An 800-word, untitled short story, unofficially known as the Harry Potter prequel, was written by

J. K. Rowling Joanne Rowling ( ; born 31 July 1965), known by her pen name , is a British author and philanthropist. She is the author of ''Harry Potter'', a seven-volume fantasy novel series published from 1997 to 2007. The series has List of best-sell ...

in 2008 as part of a charity auction event, for which it fetched £25,000. It was published as part of ''What's Your Story Postcard Collection''. The story recounts an encounter with Muggle police experienced by

Sirius Black Sirius Black is a fictional character in the ''Harry Potter'' series of novels by J. K. Rowling. Sirius was first mentioned briefly in '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'' as a wizard who lent Rubeus Hagrid a flying motorbike shortly a ...

and James Potter, taking place before the events of the ''

Harry Potter ''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven Fantasy literature, fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young Magician (fantasy), wizard, Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, and his friends ...

'' series. The manuscript was stolen in 2017, and has not been located as of 2024. Th
full manuscript
can be found at

MuggleNet MuggleNet is the Internet's oldest and largest '' Harry Potter'' and Wizarding World fansite. MuggleNet was founded in 1999. It has expanded over the years to include a handful of partner podcasts, a separate book blog, over half a dozen publis ...

, a Harry Potter fan website.

Synopsis

Two

Muggle In J. K. Rowling's ''Harry Potter'' series, a Muggle () is a person who lacks any sort of magical ability and was not born in a magical family. Muggles can also be described as people who do not have any magical blood inside them. It differs fr ...

policemen chase a speeding

motorbike A motorcycle (motorbike, bike; uni (if one-wheeled); trike (if three-wheeled); quad (if four-wheeled)) is a lightweight private 1-to-2 passenger personal motor vehicle steered by a handlebar from a saddle-style seat. Motorcycle designs var ...

into a dead-end alley, cornering its riders: Sirius Black and James Potter. As the policemen confront the pair, three men fly down the alley on broomsticks. James and Sirius magically upend the policemen's car and the broomsticks crash into it, rendering their riders insensible. As the policemen clutch at each other in fear, Sirius and James return to their motorbike, which flies away. Rowling concludes the story card with the words, "From the prequel I am not working on – but that was fun!"

History

Background

On 11 June 2008,

Waterstones Waterstones Booksellers Limited, trading as Waterstones (formerly Waterstone's), is a British bookselling, book retailer based in London, England, owned by the American investment group Elliott Investment Management. It operates 311 shops, ma ...

held a charity event called "What's Your Story?". Thirteen authors, including Rowling, were invited to write stories on an A5 card for

auction An auction is usually a process of Trade, buying and selling Good (economics), goods or Service (economics), services by offering them up for Bidding, bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from th ...

with proceeds going to

English PEN Founded in 1921, English PEN is one of the world's first non-governmental organisations and among the first international bodies advocating for human rights. English PEN was the founding centre of PEN International, a worldwide writers' associa ...

and Dyslexia Action. Rowling's card was sold for £25,000 to Hira Digpal, president of Tokyo-based investment-banking consulting company Red-33. The total raised from the sale of all thirteen cards was £47,150.

Theft

In April 2017, the manuscript of the prequel was stolen during a burglary in Birmingham. Rowling tweeted about the incident, asking fans not to buy the work if offered it, and West Midlands Police appealed for information. The burglary victim told the BBC that the work was "priceless" and had the potential to raise money for additional good causes, if it were to be sold again legitimately. "I don't think whoever took it or stole it or who might purchase it will really understand the benefits to people out there, what it can do," he said. "If it's destroyed, or if it's lost, it's a great loss." , there is no reporting about the whereabouts of the manuscript.

Footnotes

References

External links

Official statement on J.K. Rowling's official website
29 May 2008
Link
to story at Mugglenet {{J. K. Rowling

Prequel A prequel is a literary, dramatic or cinematic work whose story precedes that of a previous work, by focusing on events that occur before the original narrative. A prequel is a work that forms part of a backstory to the preceding work. The term ...

2008 short stories Fantasy short stories Prequel novels