J.K. Rowling Gives Sneak Preview of Book 6

Posted on September 3, 2004

The BBC reports that J.K. Rowling gave a few lucky fans a sneak peek at the next book in the Harry Potter series, entitled, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Website visitors who cracked a code and playing a dart game got to read two lines from the next book.

"He looked rather like an old lion. There were streaks of grey in his mane of tawny hair and his bushy eyebrows; he had keen yellowish eyes behind a pair of wire-rimmed spectacles and a certain rangy, loping grace even though he walked with a slight limp."

It was not revealed who the lines were describing. Rowling's website, although too flash-heavy and over-produced, does have some interesting content. There are explanations about characters who were cut from the books, such as Mafalda, the obnoxious Weasley cousin who was to have been in Goblet of Fire.

Rowling also has a section where she debunks the latest rumors, such as the persistent rumor that Professor Dumbledore is Harry's real grandfather/close relative of some description. Says Rowling, "If Dumbledore had been Harry's grandfather, why on earth would he have been sent to live with the Dursleys?" Good point.