Friday. And the audience likely will include a good number of pre-teens like La'akea, despite the movie's PG-13 rating.

"Goblet" is the first in the Potter series to receive that rating, which strongly cautions parents that some material may be inappropriate for children under 13. The movie is cited for sequences of fantasy violence and frightening images.

Still, there's no stopping La'akea, or the rest of his family, for that matter.

"We have all the books, read all the books, we watched all the movies and have all the DVDs," said La'akea's mom, Lori Kahikina-Moniz of Kailua. The 34-year-old engineer considers herself as much a devotee as her son.

Kahikina-Moniz said the entire family — including her husband and two younger boys, ages 6 and 4 — will watch the movie together.

"I am a little concerned," Kahikina-Moniz said. "But the two younger ones are pretty good about closing their eyes when they're scared. La'akea will be fine."

La'akea agrees.

"With the second and third (Harry Potter movies) ... it got scary, but after you see it once, you know it's make-believe and that it can't happen in real life," he said.

La'akea's dad, David Moniz, said many children today are subjected to images of violence in everyday life — images probably far worse than the fictional ones in the upcoming movie.

"We watch a lot of 'CSI,' and you can't get more violent than that," said Moniz, 35, a general contractor. "Given what they see on video games and regular TV, they're able to understand what's not real."

Like La'akea, Nikki Lee, 12, is a fanatic of the fantastical saga. She has a load of Potter-phernalia as proof: all the books, posters and even a couple stationery sets to jot notes to her other Potter-minded peers.

Will she see the movie?

"Oh, yes!"

Is she excited?

"Oh, very!"

Nikki is especially looking forward to the film's special effects, particularly how director Mike Newell depicts the book's Triwizard Tournament, a contest in which Harry faces off against a dragon, she said.

Her eagerness to see such grand scenes far outweigh any concerns about nightmares of man-eating snakes or suffocating vines (also scenes in the movie).

"I'm not too worried," said Nikki, of Kapahulu. "I should be fine."

Nikki and her entire 8th-grade class at a Honolulu-area private school will see the flick with family and faculty at a special "Family Fun Night" viewing.

Nikki's mom, Jeannie, thinks the students — all 13 or going on 13 — won't have a difficult time dealing with "Goblet's" mature themes.

"It's Harry Potter," said the administrative officer, 33. "It's not like it's (a movie by) The Rock."

Reach Zenaida Serrano at zserrano@honoluluadvertiser.com.