The Tall one can be dumbledore.. please let it be dumbledore.. :P but JKR has already said hes dead... ah.. the tall may be Voldemort though

i agree! it has too be fake! there is no way that jo would let something like that slip! its just some crackpot old fool (see how i slipped in dumbledore quotes) thought he/she would get 15 minutes of fame and a lot of publicity!. i am WAY too excited to care! only FIVE DAYSTO GO OOOOOOMMMMMGGGGGG

i think some parts are fake but it does make sense in the beginnig becasue it has to continue the story..... OMG ......=o i cant wait until the DH comes!!! hehe......

This made me so excited! I don't care if it's fake. And then, even if it is real, the Guardian states that this was dated October 23rd 2006 - if she finished the book this January, she could have changed it about ten times since then, so I won't bet that these will be the opening lines of the book. But who cares anyway, just GIVE ME THE BOOK! XD

Even is this would be real, and even if it would be Voldy and Snape, it still doesn't have to mean Snape is the bad guy. He could very well play along (for whatever reason). I still believe 100% in Dumbledore, and he believed in Snape, so therefor I do too. But I don't think it's the real opening, not because of Jo's writing style or not, but simply because she wouldn't allow it to leak out before the release date.

Yes, if that first spoiler in the main post is real, it is Dumbledore. Dumbledore and Snape have worked out a plan that's so genius that they are the greatest team ever created. Dumbledore is the only tall man in the Potter universe, people.

5 days! I CANT WAIT!!!!!!!!!!! Come on the 21st!

*bangs head heavily on a desk* Ugh, can Mugglenet please not post such ambigous spoilers?.... I'm staying away from Mugglenet. I don't think my nerves can take this. I don't care who said what and what they showed...

This is most likely real - I saw scanned chapter titles, and the first chapter's title was the same as here.

When did the chapter titles and scans actually come out? Before this story hit the net or AFTER? If it was before, there is a good chance the spoilers are real. If the spoiler pages came out AFTER the Guardian posted, then it may be fake.

i think its fake. Jo wouldn't start such an anticipated book so plainly. Its gotta be better than that. I hope!!!

A lot of the comments posted so far have been a tad hypocritical. If we were sure that was the 'real thing,' no one would be saying that the writing sounds dumb. How do people feel entitled to judge just by looking at that one paragraph?! I'm not British, but I believe that The Guardian is regarded as a serious newspaper. Why would they post something fake only to be discovered within less than a week -- or in the winter, when that ITV documentary airs, at the latest? It's interesting that the word "moonlit" appears in the very first sentence... what with the "Moonlight Signing" and the Moon in the back cover. And I really, really want to know the point of view in this first chapter: this little snippet didn't make it quite clear, but it tickled my interest. :-)

VERY strong evidence that the chapter title/scan spoilers are false, aside from the fact that they can be proven as photoshopped is if you read the chapter summaries. 1. They sound absolutely ridiculous and 2. More importantly, the creator of the spoiler names the characters that die, but if you read through the summaries of the chapters you'll find that he or she has reached his number of deaths with 13 chapters left. Anyone with ANY idea of western literature can tell you that you can't have a hero's quest epic and not have either the hero or villian snuff it toward the end. Was Darth Vader defeated 20 minutes into Return of the Jedi? No. After careful analysis of the scans and posts on other forums I would be SHOCKED if these pics turned out to be true. The only part I can't explain is the artwork, but I'm working on debunking that as well.

When Snape says 'The best', that undoubtedly means the news that dumbledore is dead. That's unfortunate. The taller of the two.. I have no clue who that might be, Aberforth maybe? He's tall, like Dumbledore. It could also be Voldemort I suppose. In fact, it probably is.

IM SO EXCITED!!! Come on the 21st! Who knows whether that piece is actually from the book or not? We'll soon find out... I think it's quite possible!

Remember guys those Chapter title scans are COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY FAKE. Do not believe them. We are not sure wheather or not the title stated in this "spoiler" is true or not either. Just beacuse it has simmilar info doesn't always confirm it. Please do some research and look it up yourself. Please also remember to take EVERYTHING as a fake untill Jo or one of her people confirm/deny it.

I don't think it seems at all like her writing style at all!

that's completely fake.... "News?", asked the taller of the two. "The best," replied Snape It should've been "News?", asked the taller of the two. "The best," replied the other one. Jo never refers to a character with his name in that way

TRUST ME IT'S REAL! As someone from the UK I know that the Guardian is not a tabloid but a very well respected broadsheet paper. I got the Observer (the Sunday edition of the Guardian) and the article with the first few lines of the book was in the paper, and it clearly stated that the extract was seen in a preview of the ITV documentary with JKR (Some of the British press have been given the preview). On an off note my cousin works for the education supplement of the Guardian (she doesn’t know anything about the HP article & extract) however she told me that her editor is very strict with authenticity of what's printed, as is the paper as a whole. Therefore I think we can be about 99.99999% sure it's real. Feel really bad as everyone's saying its fake and not JK's style.

It doesn't matter if it's fake or not. Just reading it makes me want the book so bad that I feel nauseous. I was so excited that I jumped up and down. Mind you, I am fat and old, so not only was it not pretty, it hurt, too.

seeing as its in the guardian its probably real. what chapter scans are you talking about?

That honestly sounds as though Snapes still spying, if its true.

Trulyo - Actually, it says that the paragraph was filmed on October 26, 2006. That means that it wasn't put up less than a week before the book comes out. Of-course, that would further prove that both the scans and this paragraph are fake. And for those of you who think that "this isn't Jo's writing style", the thing is an exerpt less than a paragraph long for heaven's sake. If it said that this has been confirmed by Rowling as real, nobody would've even started complaining about it.

What are they talking over dinner or sumthing..... .... It s a fake ... and there are no two thoughts about it.... common people this is not signature Jo..... its sum1 else talking... atleast thatz what it seems to me..... and as a HP fan we all must have read Jo over n over again. tejas

dobby_rules......Here is the link for the "Chapter Scans". BEWARE this page claims to have MAJOR SPOILERS Although I'm positive that they are fakes but if you really wish to see them go ahead.... (just delete the spaces)--->http://simm ysim.livejournal. com/471641 .html

I hope this turns out to be real simply for the fact that all of you who have said this is "too dumb" to be Jo's writing style feel very embarrassed for criticizing one of contemporary literature's greatest authors.

Aghhhh, I need the book NOW !!!! And I have to wait more lousy hours because my mum won't let me travel a bit more than 200 miles to get mine at 5.30 p.m. ... It really does suck I have to wait so long *sobs slightly* As for the piece of ' The Guardian'... we won't know if it's true until we get our hands on the book. But if it is... wonder who the tall guy is ?? And the news ??? THE BEST ???? That can NOT be good for our dear Harry now, can it ???

OMG. This ties in with the chapter scans!! i believed they were real but this just confirms them....omg......that live journal is full of spoilers guys so be careful!! I dont believe the content spoilers-but the pictures i do. Also on Portkey scans of the epilogue-that match the actual TOC scans have appeared...i wont say what it says...but its crap. hope its fake!

SaphyreRavenclaw....Thank s for the link i was just wondering what people were talking about...they seem pretty fake... they must have taken a long time on those chapter arts... i cant see there being a significant death in the first chapter though

When someone posted the correct chaptertitles of HBP 2 years ago before it was released, everyone also said: "ZOMFG that is flippin ridiculous! NOT Jo's WriTinG Style! ZOMG WTF!!!!" Than we got the book, it appeared that the chapter titles were the real thing and nobody said another word about it, so please don't make yourself look like a morron by saying this is fake and not Jo's style...

im sooooo excited. cant wait till saturday

I'm torn between whether this is real or not. Either way, it makes me want this book NOW. 5 DAYS! Has anyone else noticed that Jo hasn't given us chapter titles or a bit from the book like she did for HBP? I'm really upset about this.

Hmmm... I dunno, I reckon this is not only real but, real and planned. If it was fake, we'd have heard someone saying something about it, after all it is a pretty big paper, and if it was real but leaked without permission from jo etc, theyd get the C**p sued out of them... so i guess its real but planned... we wont know for another six days *sigh* xxx

I may be in the minority, but this does not sound like Rowling's style. It sounds juvenile and choppy when reading it. However, it would be an intriguing opening.

AAARGH! If this is indeed the opening of the book I like it already....NAAAAH!!! I want it, I want it now!!! Reading this preview was just torturing myself....

RyAn2006.....Please go back and look at the scans again, but do so with a previous book open in your hands. Compare the two and you will see how inconsistent they are to the past books. You will notice on these so called "scans" that the first page labeled "Contents" lists NINE titles and the following pages list TEN. This does not follow the patteren of the rest of the books. ALL of the previous books have listed EIGHT titles on the first page and NINE on all of the following. You will also notice that on the last "scan" it shows the egde of the following page, which appears to be the first chapter. This also does not follow the patteren of the rest of the books. ALL of the previous books have a final title page with a checkered background before the first page of the first chapter. Also if we were to assume that for some reason the "final title page" has been removed before the beginning of chapter one, it is still missing the signature enlarged first letter that appears on EVERY SINGLE chapter beginning.

*SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEAM!!!!! * Best paragraph of my life!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!! And we have a chapter title, and we'll probably get some clue as to what Snape and Draco did after they left Hogwarts!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !! I love The Guardian now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!

OMG.

It's not real. Like said before, nothing like Jo's style.

AAAHHH!!! I'M SO EXCITED! Well, I've gotta say I think it's probably fake...although I scanned the article and it seemed pretty legit: The Guardian tends to be a rather well-respected source, so I don't think they'd print anything unless they had decent proof....or maybe not...I don't know haha. I guess no one can know until Saturday!! AAAHHH!! YAYAY! Then all will be revealed! I CAN'T WAIT TO READ IT! Oh God, my excitement is simply too great to even express in words! lol... although I think all you fellow mugglnet-ers can relate!!

OMG! I actually cant wait much longer! 5 days! WHOOOOOOO!

I read it...I don't think it sounds much like JKR's writing (watch, I'll be eating my words come Saturday). People are just trying too hard for publicity is what it is...sheesh...

I'm NOT reading it, and I'm NOT reading any comments. I don't know if this excerpt is for real or not, but I still don't want to look at it. Thank you, Mugglenet, for blacking it out.

As for those of you commenting on the "American" style of the writing, keep in mind that Jo has an American editor and a British editor for this very reason. Things like this are americanized so that people can understand it better. Secondly, do we all agree the good news that Snape is telling the presumed Voldemort is that Dumbledore is dead?

i really dont care whether its real or not if it is it doesnt give anything away, if it isnt then its something completely different and it doesnt give anything away.

I don't think thats real... it just doesn't feel like J.K you know? I mean it's great and everything but I think she's a much better writer then that... of course when the book come's out and it turns out to be true I'll feel like an idiot but thats life I suppose ... lol

YAY!!!!!!!!Just over 5 and a half days!!!!!!!!

i think it could be hers!!! people need to realize she is allowed to use new words!

I just have to say that a friend of mine sent me a link to a page containing supposed pictures of the final chapter of book 7. I read it, 5 pages long which my first instinct was that it was bogus. It didn't seem like Jo's writing style either. If this was a doctored final chapter, they did a good job making it look real. Be careful everyone. If this was the real deal then Im disappointed.

so...first, the "real" dh book with scans is 759 pages long with 10 pages of roman numerals = 769 pages. the actual dh book is confirmed as being 784 pages. every other book published has a page count exactly matching the actual number of pages in the story. where did those other 26 pages (or 16 if you include the table of contents) go? publishers lost them? second, the "reported" first chapter matches the title chapter from the scanned copy online. so, either this info is legit and jk and her publishers, editors, artist...ect. all miscounted the number of pages.....or it is a fake (albeit the art does look convincing, but hey people can do crazy things with computers). use your brains people.