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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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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
Squib
Points: 111
pureblood prince says:
What a shame! Now he had to apologize.. I bet he wouldn't apologize had it not been for JKR's anger 'cause it seemed he enjoyed the attention. Too bad....from fame to infamy.. :)
Posted Jul 2, 2004 at 6:49 AM EST
Witch
Points: 532
Ronald_Weasley says:
Oh come of it!!!!!Your taking this 2 seriously,really!!!!!
Just for the record that guy was a genius what he did from top to bottom was pure genius!!!
His intelligent and it was funny and I kind of like the Pillar of Storge more than HBP.
Posted Jul 2, 2004 at 7:49 AM EST
Witch
Points: 532
Ronald_Weasley says:
Don't take it so seriously!!Personally If I had the power to do all this I would have done it and don't deny guys you would do that 2.He chose to appologize he didn't have 2.He seems a polite person who tried 2 do a prank that actually worked and made a bighit then he confessed.
So DUH!!!!!To all you guys he's a genius!
Posted Jul 2, 2004 at 7:54 AM EST
Order of Merlin, 4th Class
Points: 1269
Leira the Hobbit says:
Well it's neat to read the story behind the hoax. I was telling a friend that I thought it was a REALLY great hoax if it weren't the truth!
Posted Jul 2, 2004 at 8:44 AM EST
Professor
Points: 1126
holtasaurus says:
I HATE HIM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! hOW DARE HE DO THIS TO US! OH My GOD! I AM SO MAD AT YOU!! he ruined everything... *cries*
Posted Jul 2, 2004 at 9:32 AM EST
Squib
Points: 175
half_blood_royalty says:
Well, I'm glad the prankster has the guts to admit his mistake... just don't do it again... anyway, i've been trying to shift the blocks but to no avail... can someone tell me how???
Posted Jul 2, 2004 at 9:45 AM EST
Head Boy
Points: 468
siriushp says:
The door is shut again....wonder if it will be the same way to get through it this time. I bet she will do soemthign other than bricks this time. Wonder what will be behind it though...release date?
Posted Jul 2, 2004 at 10:06 AM EST
Sirius Black's Widow
Points: 2476
DanielleG says:
I thik we should give the guy a break......he didnt really hurt anything....yeah it was an idiotic thing to do but he meant well....and I actually thought it was a good title!!
Posted Jul 2, 2004 at 10:08 AM EST
Professor
Points: 1147
Spirits*of*Fire says:
Although I was QUITE angry when I heard that some fool thought he could pull one on us & went to such lengths to do it. After reading his story, I can relate to being extremely into the HP series & wanting to know about the 6th book but I still feel like he went waaaaaay too far. I do give him some props for coming out & apologizing, it was a good & decent thing to do. I just wish he hadn't gone to such lengths to make us believe the crap he was dishing out.
Posted Jul 2, 2004 at 12:31 PM EST
Brightest Witch
Points: 3111
hermione_rox. says:
Oh, It was quite funny though- Harry Potter fans going mad because they thought they knew the title. But yes it was a bit of an idiotic joke. Never mind. We know the title, he has said sorry and thats that.
Posted Jul 2, 2004 at 12:49 PM EST
Order of Merlin, 2nd Class
Points: 1614
hermy-ninny712 says:
Shame on you! That person knows how sensitive all of us HP fans are right now! Offering false info is not a good thing to people who are ready to jump of a bridge to get some info on this book. Shame on YOU!!
Posted Jul 2, 2004 at 1:03 PM EST
Student
Points: 210
kachosweet says:
He's a silly person,you know?Going there and get a title after knowing that out there are million of fans waiting for that title to get known.At least he confront it and offer some apologies.What he did was huge,every informatic site was waiting for J.K. to confirm.He gives us a lesson don't get too excited with the first thing that you see. Hahaha,the appearences will lie.
Posted Jul 2, 2004 at 1:36 PM EST
Vampire
Points: 2939
Dansgirl34 says:
Personaly i think he got what he deserved from J.k. It was a mean thing to do to us harry potter fans. He did say sorry so i forgive him. But you have to admit hes good with computers.
Posted Jul 2, 2004 at 1:48 PM EST
Muggle
Points: 98
Romulus Lupin says:
Poor guy, still under 20 and already at least half of the world hates him,i accept your apology,"avada kadavra" hehehehehe........
Posted Jul 2, 2004 at 2:18 PM EST
Auror
Points: 2142
Red and Black says:
I think he apologized nicely and I have to say, good for him for doing it in front of loads of online fans. The Pillar of Storge was a good name though...
Posted Jul 2, 2004 at 2:22 PM EST
Auror
Points: 2391
HPN4eveRon says:
Serves him rite!!! That harry potter weirdo! gese...he needs to sort out his priorities...ahahah where have i heard that one before?
Posted Jul 2, 2004 at 4:57 PM EST
Mrs. Ronald Weasley
Points: 2606
hplover234 says:
As Hermione Granger would say......
WHAT AN IDIOT!!!!!!!!!!
How could you be so mean to J.K. Rowling like that and to all of her fans. That was a really mean and cruel joke to play. Next time think before you act.
Posted Jul 2, 2004 at 5:01 PM EST
Witch
Points: 668
katiemac86 says:
I'm glad he realized that he brought all our hopes up for no reason. It makes me really angry to think that people would do this, but hey, that's life.
I'm glad he apoligized though, it was the right thing to do!
Posted Jul 2, 2004 at 5:08 PM EST
Witch
Points: 685
DANADDICT89 says:
I also agree with what he said, "If I had not started the hoax, would we all know the real title to book 6 right now?" I guess we'll never know that, will we? I think the whole hoax was brilliant. He did an awesome job with the graphics, actually made everyone believe him. Personally, I like HIS title better. I am not quite fond of HBP. Sounds like a fairy tale to me. But anywhoo, he spilled what happened, down to the last bit. I give him props for being honest.
Posted Jul 2, 2004 at 5:47 PM EST
Witch
Points: 698
rain says:
hmm well yeah She said.. "compensation for having been messed around by Mr. or Ms. Storgé".. that doesn't mean he's the reason she released the title of the book at all.. that's utterly stupid for him to take credit for that.. I don't think it's a funny hoax whatsoever.. it simply isn't. He's a moron and shouldn't be taking credit for release of the real title - I don't think he was the reason at all, I think she felt it was just time to do it..
Posted Jul 2, 2004 at 6:26 PM EST
Lycanthropist for W.S.S.
Points: 3603
Alchemist 530 says:
Oh well, no serious harm done! All in fun, I'm sure... and we now know its NOT the right title, AND what the new title is... all's well that ends well. Shows that we should treat all rumors with skepticm and CONSTANT VIGILANCE! *laughs*
Posted Jul 2, 2004 at 7:18 PM EST
Witch
Points: 802
padfoot18 says:
That was very mean what he did getting all of our hopes up and excited but true would we all know the title if he didn't do it? Also nice hint by JKR about the HBP not being Harry or Voldemort. Nevile perhaps?
Posted Jul 2, 2004 at 7:32 PM EST
Prefect
Points: 316
Jessicka says:
ARG!!! what an idiot!!! I can't believe he would waste his time just pulling a stupid prank like that,and I told ALL my friends about that title,well at least we got something out of that prank,the title of book 6!
Posted Jul 2, 2004 at 8:00 PM EST
Prefect
Points: 316
Jessicka says:
Oops,I meant the real title of book 6.
Posted Jul 2, 2004 at 8:03 PM EST
Ravenclaw Ghost
Points: 9469
Pearlescent says:
Ooooh... It's idiots like that that really burn my biscuits!!! And it's really pathetic to me, that some peeps just sit around and do this kind of junk all day. It's so dumb. I hope he learned his lesson.
Posted Jul 2, 2004 at 8:06 PM EST
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