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JULY 1, 2004 at 1:51 AM
Posted by CHEESER
Source: HPANA
After making international headlines and enduring the wrath
of Harry Potter author JK Rowling herself, the person responsible for releasing a false title -- Harry Potter and the Pillar of Storgé -- for the series' sixth book offers an apology and explanation in an interview with HPANA.
The real title of book 6 -- Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince -- popped up on Rowling's official site just days after the hoax (perhaps because of the hoax?). It has since been confirmed by the author.
The prankster, a 19-year-old male student at the University of Florida, speaks:
Firstly I would like to offer two apologies. I owe an apology to all of the Harry Potter fans that I lied to; I never thought my hoax would go so far and I felt awful when some of you got so excited about knowing the title. I am sorry. I also would like to apologize to J.K. Rowling, as I did an awful thing by impersonating her. I consider her a literary genius.
In the end, the hoax was all in good fun. I thought the title was rather funny and had hoped that at least some people would get a good chuckle out of it.
And now, explained in full, here's what happened -- straight from the horse's mouth:
Do you have any official connection to JKR, Warner Bros., or the book publishers?
No, I have no connection to them whatsoever.
What made you think of doing this, and specifically, the timing of it?
I had recently finished a re-reading of Order of the Phoenix and it got me excited about the Harry Potter series again. As a result of that excitement, I stumbled upon JKR's website for the first time and was fascinated by the unopenable door. I also thought it was great that she was dispelling some of the rumors about the series. Somehow I put two and two together and the hoax clicked in my mind.
The timing of the event was never planned; it was simple dumb luck on my part that I released the hoax at the start of a weekend so that it [became] more effective.
How did you do it?
A hobby of mine is computer graphics/video editing, so I knew I could produce a realistic video. I realized that this was exactly what I needed to make the hoax believable.
I used two programs: Adobe Photoshop and Adobe After Effects. In Photoshop I edited and manipulated pictures from JKR's site, and in After Effects I animated them into the finished video. I did not use [Macromedia] Flash at all. The blue bars (see image) at the bottom and top are a result of me changing the aspect ratio of the video without distorting it so that I could compress it into an MPEG file. I whipped the video up in about two hours.
As far as the "message" was concerned, I just tried to mimic JKR's style as much as possible. I came up with the title Pillar of Storgé, trying to formulate something with a hidden meaning that people would be able to figure out. It's an ugly title, but I'm quite fond of it.
What did you expect as a result of the hoax? Did you think it would receive the worldwide press it garnered?
I NEVER expected this much attention. I even wondered if anyone would believe it at all. My original goal of the hoax was that a rumor about the title would slowly creep through the Harry Potter community (much like the Green Flame Torch rumor), and that JKR would eventually dispel it as a myth (perhaps releasing some real information while doing so) on her site.
I never wanted the attention of all the Harry Potter fans; there was a clear and specific reason for the hoax and it involved the attention of only one woman. I was highly amused by the fervent guessing of the meaning of the title by eager fans and by the international press that it received.
Finally, a closing thought from the anonymous mountebank: "If I had not started the hoax, would we all know the real title to book 6 right now?" Read The Leaky Cauldron's analysis of that question. In the meantime, consider what an astute reader over there observed: Rowling said on her site that "as a little bonus, and compensation for having been messed around by Mr. or Ms. Storgé, I shall tell you one thing without making you shift any bricks at all: the HBP [half blood prince] is neither Harry nor Voldemort."
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Mediwitch
Points: 2608
nickyole1 says:
Goodness, I didn't think it was funny! I can't believe that someone would actually do that to the millions of Harry Potter fans out there, yet alone, have fun with it. I am so mad at this person. He is such an idiot.
Posted Jul 1, 2004 at 5:05 PM EST
Student
Points: 208
mertonfanatic says:
I'm more bemused than anything else.
Posted Jul 1, 2004 at 5:18 PM EST
Prefect
Points: 330
alicia marie says:
That is so silly! Why would one person go though all of that trouble just for a hoax? I think that i am the only person now who dose not really like the title of the new book. I ALMOST wish it was the Pillar of Storge or something like that, just becuz that is so unique and different. But maybe the Half Blood Prince will fit with the book really well, and the title of the book will probably grow on me! I just cannot wait for it to come out so I can read the new book, I bet it is going to be the best yet!
Posted Jul 1, 2004 at 5:33 PM EST
Prefect
Points: 305
chrzan says:
I agree, I think it was all in good fun. I mean everyone else spreads rumors, should we condemn him just because his got more publicity than ours did. The man is bright. He might have gone a little far, but who cares he had fun, we had fun trying to guess what it meant, and we know the title to the sixth book. In other words what is there to complain about!!!
Posted Jul 1, 2004 at 5:37 PM EST
Magical Music Professor
Points: 4837
MagicalMusicDreamer says:
Well, I have to credit the guy for apologizing. A lot of people can't do that. He is obviously very clever, so I hope he turns around and becomes a good, not dark, wizard. Dark wizards can never progress as far as good wizards.
Posted Jul 1, 2004 at 5:47 PM EST
Witch
Points: 897
yesimadork says:
actually I had him send me the video, and I was going to send him an e mail back, but the email wasnt there when I went back....ack...I prolly deleted it on accident. thats so dumb, it looked so real! but I really dont care we have the real title now anyway and its funner to talk about! weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Posted Jul 1, 2004 at 5:59 PM EST
Prefect
Points: 348
Hermiluna says:
He wanted to get the attention of "only one woman"? Does he mean JKR herself?
Posted Jul 1, 2004 at 6:15 PM EST
Professor
Points: 1086
DRU587 says:
I just think it was a simple hoax that got thrown way out of proportion. We all do stupid things that usually backfire on us the way this has on him. BUt I mean, at least now we know the title and who it does not refer to. And i mean.. u couldn't ever really think it was harry in the first place. I mean, if it had referred to harry then HP and the Half Blood Prince would be like saying Harry Potter and Harry Potter. I really wanna know who it really is though, because whoever it is probably plays a critical role in the last two novels.
Posted Jul 1, 2004 at 6:20 PM EST
Animagus
Points: 19544
Sirius-Ella says:
OH, so Jo didn't pull this prank herself? Some punk did? Hahahaha! WOW I bow to him for making everyone believe it!! I didn't thats for sure! I swear I didn't ;)
Posted Jul 1, 2004 at 6:42 PM EST
Order of Merlin, 4th Class
Points: 1217
mahaliah says:
Interesting. I didn['t think the person who started this would come forward. Even more to apologize. Weird. Anyway, at least that helped us get the title.
Posted Jul 1, 2004 at 7:11 PM EST
Witch
Points: 849
*SkyHighandFallen says:
well good on them for apologizing. Took alot of guts. They should at least get credit for that.
Posted Jul 1, 2004 at 7:15 PM EST
Prefect
Points: 397
Tarotx says:
I don't see how it was cruel. He was having fun and played us all. Plus he can show his work to a future employer.
It just teaches us all to be weary and caution about intermet stuff is a good thing.
Posted Jul 1, 2004 at 8:15 PM EST
Witch
Points: 608
LecHaRry says:
i agree that if he hadn't started that joke of his, we wouldn't know what would be the title of book 6, right??? i still didn't like it at all, i mean, for me, he didn't respect JKR's decision on when to tell the public the title of her next book...
but he did say sorry, and JKR forgave him, so he's allright for me now...
JKR d'best....
Posted Jul 1, 2004 at 8:35 PM EST
Hufflepuff Princess
Points: 24832
Waddi Wasi says:
I absolutely loathe you, "19-year-old male student at the University of Florida"! You will burrrnnnnnnnnnnnnnn for this!
Posted Jul 1, 2004 at 9:04 PM EST
Muggle
Points: 1
the_mixer says:
Rock on, dude! That is the scam of the century in HP fanom.
Posted Jul 1, 2004 at 9:13 PM EST
Professor
Points: 1166
ThelostWeasley13 says:
What a butt. I can't believe what he did. I wonder who is the HBP. I thought that it maybe could have been Harry but who knows who it is.
Posted Jul 1, 2004 at 9:34 PM EST
Professor
Points: 1186
Godric11 says:
If he didn't want attention and world wide notice...and that it was out of 'good fun'...why did they go to such extremes as to use Adobe and such to make it as beleivable as possible?...this person was very desperate.
Posted Jul 1, 2004 at 11:05 PM EST
Mediwitch
Points: 2608
nickyole1 says:
I totally agree with you, WaDDi WaSi. He needs to be loathed for messing with my mind, and the minds of the millions of HP fans out there.
Posted Jul 1, 2004 at 11:37 PM EST
Witch
Points: 795
Emma Look Alike says:
oH MY GOSH! i CANT BELIVE HE WOULD DO SUCH A THING, HOW AWFUL/
Posted Jul 2, 2004 at 12:32 AM EST
Professor
Points: 1185
sassafraz says:
How do we know they interviewed the 'real' hoaxer?? It could be someone trying to take all the credit! A hoax on the hoaxer, if you will.
Posted Jul 2, 2004 at 12:37 AM EST
Order of Merlin, 2nd Class
Points: 1659
Dobbygirl says:
At first I was a little upset. I don't think he meant it to go so far though.
Posted Jul 2, 2004 at 12:50 AM EST
Witch
Points: 548
hogwarts_girl_4ever says:
At least he came forward and admitted to it. That's good, but i think it was a bit rude of him to do that. He went SO far just for some stupid prank. Well, anyway, I'm glad we all know the TRUE title. I really do wonder who the half-blood prince is.....hmmmm.....
Posted Jul 2, 2004 at 1:25 AM EST
Witch
Points: 769
joeni orange says:
I think what he did was kinda funny.It was a very "Maurder" thing to do or something that maybe Fred&George would have tried to pull.It was all in good fun.But come on,your guys have to admit,the boys' clever.....
Posted Jul 2, 2004 at 2:42 AM EST
Squib
Points: 171
Nymphadora_Tonks says:
ok first of all.
you idiot...
second,
ok great job..
But that was a stupid thing to do .And i am glad you spoke the truth.I forgive you *wink*
Posted Jul 2, 2004 at 4:52 AM EST
Muggle
Points: 73
Efteling says:
First, thinking his hoax would get no attention was either a lie or very naive. Look at all the things he did to make sure it would get much attention. Starting the hoax in the weekend is one of them. Duplicating JKR's style, getting the door to open in the first place, after which a lot of people tried to do the same thing. He knew that in its first week (or was it the first day) 17 million people had checked out jkr.com. Then he says he didn't think it would get much attention. And then he tries to divert our attention from that fact by saying that he actually did us a favor by breaking in because now we know the title of book 6 and a small detail about it. Personally, I hadn't minded being in the dark about that for just a bit longer.
Secondly, I don't find his reasons for doing the hoax very convincing. He says he was excited about the series again after book 5. Nearly everyone who checks out jkr.com is excited about the series. Jkr.com isn't just any website. It is supposed to be an authority on authentic HP news. Messing with that is bound to get much attention. Unfortunately, there are still people out there who conciously decide to deceive millions.
Posted Jul 2, 2004 at 5:01 AM EST
Head Girl
Points: 401
munnii says:
Lauging out loud....that was great! To be honest I actually believed it, and I thought how could JK give us a title like that?! No, seriously I agree with him that if he hadn't made that title JK would not have given us the title this early! Yeay and BOO at the same time!
Posted Jul 2, 2004 at 6:45 AM EST
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