Alternative Harry Potter Where Arthur Weasley Dies

November 4, 2020 7:19 AM

Can you help me track down a fake Harry Potter book that was circulating on the Internet just before the release of one of the books?

Shortly before one of the later Harry Potter books came out, a friend of a friend had a digital copy that had been "leaked" somewhere on the Internet. My guess is that this was just before the Order of the Phoenix came out, because JK Rowling had revealed that a character would die in Order of the Phoenix, and I believe that in this leaked copy, Arthur Weasley died.

Do you have any idea to what I'm referring? Were there lots of leaked fake Harry Potter books going around like this? Do you happen to know where I can find a copy of this?

posted by taltalim to Media & Arts (2 answers total)

Best answer: Your story is very similar to a fake "leak" that happened before the 7th book.

This fooled a lot of people: See this question here: https://www.reddit.com/r/harrypotter/comments/14npqb/harry_potter_and_the_deathly_hallows_alternate/

The "leaked" version was a fanfiction, re-formatted as a fake manuscript.

More discussion here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/harrypotter/comments/5s9gie/does_anyone_remember_a_leak_of_an_early_draft_of/

Or, a direct link to the text that was there: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/2818538/1/The-Seventh-Horcrux
posted by bbqturtle at 7:26 AM on November 4, 2020 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Via my daughter:

Hmm. I don’t know which “leaked” book you’re talking about, but it may be relevant to note that in the original draft of Order of the Phoenix, Arthur Weasley did die (after being bitten by Nagini). The plot point was later changed to allow him to survive the bite.

I think I got this info from Harry Potter: A Journey Through A History of Magic, but I could be wrong.

posted by mbrubeck at 3:52 PM on November 4, 2020 [1 favorite]