Series Completion

In December 2005, Rowling stated on her web site, "2006 will be the year when I write the final book in the Harry Potter series." Since then she has been regularly updating readers through her online regarding the progress of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, with the release date of 21 July 2007.

The book itself was finished on 11 January 2007 in the Balmoral Hotel, Edinburgh, where she scrawled a message on the back of a bust of Hermes. It read: "JK Rowling finished writing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in this room (652) on 11 January 2007."
Rowling herself has stated that the last chapter of the seventh book (in fact, the epilogue) was completed "in something like 1990".

Evolution Of Harry Potter

Despite Rowling's statement that she did not have any particular age group in mind when she began to write the Harry Potter books, the publishers initially targeted them at children age nine to eleven. On the eve of publishing, Joanne Rowling was asked by her publishers to adopt a more gender-neutral pen name, in order to appeal to the male members of this age group, fearing that they would not be interested in reading a novel they knew to be written by a woman. She elected to use J. K. Rowling (Joanne Kathleen Rowling), using her grandmother's name as her second name, because she has no middle name.

The first Harry Potter book was published in the United Kingdom by Bloomsbury in July 1997 and in the United States by Scholastic in September of 1998, but not before Rowling had received $105,000 for the American rights – an unprecedented amount for a children's book by a then unknown author. Fearing that American readers would not associate the word "philosopher" with a magical theme (as a Philosopher's Stone is alchemy-related), Scholastic insisted that the book be given the title Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone for the American market.

Courtesy: JKRowling.com

Origins Of Harry Potter

In 1990, J. K. Rowling was on a crowded train from Manchester to London when the idea for Harry suddenly formed in her mind. Rowling gives an account of the experience on her website saying:

"  I had been writing almost continuously since the age of six but I had never been so excited about an idea before. I simply sat and thought, for four (delayed train) hours, and all the details bubbled up in my brain, and this scrawny, black-haired, bespectacled boy who didn't know he was a wizard became more and more real to me."

In 1995, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was completed and the manuscript was sent off to prospective agents. The second agent she tried, Christopher Little, offered to represent her and sent the manuscript to Bloomsbury. After eight other publishers had rejected Philosopher's Stone, Bloomsbury offered Rowling a £2,500 advance for its publication.

Harry Potter Past

The plot summary goes thus. The story of Harry Potter opens with the celebrations of a usually secretive wizarding world. This world is celebrating something that has never happened before. This has connections to their history and their tormentor. For many years, it had been terrorised by the evil wizard, Lord Voldemort. The previous night, on 31 October, Voldemort discovers the Potter family's hidden refuge. He then proceeds to kill Harry Potter's parents Lily and James Potter. Continuing his carnage, he tries to kill Harry Potter too. But does Harry Potter die? No! when Valdermort attempts to murder infant Harry Potter, the Avada Kedavra killing curse he casts rebounds upon him. Voldemort's body is destroyed, but his spirit survives: he is neither dead nor alive. Although young Harry Potter is saved the curse of the deathly spell, but is left with a distinctive lightning bolt-shaped scar on his forehead, the only physical sign of Voldemort's curse. Harry is the only known survivor of the killing curse, and Voldemort's mysterious defeat causes the wizarding community to dub Harry "The Boy Who Lived".

The Essence

The beauty of the whole series lies in the fact that each book chronicles one year in Harry's life, which is mostly spent at Hogwarts. There he learns to use magic and brew potions. This series of books would teach any adolescent or a teenager to go through the difficulties of life. The only difference is that Harry's problems lie in the world of fantasy. Harry also learns to overcome many magical, social, and emotional hurdles as he struggles through his adolescence, Voldemort's second rise to power, and the Ministry of Magic's corruption and incompetence. While facing all these obstacles, enemies and all sorts of odds, he keeps on making friends, loosing loved ones. In the end, after facing many obstacles, making countless friends, and losing loved ones, Harry Potter confronts the Dark Lord for the last time.

The Beginning

On November 1, Hagrid, a 'half-giant', delivers Harry to his only living relatives, the cruel and magic-phobic Dursleys, comprising Uncle Vernon, a bad-tempered uncle with hardly any neck; Aunt Petunia, a long-necked woman who appears to absolutely loathe Harry; and Dudley, their spoiled, overweight son. They attempt in vain to rid him of his magical powers, hide his magical heritage, and severely punish him after any strange occurrences.

However, as his eleventh birthday approaches, Harry has his first contact with the magical world when he receives letters from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, which are delivered by owls. However, his uncle intercepts the letters. On his birthday, Hagrid, Hogwarts' gamekeeper, appears and informs Harry that he is a wizard and has been invited to attend the school. Thus begins the journey of Harry Potter.

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Harry Potter Series

The Harry Potter series of books has spawned films, video games and Potter-themed merchandise. As of April 2007, the first six books in the seven book series have sold more than 325 million copies and have been translated into more than 64 languages. The seventh and last book in the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, was released on 21 July 2007. Publishers announced a record-breaking 12 million copies for the first print run in the U.S. alone.

The success of the novels has made Rowling the highest-earning novelist in history. English language versions of the books are published by Bloomsbury in the United Kingdom, Scholastic Press in the United States, Allen & Unwin in Australia and Raincoast Books in Canada.

Thus far, the first five books have been made into a series of motion pictures by Warner Bros. The sixth, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, has begun filming in September 2007, with a scheduled release of 21 November 2008.

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What Is Harry Potter

The heading probably should have been "Who is Harry Potter?" But in present times, Harry Potter has turned so much into a phenomenon, a child wizard of immense charm, a product of commercialisation, that it would be only appropriate to ask, "What is Harry Potter". Harry Potter, essentially, is a collection of seven books, or rather a heptalogy of fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The books chronicle the adventures of the eponymous adolescent wizard Harry Potter, together with his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. The story is mostly set at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, an academy for young wizards and witches. The central theme of the story revolves around Harry's conflict against the evil wizard Lord Voldemort, who killed Harry's parents in his quest to conquer the wizarding world. Since the release of the first novel Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in 1997, which was retitled Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in the United States, the books have gained immense popularity, critical acclaim and commercial success worldwide.

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Harry Potter e-Book Scam

As many of you will know from reputable Harry Potter fan sites who reported this story, a site called www.harrybooks.info (now closed) has been offering what it alleged to be an e-book version of 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince' – my thanks go to the Leaky Cauldron, in particular, for promptly warning fans what was going on.

You should NEVER trust any Harry Potter e-books offered for download from the internet or on P2P/file-trading networks. Setting aside the fact that these books are illegal (there are no authorised HP e-books to date), they may infect your computer with viruses, leave you vulnerable to the dangers of hacking and/or credit card fraud and may also contain content that has nothing to do with Harry Potter, to say the least.

I would bet the original manuscript of 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince' itself that this will not be the last attempt to con HP fans before the publication of book six on 16th July. Please, please protect yourselves, your computers and your credit cards and do not fall for these scams. The only genuine copies of Harry Potter remain the authorised traditional book or audio tapes/cassettes/CDs distributed through my publishers. Similarly, the only sources of release news you should trust are this website or official spokespeople such as representatives of my publishers or agent (details in 'Links' section). CONSTANT VIGILANCE!

(courtesy JKRowling.com)

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