# Harry Potter 7 hacked? Or marketting ploy? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 21, 2007, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-7-hacked-or-marketting-ploy/408827 "2007-06-21T09:35:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Doug\_Bowe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@Doug\_Bowe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_Bowe)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-7-hacked-or-marketting-ploy/408827/21 "2007-06-21T22:18:30Z")
Scholastic _did_issue a reply. They won’t affirm or deny (probably for reasons Arnold gave). But they did say there’s a lot of junk flying around the internet and to consider this one more theory. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-7-hacked-or-marketting-ploy/408827/22 "2007-06-21T22:26:07Z")
I _acquired_ a copy of what is purported to be HPDH a couple of months ago–the length is what I’d expect of the real thing and the initial chapter or so that I read is very consistent with Rowling’s style, in short it might very well be a leaked copy, especially considering the source I acquired it from. I refuse to read it because doing so would spoil the fun. I’m keeping it, though, to compare with the real one when it comes out just to see if I _could_ have read it months early… ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-7-hacked-or-marketting-ploy/408827/23 "2007-06-21T22:38:53Z")
I heard from this guy who knew this guy who knows this guy that: Everyone dies when an asteroid hits the earth. ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-7-hacked-or-marketting-ploy/408827/24 "2007-06-21T22:57:43Z")
[QUOTE=Shirley Ujest] I heard from this guy who knew this guy who knows this guy that: Everyone dies when an asteroid hits the earth. [/QUOTE] Rocks fall, everyone dies. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-7-hacked-or-marketting-ploy/408827/25 "2007-06-21T23:33:55Z")
[QUOTE=Shoshana] Tonks is the only cool female character over the age of consent. [/QUOTE] Age of consent in the U.K. is 16. That covers (hur hur) Hermoine, and Ginny too by the end of HP7. ---
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-7-hacked-or-marketting-ploy/408827/26 "2007-06-21T23:45:23Z")
[QUOTE=SmartAleq] I _acquired_ a copy of what is purported to be HPDH a couple of months ago–the length is what I’d expect of the real thing and the initial chapter or so that I read is very consistent with Rowling’s style, in short it might very well be a leaked copy, especially considering the source I acquired it from. I refuse to read it because doing so would spoil the fun. I’m keeping it, though, to compare with the real one when it comes out just to see if I _could_ have read it months early… [/QUOTE] Is [this](http://www.siye.co.uk/siye/viewstory.php?sid=10917&chapter=1) the chapter you read? That’s the first chapter of a fanfic that somebody(not the author of the fic) claimed to be the seventh book. ETA: > [@Quartz](#): > > Age of consent in the U.K. is 16. That covers (hur hur) Hermoine, and Ginny too by the end of HP7. Ginny will actually turn 16 in the first couple of chapters. Her birthday’s in August(the 12th IIRC). ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-7-hacked-or-marketting-ploy/408827/27 "2007-06-21T23:48:55Z")
> [@](#): > > Age of consent in the U.K. is 16. That covers (hur hur) Hermoine, and Ginny too by the end of HP7. Lovely for all of them, but since I can lose my license for “moral turpitude,” I’ll err on the side of caution if I ever have the opportunity to get it on with a fictional character. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2007, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-7-hacked-or-marketting-ploy/408827/28 "2007-06-22T00:02:37Z")
[QUOTE=Shirley Ujest] I heard from this guy who knew this guy who knows this guy that: Everyone dies when an asteroid hits the earth. [/QUOTE] No, no, I know the real answer: [SPOILER]Harry’s been a ghost all along! Or R.A.B. is the name of Harry’s sled. I forget which.[/SPOILER] ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2007, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-7-hacked-or-marketting-ploy/408827/29 "2007-06-22T00:35:58Z")
[QUOTE=Rysto] Is [this](http://www.siye.co.uk/siye/viewstory.php?sid=10917&chapter=1) the chapter you read? That’s the first chapter of a fanfic that somebody(not the author of the fic) claimed to be the seventh book. [/QUOTE] Nope, the one I have is significantly different from that one–which I also got bundled with the one that might be real. There was some other stuff in the bundle which was completely obvious garbage–but the one rang pretty real. Eh, I’ll know in a month or so! ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2007, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-7-hacked-or-marketting-ploy/408827/30 "2007-06-22T02:15:41Z")
[QUOTE=Shoshana] Tonks is the only cool female character over the age of consent. [/QUOTE] Lupin is cool–oops, never mind. Next time I’ll read for content…\ ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2007, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-7-hacked-or-marketting-ploy/408827/31 "2007-06-22T12:31:50Z")
[QUOTE=Kythereia] No, no, I know the real answer: [SPOILER]Harry’s been a ghost all along! Or R.A.B. is the name of Harry’s sled. I forget which.[/SPOILER] [/QUOTE] Well, _I_ heard that Voldemort was really Harry’s father. Hermione is his sister and Ron gets frozen in time. R.A.B., is indeed a sled. ---
**Author:** ![MN\_Maenad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e95f7d/32.png) [@MN\_Maenad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MN_Maenad)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2007, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-7-hacked-or-marketting-ploy/408827/32 "2007-06-22T12:59:25Z")
Or The whole thing was imagined by one of Neville’s parents. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-7-hacked-or-marketting-ploy/408827.md?page=1)