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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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Muggle
Points: 2
peppermint says:
Wow! I admire ur computer graphics work but hoaxing the future title of the book 6 was not good. Anyway because of that rowling gave us the real title of book6. So.....
Posted Sep 23, 2004 at 2:40 AM EST
Prefect
Points: 353
lovethekeeper says:
For something out of fun he went all out for it. I mean he copied JKs site did he not think people were going to think it really was hers. What a dope.
Posted Sep 25, 2004 at 11:08 AM EST
Muggle
Points: 79
Fred Weasly 5389 says:
I am glad that we do know the real title now but this guy was areal idiot for trying to impersonate JKR.
Posted Sep 28, 2004 at 3:36 PM EST
Prefect
Points: 302
Opaleye says:
I think that's kind of funny. I'm not mad about it, I never believed that the book would be called something as ridiculous as The Pillar of Storgé. I can't believe that so many people bought into that.
Posted Oct 12, 2004 at 7:21 PM EST
Witch
Points: 635
JaBean1234 says:
Wow this person put a lot of effort into this. I would never in a million years thing to do that. I'm kinda glad they did though, because part of me thinks that it would have taken that much longer to get the realy title. But it was not nice, I bet a lot of people got mad about it. It was a little funny, if you think about it. So many people fell for it, myself included.
Posted Oct 16, 2004 at 11:51 PM EST
The Golden Snidget
Points: 3157
Mrs. Phineas Nigellus says:
I think he was just a kid with a little too much time on his hands who never meant to hurt anyone. I do have to admire his intelligence though, even if he did do a stupid thing. I never would have thought to try to impersonate JK Rowling's website let alone know how. How do people know that stuff?
Posted Oct 17, 2004 at 7:28 PM EST
Professor
Points: 1024
OtterPotter says:
That wasn't nice at all, but at least he apologized for it.
By the way, I've never seen the hoax video, is it available at some web site?
Posted Oct 19, 2004 at 5:01 PM EST
Prefect
Points: 302
Opaleye says:
The fact that this hoax convinced so many people proves that die-hard Harry Potter fans are so hungry for information about future books that they will believe anything, no matter how ridiculous it may be.
Posted Oct 24, 2004 at 12:16 PM EST
Order of Merlin, 3rd Class
Points: 1534
Stoutheart says:
That stinks that he did it, but it is sort of funny! I mean when the faux title was released it was amazing how many people bought into it! HP fans were going crazy trying to figure it out.
Posted Oct 27, 2004 at 5:38 PM EST
The Extra Terrestrial
Points: 2771
THE GREEN FLAME says:
ideot But cool i wonder how he did it and it's because of him that the name came out soon.anyway the halfblood prince..nice name.wish the book too is nice.
Posted Oct 28, 2004 at 9:27 PM EST
Witch
Points: 704
Half Blood Veela says:
Dang I would never have made a fake name like that. It is cool though that he made something that actually got to Jk Rowling and she knows about it and stuff. and it's on her website.
Posted Oct 31, 2004 at 3:59 PM EST
Student
Points: 237
Ange says:
Haha, he certainly went to a lot of effort for that hoax. JK Rowling must've freaked out though, hehe.
Posted Nov 2, 2004 at 2:05 AM EST
Witch
Points: 704
Half Blood Veela says:
Well after all that she had to give up and tell the name. Maybe there are people out there who are going to do the same thing that he did and make her say some more stuff. Or maybe someone did and that's why she opened the door on Halloween.
Posted Nov 4, 2004 at 6:23 PM EST
Squib
Points: 154
Avrielle says:
OH, that was awful clever of him, yet extremely rude. I am glad that I didn't get caught up in the mess.
Posted Nov 7, 2004 at 2:42 PM EST
Witch
Points: 606
PolarisPrewett says:
It was quite clever, really, but I find it difficult to belive that so many people went along with it. The Piller of Storge? I ask you! We harry potter fans are an enterprising bunch, however...
Posted Nov 9, 2004 at 3:20 PM EST
Muggle
Points: 19
NTonks9 says:
True, he probably shouldnt have done what he did if he was using good judgement but everyone at some point in their life has expierienced saying something for the fun of it and it has gone too far. No lasting harm done, chap.
Posted Nov 22, 2004 at 5:40 PM EST
Wizard
Points: 881
Gryffindor says:
Me being a Florida State student and an avid gator hater this just goes to show you that all gators are in fact evil and diabolical. Well I just found out today and this makes me upset that we lost at home to those lousy gators even more. Freinds don't let friends goto florida university. Go Noles.
Posted Nov 23, 2004 at 1:29 PM EST
Professor
Points: 1167
snowpeach06 says:
It was just a joke. I think people need to have more of a sense of humor. I don't think he meant to offend anyone. And maybe that is the only reason we know the book 6 title now.
Posted Nov 26, 2004 at 6:52 PM EST
Auror
Points: 3345
Frito says:
i think that this is kind of funny! This person is VERY talented in Computer graphics! It gave us all something to think about at least!
Posted Dec 1, 2004 at 1:34 PM EST
Points: 3
Kiko says:
Hey at least we got the real title.I think it kind of funny.He say sorry too.He's okay in my book.but it was sort of funny.I hope Mrs.Rowlings doesn't sue him.
Posted Dec 2, 2004 at 1:24 AM EST
Muggle
Points: 28
Akasha22 says:
I am happy that he got caught in what he did, i hope he learned his lesson. I am happy that J.K. Rowling has squashed that nasty rumor!!!!Either way i am happy how about you????? ( ha ha ha )
Posted Dec 13, 2004 at 4:01 AM EST
Order of Merlin, 3rd Class
Points: 1433
Buxtehude says:
I say bravo. he gave a couple chuckles out . And in the process we learned the name of the new book.
Posted Dec 16, 2004 at 2:24 AM EST
Muggle
Points: 96
taryn121 says:
I don't think it was very funny. But it is kind of impressive in a bad sort of way that he was able to make such a believable video. And if he wouldn't have done it, we might still be wondering about the title...
Posted Dec 18, 2004 at 3:58 PM EST
Student
Points: 224
*handiangel* says:
I think it is impressive that he was able to fool the HP community and the world media with a video he put together in 2 minutes. I also think it is very funny because we fell for it hook, line, sinker and the first edition of the angling times. He is also right that we did get the real title out of it.
Posted Dec 19, 2004 at 3:34 PM EST
Points: 1874
Texas says:
Yall should lighten up a little-its not like he robbed a bank or anything.I think its pretty funny myself; that it got so big, and also that everybody believed it. I also think its amazing how he created the picture...it looks just like the door when its opened, but the door was never opened before him-how did he make it so close to the real thing?
Posted Dec 22, 2004 at 11:41 PM EST
Student
Points: 292
poter says:
Clever with computers yes.....nice thing to do? no. But its over so lets just wait for the 6th book in pease :)
Posted Dec 26, 2004 at 11:28 PM EST
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