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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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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
Order of Merlin, 2nd Class
Points: 1682
*Ginny* says:
I think it would have been funny if it wasn't taken seriously but he should have realised that people were going to take it seriously, this is Harry Potter we're talking about, most of the world is crazy about it!
I bet JK must have been annyoed but it caused some funny jokes on her site!
Happy New Year!
*Ginny*
Posted Dec 27, 2004 at 6:02 PM EST
Muggle
Points: 55
jasmin-rose says:
I kinda found it funny. Let's face it: people are an easy target for jokes. And the guy got it all worked out. I don't even see what the problem is. And it didn't seem to me like J.K.Rowling was so upset over it. In the words of Chuckles the silly piggy: This guy's my hero.
Posted Dec 30, 2004 at 11:08 AM EST
Student
Points: 220
Rockclmbr6 says:
I am not mad at this person AT ALL. What he did was genius. He got the attention of EVERY Harry Potter fan out there just from making a video. I say go easy on him, he said he was sorry. I just find it funny that so many people cannot take a joke! (although most of you have forgiven him)
Posted Dec 31, 2004 at 2:01 PM EST
Points: 5
RAVENCLAW says:
I should have thought of that.
Posted Dec 31, 2004 at 6:44 PM EST
Witch
Points: 874
Together Forever, H/Hr... says:
wow I was wondering who was making up all that crap! Its a wonder she didn't press charges, although that probably would have been a little drastic.
Posted Dec 31, 2004 at 11:12 PM EST
Mrs. Draco Malfoy
Points: 27754
Arika Granger Malfoy says:
That is soooo mean.. You shouldn't do that to people it is soo rude. It is kindof funny though.
Posted Jan 2, 2005 at 11:21 AM EST
Heiress of Gryffindor
Points: 3537
Nienna Narmolanya says:
It's not like he committed murder or something. It was just a little joke that went a little out-of-hand right? Also, it's possible that it IS because of him that we know the HBP is neither Harry nor Voldemort. GO NINETEEN YEAR OLD FROM FLORIDA!!! THANKS!!!
Posted Jan 2, 2005 at 7:58 PM EST
Student
Points: 207
ihateUmbridge says:
well, I wan't dumb enough to believe the title either, at least. But I think the hoaxer is one very talented animator/artist...and from a fellow graphic artist, that is saying something. I hope he try it again to stir the fans on HP7...maybe Harry Potter and the Willow of Woe...or Harry Potter and the Archway of Souls...hahahaha
Posted Jan 4, 2005 at 9:57 PM EST
Witch
Points: 916
SnapesSlave says:
Well i might be a little late on this, but i thought that the pillar of storge was extremely funny. Hoaxing isn't comendable, but hey, the guys got talent!
Posted Jan 5, 2005 at 9:17 AM EST
Muggle
Points: 18
JTLOVER says:
Uhhhhhhhhhh.............. how rude. Half of me thinks that guy is a creep, yet half of me wants to thank him because now we know the title of the 6th book!!!
Posted Jan 5, 2005 at 5:43 PM EST
Squib
Points: 177
Jeffaplus says:
This guy is a blasted nutcase. I mean, come on, if he REALLY liked Harry Potter he wouldn't have done this in the first place.
No, he just wanted to have some fun and ruinged the title surprise. IDIOT.
Posted Jan 6, 2005 at 2:43 PM EST
Head Girl
Points: 465
Angel Of Music <3 says:
Why would you do something like that?? He obviosly spent too much time on those 'videos' to make just a "little joke" about it. And worst of all...he's given all of us in florida a bad name. Crazy punk!
Posted Jan 7, 2005 at 4:03 PM EST
Witch
Points: 911
Rasial says:
This guy is pretty clever with computers. What a lot of effort to go to though. All he had to do to create a rumour was post it on a few fan sites.
Posted Jan 8, 2005 at 9:40 AM EST
Muggle
Points: 25
Caesar says:
I thought that some people may have overreacted, but only because they were foolish enough to beleive it. "Pillar of Storge"? It just doesn't sound like a title she would use.
Posted Jan 11, 2005 at 9:07 PM EST
Witch
Points: 728
Hermione Double says:
I think that was actually quite brilliant.
How many people could make such a believeable hoax?
Not many, in my opinion.
And how was he supposed to know that the whole world would take it seriously?
It's not like he hurt anyone.
And he's also right in the fact that we may not have gotten the real title as soon as we did.
Posted Jan 12, 2005 at 3:09 PM EST
Head Boy
Points: 462
Wilberdore says:
It doesnt even seem like a Harry Potter title. Normally JKR uses titles that everyone can understand. She doesnt use words that noone has heard of before
Posted Jan 12, 2005 at 10:45 PM EST
Squib
Points: 110
simply_me says:
I agree with this sentence: "If I had not started the hoax, would we all know the real title to book 6 right now?" Who knows when JKR would have told us the title to book six if it wasn't for the hoaxer? But still, it was kind of mean of him to get our hopes up in the first place with a fake title.
Posted Jan 13, 2005 at 12:42 AM EST
Dragon Rider
Points: 4437
~MalfoyPotter~ says:
Stupid!!
Idiot!!
What did you do that for!!
yOU EVIL GENIUS!!
Posted Jan 14, 2005 at 10:37 PM EST
Order of Merlin, 4th Class
Points: 1266
AsiaLovesHP says:
It was just a joke...No offense byt people actually thought that Pillage of Storge was the actual title!! Come on !!..he was trying to get a chuckle out of it...I think people got so upset because J.K.Rowling did...
Posted Jan 16, 2005 at 11:20 PM EST
Witch
Points: 621
GarryDotter89 says:
That was quite tricky of him to do that. He must be very good at computers (and rich). I didn't believe that was the title of the 6th book. It's too icky and uncreative. You'd think he'd be ableto come up with a better title than that.
Posted Jan 17, 2005 at 4:17 PM EST
Witch
Points: 583
bella eiram says:
This man wasted so much of JKR's time. It's really sad. First off it's sad he doesn't have a life. Second, he must not have had his brain screwed on right because he wasn't able to think beyond his immediate fun and think of the consequences of his actions.
Posted Jan 18, 2005 at 10:57 PM EST
Professor
Points: 1098
LilyP says:
UGH!! I never read this article before. That was a jerky thing to do. I have alot of respect for JKR and to mess with her like that is uncalled for! I think he needs to be banned from buying book 6 for 2 months after its release and then he's told all the secrets before he gets to read a page! That'll fix him!
Posted Jan 20, 2005 at 7:58 PM EST
Professor
Points: 1180
Audra Laudarque says:
It might have been a terrible and awful thing to do, but lets face it, what he did was brilliant!! I mean, who was able to mimic JK Rowling, and had the whole world convinced(except for Ms Rowling, of course) that the title was Harry Potter and the Pillar of Storge! This is what hapopens when fans are so hungry for knowledge that we will believe anything.
Posted Jan 21, 2005 at 8:58 AM EST
Squib
Points: 164
quidditchfreak333 says:
It was a mean trick but you know what? No true Harry Potter fan should have believed you. Every Harry Potter fan should know that everyone should not trust anyone except if it comes from JKRowling or Scholastic or Bloombury.
Posted Jan 21, 2005 at 8:38 PM EST
Princess of the Heliopaths
Points: 5276
Ginny Weasly says:
WOW!! I mean it was a dumb thing to do...but think of all the people who actually believed him. i didn't think that was the title when i first heard it...but then again i didn't think that Half Blood Prince was the real title of the 6th book either....it kinda had to grow on me for a week or so.
Posted Jan 22, 2005 at 11:04 AM EST
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