JK Rowling's Harry Potter Prequel now online!
UPDATE: Some readers are saying they're having a hard time reading Jo's handwriting. If that is the case, click the "Read More..." link at the bottom of this post to read a typed version. Thanks, Jessica!At long last, JK Rowling's Harry Potter prequel, which raised nearly $50,000 for charity, is now online! To view the works of Jo and 12 other authors, click here, then click "Read our authors' stories".
If you're having a problem viewing it on their site, you can see page one here and page two here. Enjoy!
The Story:
The speeding motorcycle took the sharp corner so fast in the darkness that both policemen in the pursuing car shouted,"Whoa!" Sergeant Fisher slammed his large foot on the brake, thinking that the boy who was riding pillion was sure to be flung under his wheels; however, the motorbike made the turn without unseating either of its riders, and with a wink of its red tail lights, vanished up the narrow side street.
"We've got 'em now!" cried PC Anderson excitedly. "That's a dead end!"
Leaning hard on the steering wheel and crashing his gears, Fisher scraped half the paint off the flank of the car as he forced it up the alleyway in pursuit.
There in the headlights sat their quarry, stationary at last after a quarter of an hour's chase. The two riders were trapped between a towering brickwall and the police car, which was now crawling towards them like some growling luminous-eyes predator.
There was so little space between the car doors and the walls of the alley that Fisher and Anderson had difficulty extricating themselves from the vehicle. It injured their dignity to have to inch, crab-like, towards the miscreants. Fisher dragged his generous belly along the wall, tearing buttons off his shirt as he went, and finally snapping off the wing mirror with his backside.
"Get off the bike!" he bellowed at the smirking youths, who sat basking in the flashing blue light as though enjoying it.
They did as they were told, finally pulling free from the broken wing mirror, Fisher glared at them. They seemed to be in their late teens. The one who had been driving had long black hair, his insolent good looks reminded Fisher unpleasantly of his daughter's guitar-playing, layabout boyfriend. The second boy also had black hair, though his was short and stuck up in all directions; he wore glasses and a broad grin. Both were dressed in t-shirts emblazoned with a large golden bird; the emblem, no doubt, of some deafening, timeless rock band.
"No helmet!" Fisher yelled, pointing from one uncovered head to the other. "Exceeding the speed limit by-by a considerable amount!" (In fact, the speed registered had been greater than Fisher was prepared to accept that any motorcycle could travel.) "Failure to stop for the police!"
"We'd have loved to stop for a chat," said the boy in glasses,"only we were trying--"
"Don't get smart-you two are in a heap of trouble!" snarled Anderson. "Names!"
"Names?" repeated the long-haired driver."Er-Well, let's see. There's Wilberforce...Bathsheba...Elvendork..."
"And what's nice about that one is, you can use it for a boy OR a girl," said the boy in glasses.
"Oh, our names, did you mean?" asked the first, as Anderson spluttered with rage."You should've said! This here is James Potter, and I'm Sirius Black!"
"Things'll be seriously black for you in a minute, you cheeky little-"
But neither James nor Sirius was paying attention. They were suddenly as alert as gundogs, staring past Fisher and Anderson, over the roof of the police car, at the dark mouth of the alley. Then, with identical, fluid movements, they reached into their back pockets.
For the space of a heartbeat both policemen imagined guns gleaming at them, but a second later they saw that the motorcyclists had drawn nothing more than-
"Drumsticks?" jeered Anderson. "Right pair of jokers, aren't you? Right, we're arresting you on a charge of--"
But Anderson never got to name the charge. James and Sirius had shouted something incomprehensible, and the beams from the headlights had moved.
The policemen wheeled around, then staggered backwards. Three men were flying-actually flying- up the alley on broomsticks-and at the same moment,the police car was rearing up on its back wheels.
Fisher's knee bucked; as he sat down hard; Anderson tripped over Fisher's legs and fell on top of him, as flump-bang-crunch- they heard the mean on brooms slam into the suspended car and fall, apparently insensible, to the ground, while broken bits of broomstick clattered down around them.
The motorbike had roared into life again. His mouth hanging open, Fisher mustered the strength to look back at the two teenagers.
"Thanks very much!" called Sirius over the throb of the engine."We owe you one!"
"Yeah, nice meeting you!" said James. "And don't forget: Elvendork! It's unisex!"
There was an earth-shaking crash, and Fisher and Anderson threw their arms around each other in fright; their car had just fallen back to the ground. Now it was the motorcycle's turn to rear. Before the policemen's disbelieving eyes, it took off into thin air: James and Sirius zoomed away into the night sky, their tail light twinkling behind them like a vanishing ruby.
From the prequel I am not working on-but that was fun! J.K. Rowling.2008
The speeding motorcycle took the sharp corner so fast in the darkness that both policemen in the pursuing car shouted,"Whoa!" Sergeant Fisher slammed his large foot on the brake, thinking that the boy who was riding pillion was sure to be flung under his wheels; however, the motorbike made the turn without unseating either of its riders, and with a wink of its red tail lights, vanished up the narrow side street.
"We've got 'em now!" cried PC Anderson excitedly. "That's a dead end!"
Leaning hard on the steering wheel and crashing his gears, Fisher scraped half the paint off the flank of the car as he forced it up the alleyway in pursuit.
There in the headlights sat their quarry, stationary at last after a quarter of an hour's chase. The two riders were trapped between a towering brickwall and the police car, which was now crawling towards them like some growling luminous-eyes predator.
There was so little space between the car doors and the walls of the alley that Fisher and Anderson had difficulty extricating themselves from the vehicle. It injured their dignity to have to inch, crab-like, towards the miscreants. Fisher dragged his generous belly along the wall, tearing buttons off his shirt as he went, and finally snapping off the wing mirror with his backside.
"Get off the bike!" he bellowed at the smirking youths, who sat basking in the flashing blue light as though enjoying it.
They did as they were told, finally pulling free from the broken wing mirror, Fisher glared at them. They seemed to be in their late teens. The one who had been driving had long black hair, his insolent good looks reminded Fisher unpleasantly of his daughter's guitar-playing, layabout boyfriend. The second boy also had black hair, though his was short and stuck up in all directions; he wore glasses and a broad grin. Both were dressed in t-shirts emblazoned with a large golden bird; the emblem, no doubt, of some deafening, timeless rock band.
"No helmet!" Fisher yelled, pointing from one uncovered head to the other. "Exceeding the speed limit by-by a considerable amount!" (In fact, the speed registered had been greater than Fisher was prepared to accept that any motorcycle could travel.) "Failure to stop for the police!"
"We'd have loved to stop for a chat," said the boy in glasses,"only we were trying--"
"Don't get smart-you two are in a heap of trouble!" snarled Anderson. "Names!"
"Names?" repeated the long-haired driver."Er-Well, let's see. There's Wilberforce...Bathsheba...Elvendork..."
"And what's nice about that one is, you can use it for a boy OR a girl," said the boy in glasses.
"Oh, our names, did you mean?" asked the first, as Anderson spluttered with rage."You should've said! This here is James Potter, and I'm Sirius Black!"
"Things'll be seriously black for you in a minute, you cheeky little-"
But neither James nor Sirius was paying attention. They were suddenly as alert as gundogs, staring past Fisher and Anderson, over the roof of the police car, at the dark mouth of the alley. Then, with identical, fluid movements, they reached into their back pockets.
For the space of a heartbeat both policemen imagined guns gleaming at them, but a second later they saw that the motorcyclists had drawn nothing more than-
"Drumsticks?" jeered Anderson. "Right pair of jokers, aren't you? Right, we're arresting you on a charge of--"
But Anderson never got to name the charge. James and Sirius had shouted something incomprehensible, and the beams from the headlights had moved.
The policemen wheeled around, then staggered backwards. Three men were flying-actually flying- up the alley on broomsticks-and at the same moment,the police car was rearing up on its back wheels.
Fisher's knee bucked; as he sat down hard; Anderson tripped over Fisher's legs and fell on top of him, as flump-bang-crunch- they heard the mean on brooms slam into the suspended car and fall, apparently insensible, to the ground, while broken bits of broomstick clattered down around them.
The motorbike had roared into life again. His mouth hanging open, Fisher mustered the strength to look back at the two teenagers.
"Thanks very much!" called Sirius over the throb of the engine."We owe you one!"
"Yeah, nice meeting you!" said James. "And don't forget: Elvendork! It's unisex!"
There was an earth-shaking crash, and Fisher and Anderson threw their arms around each other in fright; their car had just fallen back to the ground. Now it was the motorcycle's turn to rear. Before the policemen's disbelieving eyes, it took off into thin air: James and Sirius zoomed away into the night sky, their tail light twinkling behind them like a vanishing ruby.
From the prequel I am not working on-but that was fun! J.K. Rowling.2008
Posted by Andrew on Jun 11th |
238 Comments
Visitor Comments
it's amazing! i want more :(
that was awesome
I just want to point out that even tho I am 102 or 103 on this topic, I was still the third to read j.k. rowlings prequel!!! So there!!!
im so ready for more harry potter now! well, more marauders at least. not even kidding. i think that she should write a prequel, about like, the marauders lives. maybe 7yth year to when lily and james died and when pettigrew faked his death. though i know jo doesnt want to be tied down to harry potter for forever.....i just hope that someday after shes done with the encyclopedia and had a chance to establish herself as more than just the author of harry potter then maybe she can go back and write a prequel. and based on everyones comments.....im kinda glad i read the typed version first. ~elvendork! its unisex!~
Read the Tom Stoppard story, it is made of amusement!
ok i've decided not to read it til mine arrives in the mail. will make it so much more special!! so exciting still!!
I thought it was "deafening, tuneless rock band". However, I guess timeless works too. Really, really enjoyable story! It was great to read a light-hearted little story to develop James & Sirius' relationship. I thought it was made better by the fact it focused mainly on the police men, made it all enjoyable to see their reaction. It would have been a great opening for a "Phoenix Files" collection of short stories, but we know that's not going to happen. I don't understand some of the criticism it's receiving, I think it was perfect as a funny, short story rather than something that could have been dragged out. Very enjoyable - it would be fun if after the credits of Deathly Hallows, we saw this as a little salute to the fans!
"A fan's affectionate enthusiasm should not obscure acts of plagiarism. The publishers knew what they were doing. The problem remains that Mugglenet takes an enormous amount of Ms. Rowling's work and adds virtually no original commentary of its own. As we've said in court, it takes too much and adds too little. Authors have a duty to prevent the exploitation of their works by people who contribute nothing original, creative or interpretive."
Oh my.. :D It's like reading fan fiction :D I loved it, and Sirius was just I imagined him.. James too :D Thanks JK! If you ever have the urge to write a prequel, don't fight it down... ;)
I just finished reading the prequel again and this story has to take place when the two of them (Sirius and James) were allowwed to use magic. At the age of 17 years old. The two has already known and are students at hogwarts. If the things on the broomsticks were death eaters, than the feel of fear would be near by, that even sirius and james would be fearful. THo how j.k. rowling came up with those names and also who the things/people on the broomsticks are, that is still draws a black for me!!!
AWWWW! That makes me want a REAL prequel even more! Please, PLEASE Jo? That was so nice to read after haveing reread DH for the 400th time!
thank you so much elvendork!!!!!!!!! good story jkr
If I might offer a couple of edits to make it read more smoothly. In paragraph 1 - the word is "unseating" for "seating" In paragraph 7 - the word is "tuneless" for "timeless"
that was soo good! omg i miss reading harry potter so much!
lol that was mad funny .... to the people who were disappointed...the story wasn't meant to be serious it was just there to be funny... i wish it was less vague though i want to know who the dudes on the broomsticks were...ELVENDORK=love
wow James and Sirius were really immature and arogant, even so shortly before Harry was born. How old were James and Lily when Harry was born then? They must have had him really young, right after Hogwarts. Thats really cute. God help Lily having to put up with those two babies lol and then Harry. At least Lupin was a tad more mature. I don't like the first movie or GOF then, because the actors who played Lily and James are far too old to be Harry's parents. I love Remus btw.
nobody is really sure of who the guys on broomsticks were. though most think them to be death eaters. and it would totally make sense that this happened after they were of age. i mean, they could've been just goofing off one last time before james married lily =] but the international statute of secrecy.....theres no age limit on that so it was definitely broken.
Yeah, especially the actor for James is too old.
Jo Rowling truly has a gift. She can capture your interest with even the shortest of stories. I wish it was longer. By the way, there was a typo in the typed version. "Fisher's knee bucked; as he sat down hard; Anderson tripped over Fisher's legs and fell on top of him, as flump-bang-crunch- they heard the mean on brooms slam into the suspended car and fall, apparently insensible, to the ground, while broken bits of broomstick clattered down around them." It should say man on brooms, not mean.
Does anyone else not agree that this would be a great little thing to include after the credits of Deathly Hallows?
on second reading of the story, it seems like the three on broomsticks were death eaters. and i think that maybe they were pursuing james and sirius, and that is why they were speeding around on a motorbike in the first place. but thats just my conjecture. and to the people who keep commenting on sirius and james' arrogance, well, i think if that was taken away then their characters would be pretty flat. i think the arrogance is part of what is so endearing about the marauders.
really like the story it is great for how short it is
Jo Rowling truly has a gift. She can capture your interest with even the shortest of stories. I wish it was longer. By the way, there was a typo in the typed version. "Fisher's knee bucked; as he sat down hard; Anderson tripped over Fisher's legs and fell on top of him, as flump-bang-crunch- they heard the mean on brooms slam into the suspended car and fall, apparently insensible, to the ground, while broken bits of broomstick clattered down around them." It should say man on brooms, not mean. -------------- -------- I also have to add, that it is knees, not knee.
novuscrepusculum i agree. it would be cute to show after the credits of DH problem is, the directors cut out anything of value, so they would never do it.
am i the only one that's a little disappointed because its so darn short? i want MORE!!! great little short story though.
Jo, That was SO brilliant!! James & Sirius OWNED this story!!!!! awesome job!
No i don't agree to include this scene after deathly hallows, unless it was after all the long credits, like the trailer for matrix revolutions was after the credits of the matrix reloaded and how they showed how professer x was alive after the credits of x-men the last stand. Once they include the epilogue of DH with older more talented actors, i'm happy. Did everyone know that they are NOT including Dumbledors funeral? I just found out yesterday and i am appaled! No Bill, no Fleur, no Dumbledore's funeral. No Lupin or Tonks drama. What the hell are they thinking? They can't just leave out whatever they want, its ridiculous! I really hate this script writer and I will always hate Yates for ruining one of my favorite books with his lame directing.
JK Rowling PLEASE write something more! But, does anyone have an idea about the shirts?
That was fun and yes it was short, but glad we got a glimpse of James and Sirius in their youth. They did say it would be about 800 words. Can't write that much in 800 words. Brilliant as usual! Loved all the detail and I wish there was more! Thanks Jo!
I have no intentions of reading it until the actual book comes out. I'm going to do a countdown on YouTube, make a calender countdown and everything until the charity postcard book arrives on my door step in 60ish days. :D xxxxx
fab. leaves lots to the imagination..... thank JK plese can we have more?
I meant after all of the credits, so it was clearly distinguished as a different story. It could say something like "20 Years Earlier" or something. I interpreted that Tonks & Lupin's kiss at the funeral was cut, not the whole scene in general. Might just be me though, I'll read again :)
Love it! Want more!! Need more!!! Siriusly!!!!
When she wrote that both boys had on matching shirts it made me think of the order of the phoenix. I'm not sure that they wore shirts advertising that they were in the order,lol, but it's what came to mind. It would be about the time Voldy first came to power too wouldn't it! She could write a prequel easy I think
*sighs* jo is amazing, isn't she? it was good, and i want more! jo, work on a prequel. lol.
I thought it was pretty good. Who was chasing them though? Death Eaters? MOM? My absolute favorite part is "Don't forget, Elvendorf, it's unisex!" ROFL! I want a T-shirt that says that!
that. was. so. amazing. I absolutely loved it! Way to go Jo!! yay potter and sirius. :D
OMG!!! That was amazing and hillarious!! Jo is fantastic!! I WANT MORE!!!!! I feel like crying now coz she's not gonna write anymore harry potter! :(
It would be funny, first 19 years laterand then 20 years earlier
I'll try to post this one more time
This is great!
this is fantastic!now all jo needs to do is give us the rest of the book.
That was so great. Reading something Jo written again was wonderful. I hope she still continues writing, even though we know it won't be Harry Potter. But her writing is still marvellous and so witty.
That was fantastic. JK should do more simple things like that when she has the time. Not a full fledged prequel but just mini stories to fill our appetite for more Harry. I am satisfied and extremely pleased. Thanks JKR!
actually it should have been upended (up-ended) not suspended and men, not mean. that was interesting but not what i expected or was hoping for. & i surely hope wilberforce, bathsheba, and elvendork werent names james was considering for harry!!
as pratty as the mauraders were in school I love stories about them!!!! This was an awesome look into the fun everyday lives that we missed in the seires due to the war and moldy-voldy. I love seeing Jmaes and Sirius tearing it up! Awesome look at the prequel that we will never have (tear...)
Sheesh, I HATE JK's handwriting!
I didn't have any trouble reading Jo's version, but I didn't want any future trouble, so I read the typed. I loved the story!
OMG- that was so totally awesome and koolio. thanks so mugh to jo for writing that and feeding my need for more hp.
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