Cardiff Teen Wins Harry Potter Contest

Posted on July 11, 2005

14 year old Cardiff resident Owen Jones has won the Potter at the Castle - the Quest for the Ultimate Harry Potter Fan Contest. Jones will be the only interviewer granted to British television. He's nervous, but he's working on his questions which he'll ask J.K. Rowling at Edinburgh Castle Friday July 15th. Jones will conduct the interview, receive an autographed copy of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and no doubt have a rollicking good time.

Owen beat three other contestants who like him spent months rereading every word of the first five books - 265m copies sold to date in 200 countries worldwide, translated into 62 languages - and scouring the internet for Harry Potter arcana. "I was nervous when I realised just how good all the other contestants were," he said. "Some of the questions were really hard. I feel ecstatic to have won. It's brilliant."
The question he most wants to ask is the one which will leave him and millions of other readers feeling orphaned and bereft, and booksellers the world over in tears. "I would like to ask J.K. Rowling what's going to happen in the next books and how does she feel about the moment when she will finally finish the series and not write Harry Potter books any more."

The Guardian goes out to remind readers that J.K. Rowling is the world's first billionaire author. And that is really mind-boggling, if you think about it.