J.K. Rowling vs. Airport Security

Posted on September 14, 2006

J.K. Rowling had a shocking encounter with airport security when she was flying home to London from New York City. Airport security tried to stop her from taking the unfinished, handwritten manuscript of the last Harry Potter book on board the plane as carry-on luggage. But J.K. refused to part with the only copy of the incredibly valuable manuscript. Jo says on her website:

"The heightened security restrictions on the airlines in August made the journey back from New York interesting, as I refused to be parted from the manuscript of book seven (a large part of it is handwritten, and there was no copy of anything I had done while in the US). They let me take it on, thankfully, bound up in elastic bands. I don't know what I would have done if they hadn't; sailed home, probably."
"I am currently trying to decide between two possible titles. I was quite happy with one of them until the other one struck me while I was taking a shower in New York. They would both be appropriate, so I think I'll have to wait until I'm further into the book to decide which one works best."

Ok, this is getting ridiculous. J.K. Rowling's handwritten manuscript was a potential security threat? This is so very, very wrong that we don't even know where to begin. Kudos to Jo for standing up for her right to travel with Harry.

Can you imagine what would have happened if her only copy of the manuscript was checked in her baggage and it was stolen? Because, trust us, it would have been. It just doesn't bear thinking about.