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BurnSide
Harry Potter Books Sold by Accident
Tue Jul 12, 1:55 PM ET


A handful of people in Canada got a sneak peak of the latest Harry Potter book, but a British Columbia Supreme Court judge ordered them to keep it a secret.

The book was sold to 14 people who snagged a copy of J.K. Rowlings' much anticipated "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," when it landed on shelves last Thursday at a local grocery store.

The book, officially set for release this coming Saturday, has been shrouded in secrecy and its debut has been highly orchestrated to enable everyone readers, reviewers, even publishers to crack it open all at once. It's the sixth in Rowling's seven-book fantasy series on the young wizard.

But the store slipped up and sold 14 copies before realizing its mistake.

"It was an inadvertent error on behalf of one of our staff," said Geoff Wilson, a spokesman for the Real Canadian Superstore. He said the books were quickly removed.


Justice Kristi Gill last Saturday ordered customers not to talk about the book, copy it, sell it or even read it before it is officially released at 12:01 a.m. July 16.

The order also compels them to return the novel to the publisher, Raincoast Book Distribution Ltd., until the official release. At that time it will be returned to them.

As an added incentive, Raincoast will include Rowling's autograph and a gift pack.




http://entertainment.tv.yahoo.com/entnews/...2120170000.html

Wish they were sold by accident here!!

JennRose
Oh, I feel bad for the person who stocked them! You know (s)he's catching hell for it.
BurnSide
Yeah no kidding, especially from all the people it was sold to who have to return them.
Seriously though, it's just common kindness to at least keep it a secret.
star_child
Lucky mistake! But I would be very annoyed if the plot was leaked.

I am away doing my Silver Duke of Edinburgh Award practice on the day it is released, I am so angry angry.gif
BurnSide
You can wait a day. laugh.gif
__Kratos__
Those lucky *!!! I wouldn't have returned my copy! I would have read it! grin2.gif
BurnSide
Damn right me too! And i'd be blabbin on here about how i got it a week earlier than all ya'll!
AztecInca
Its going to be bloody pandamonium where I work on Saturday and I want to go buy a different book, but since I`m working for 5 hours first I doubt I`ll get anywhere near the bookstores!
MadEyePixie
I wouldnt have returned the book either! I just need to keep telling myself...3 more days, just 3 more days. Squee! bounce.gif
ABOTU
ahh I am going at midnight to the nearest Barnes And Nobles, just like for the last book! ha ha my brother stayed home last time and watched the news. The people read the last page of the fifth book on TV! ha ha the problem is, all of the fanatics come dressed up. Good thing is, they brought in a camera and I was on TV! yes go me! I CANT WAIT! AHH ! anybody who finishes before everybody else, try your best not to give it away! but I warn you, I read fast, and I don't know if I can promise not to give it away thumbsup.gif
Bizeebutt
so its officially out on Saturday morning?! Why am I the last one to hear about this stuff?! : dontgetit.gif
riotboy555
Wow, that sucks for the store. They'll probably not be allowed to sell the next book in the series. sad.gif
__Kratos__
QUOTE(BurnSide @ Jul 12 2005, 03:26 PM)
Damn right me too! And i'd be blabbin on here about how i got it a week earlier than all ya'll!
[right][snapback]729934[/snapback][/right]


I thought of this thread while in the book section today... no luck though. sad.gif
BurnSide
Rumours are now spreading around that it was done on purpose. For some unknown reason. Publicity for the book i guess.
MadEyePixie
I wouldnt think that the book would need any more publicity. It mean...it is Harry Potter after all.

Two days...just two more days!
__Kratos__
Boy gets brief look at new 'Harry Potter'

Lucky little brat! disgust.gif
Shivel
I envy those 14 bastards..I can not wait until it comes out.

I'm going to read it as slowly as possible to make it last longer. I often do this with books I don't want to end. tongue.gif
Janiel
QUOTE(__Kratos__ @ Jul 12 2005, 10:25 AM)
Those lucky *!!! I wouldn't have returned my copy! I would have read it! grin2.gif
[right][snapback]729930[/snapback][/right]

QUOTE(BurnSide @ Jul 12 2005, 10:26 AM)
Damn right me too! And i'd be blabbin on here about how i got it a week earlier than all ya'll!
[right][snapback]729934[/snapback][/right]

But if you guys had done that, you wouldn't get the signing from the author and the gift pack. tongue.gif
BurnSide
Wouldn't have gotten that anyway if i bought it at the right time. laugh.gif
Neo2005
From welfare to zillionare.
From poor to snob.

I really don;t like J.K. Rowlling.
BurnSide
Because she worked hard and made a ton of money, and you didn't? tongue.gif
Neo2005
Anyone can right a book.

But i don;t like her becuase she is such a snob.
Anyone who has been at the bottom of the barrel in terms of money should be a little more mindfull of her past.Just because she has tons of money doesn;t mean she has to be all high and mighty.
BurnSide
No, it takes an awful lot of skill and time to write a book. If anyone can do it, why aren't you making millions?

Snobbiness comes with making big bucks i'm afraid. My mother and i used to live in one room together we were so poor, but she worked hard and made some good money, and also married good money, laugh.gif and now she's a little snobish. Which i hate in her, but meh, if you've earned it why not.
ABOTU
ahh, but think of the book, and not the author. You cannot tell me that you are not looking foward to getting it. and if you're not looking foward to it.... gunsmilie.gif ha ha ha
Neo2005
Unfortuantly the money can go to anyone's head very quickly.
OneEye
Hahaha, I get to read the book before all of you! My mom owns a very small bookstore, and she preordered 6 copies, one for us, one for a friend, and the others for anyone else who wants them.

Don't worry though. I promise I won't read it until midnight.

I'm completely serious.

Nah, I'll open the book up a crack and post the first sentence as soon as I get it. tongue.gif

No, I'm not evil, so I won't.
ABOTU
ahh! I hate you! okay, here's what you are going to do. You are going to make a thread that is the whole book, and write each word as you read it! Do it now! before I go crazy!!
Talon
QUOTE
or even read it before it is officially released at 12:01 a.m. July 16.


And how do they intend to enforce this rolleyes.gif

QUOTE
especially from all the people it was sold to who have to return them.



I don't think they have to, the order just 'compels' them to return it, not enforce. Ultimatley, how are they going to track them down anyway if they used cash, and are they reallly going to waste public money and time prosectuting them, if they don't? I doubt it.
Talon
Fans await Harry Potter release
Harry Potter fans around the world are eagerly awaiting the release of the sixth book about the boy wizard.
Bookshops in 15 countries - including the UK, US, Brazil and the Philippines - will open at 0001 BST on Saturday.

Author JK Rowling is to read from the book, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, at Edinburgh Castle at midnight, in front of 70 children.

All the children won competitions to report on the event on behalf of newspapers from across the globe.

The cub reporters will be collected from a reception at the City Chambers by 12 carriages drawn by black horses adorned with black ostrich plumes.

Fire-eaters and jugglers will line the Royal Mile as they proceed to the castle, whose Queen Anne building has been dressed to resemble the entrance hall of Harry's school Hogwarts.

Rowling will make her appearance from behind a secret panel to read from the first chapter of her book, a copy of which will be given to each child.


Live footage of the reading will be shown on a large screen on the esplanade outside for more than a thousand other youngsters.

The same footage will be broadcast live at Barnes and Noble bookshop in Manhattan, where actor Jim Dale - who reads the audio versions of Rowling's books in the US - will host a launch party.

It is one of more than 5,000 that will take place across the States.

The biggest will be held at Mount Prospect, Illinois, where more than 10,000 fans will participate in a range of Potter-related activities.

Book chain Waterstone's is expecting 300,000 people to queue at its UK stores to be among the first to buy the book.

Attractions include face-painting, magic shows and reduced Potter performances - condensing the first five volumes into five minutes.

In New York, the world's biggest toy shop - Toys R Us in Times Square - will be transformed into the Hogwarts Academy.


Other countries, including India, will also hold events to mark the occasion.

In Australia and New Zealand, the choreographed release will take place mid-morning local time.

Saturday is expected to become one the biggest book-buying days of the year, with 10 million copies set aside for the US market.

It is anticipated that more than two million copies will be sold in the UK alone.

The Royal Mail says it has been inundated with internet orders for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

'internet history'

More than 150 extra trucks will distribute copies from retailer warehouses to 1,400 delivery offices in order to ensure that customers are not disappointed in the morning.

"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is set to make internet, as well as literary, history by becoming the biggest-selling single item ordered online for delivery on a single day," said a spokesman.

But the run-up to the book's release - the penultimate in the series - has not been problem-free.

One boy in the US, Sylum Mastropaolo, was sold a copy of the book by mistake on Monday, but he and his parents returned it to the shop.

A court order was issued in Canada banning the disclosure of the story's contents after a number of the books were sold by mistake.

And in the latest leak, a man who claims to have bought the book in a shop in Indianapolis has described the plot as "shocking".

Excitement mounting

Rumoured plot developments include the return of Moaning Myrtle the ghost, the reappearance of Lord Voldemort's assistant Wormtail and a romance for Harry.

There is also speculation that a recurring character will be killed off, with Hagrid, Professor Dumbledore and Harry's Uncle Vernon among those tipped for the chop.

With excitement mounting for the book's publication, Chancellor Gordon Brown has said he thinks Rowling has "done more for literacy around the world than any single human being".

Mr Brown and Works and Pensions Secretary David Blunkett have contributed to an ITV1 programme being broadcast on Friday evening to mark the publication of The Half-Blood Prince.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/ente...rts/4683503.stm
Talon
Here's some backstory..... not that I think anyone in this thread really needs it tongue.gif


Potted Harry for beginners
The eagerly-anticipated sixth Harry Potter will be released on 16 July. JK Rowling has said that Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is the penultimate book in the wizarding saga.

If you have not read books one to five, BBC News has summarised the main plot threads for you below.

Warning: this contains plot spoilers.


HARRY POTTER AND THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE


Harry Potter lives in the cupboard under the stairs of his awful aunt and uncle. He receives a letter from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry telling him he is a wizard and inviting him to start school.

Harry learns that his dead parents who he thought had been killed in a car accident when he was a baby, were killed by evil wizard Lord Voldemort. His father James was a wizard and his mother Lily was a witch. Harry survived with only a scar on his head and he weakened the dark wizard.

Harry catches the Hogwarts Express from platform 9¾, and first meets schoolmates Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, who are put with him into Gryffindor house.

Harry learns the sport of Quidditch, makes instant enemies of Professor Snape and Draco Malfoy, and learns about the Philosopher's Stone, which is guarded by a three-headed dog.

As Harry races to get to the stone before Voldemort uses it to restore his power, he discovers the dark wizard has taken over the body of Professor Quirrell.

He is helped by the Mirror of Erised, which reflects the onlookers' desire, and Harry is shown the image of his parents.

As Voldemort tries to take the stone to restore him to power he is thwarted by Harry and disappears.
HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS


Back at his aunt and uncle's house Harry meets Dobby the house elf, who warns him not to return to Hogwarts because there is danger ahead. Harry awakes from a bad dream to feel his scar burning.

Harry is whisked back to the Weasleys' home in a flying Ford Anglia to escape the Dursleys before returning to Hogwarts.

Harry, Ron and Hermione learn about the Chamber of Secrets, but Harry is one of the only people who can gain access to it.

Hagrid is wrongly accused of opening the chamber, allowing a creature to terrorise the school.

The diary of Tom Riddle, a former Hogwart's pupil, is uncovered and Harry discovers that Riddle's thoughts are magically contained in it. It is later revealed that Riddle became Voldemort.

Harry and the others discover the secret of entering the Chamber of Secrets and he and Ron go to the rescue again.

As Harry is about to be attacked he is saved by Dumbledore's phoenix, and by damaging the diary Voldemort is once again defeated.
HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN


Infamous convict Sirius Black escapes from Azkaban prison and is suspected of wanting to kill Harry in order to bring back Voldemort.

Dementor guards are brought into Hogwarts to protect Harry, but he feels peculiar in their presence.

Traitor Peter Pettigrew, who led Voldemort to Harry's parents hiding place so they could be killed, is uncovered at Hogwarts. He is the one who really committed the crime for which Black, a school friend of James Potter, was imprisoned.

Harry learns that when his parents were killed, his mother Lily sacrificed herself to save her young son, creating a protection which Voldemort could not break.

Black reveals he is Harry's godfather and has been trying to protect him. Pettigrew escapes before being exposed as a criminal, so Black is forced to go on the run.
HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE


Harry's fourth year at Hogwarts sees him once again in danger as Voldemort teams up with Pettigrew to bring the evil wizard back to power, placing an insider in Hogwarts.

Harry attends the Quidditch World Cup finals with the Weasleys, but the Dark Mark that foretells of Voldemort's henchmen, the death eaters, appears.

Once back at Hogwarts the school hosts the dangerous Triwizard Tournament and Harry is called to take part.

Harry once again dreams about Voldemort and awakes screaming from the scar on his forehead.

Sirius Black writes to Harry to tell him is returning and they meet to discuss Harry's problems.

Voldemort captures Harry and tries to kill him, but Voldemort's past victims are released, including Harry's parents, and help the young wizard defeat the enemy.

Professor Dumbledore realises he must prepare for a battle with Voldemort, who now has restored power, as the pupils end the term at Hogwarts knowing there is more danger ahead.
HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX


With Lord Voldemort risen to physical form once again, a secret society - known as the Order of the Phoenix - has reformed and is keeping an eye on Voldemort's followers. The Order includes the Weasley family and Harry's Godfather, Sirius Black.

Harry goes to a hearing at the Ministry of Magic for a disciplinary hearing about using magic outside school. He is acquitted and allowed to return to school thanks to Professor Dumbledore, who speaks on his behalf.

During his fifth year at Hogwarts School, 15-year-old Harry is in full-blown adolescence, complete with teenage rage, a schoolboy crush and a growing sense of rebellion.

Dumbledore tells Harry to take lessons in Occlumency, the magical defence of the mind against external penetration, from Snape. During one of the lessons, Harry discovers his father was cruel and just as arrogant as Snape had always said.

Harry and Hermione discover Hagrid has a giant tied up at his hut. He is Hagrid's brother, Grawp, and he asks them to look after Grawp if something happens to him.

Ron is made keeper of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, but the team's triumph is not enough to take their minds off the looming Ordinary Wizarding Levels (OWL) exams.

Harry has a vision that Sirius is in trouble and goes to the Department of Mysteries, where he thinks he will find him - but it is a trap and the Death Eaters are waiting for them to arrive.

Sirius arrives with Lupin, Moody, Tonks, and Kingsley to save them, but Sirius is killed in the ensuing fight.

Professor Dumbledore tells Harry about a prophecy that could apply to him or his friend Neville Longbottom. This child must battle with Voldemort and either must die at the hand of the other, for neither can live while the other survives.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/ente...rts/2985582.stm
Walken
"Those lucky *!!! I wouldn't have returned my copy! I would have read it! grin2.gif"

I'f have been on the next ship to Canada. laugh.gif
OneEye
QUOTE(A Believer of the Unexplained @ Jul 14 2005, 09:55 PM)
ahh! I hate you! okay, here's what you are going to do. You are going to make a thread that is the whole book, and write each word as you read it! Do it now! before I go crazy!!
[right][snapback]734562[/snapback][/right]


Naaaah...
OneEye
Awww crap, you guys lucked out, they won't give the books to us until tomorrow, and the post office doesn't open until 7.

Oh well, at least I get to read it.
Talon
I feel sorry for you North Americans. We already have it, had my copy now for 4 hours.
OneEye
Pbpht...
Paranoid Android
Bought my copy about 11 hours ago. It's great thumbsup.gif
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