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Hacker claims to have spoiler on last Harry Potter book

Last Updated: Thursday, June 21, 2007 | 11:20 AM ET

CBC Arts

A computer hacker has posted what he or she claims are key plot details of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

The hacker, who goes by the name Gabriel, claims to have broken into a computer at London-based Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, which holds British rights to the last book in J.K. Rowling's series about the boy wizard.

Cover art for the final Harry Potter title was unveiled in March. A hacker claims to have key plot details.
(Raincoast Books)

Rowling has announced two major characters will die in the seventh and final book in the series, prompting intense speculation by fans.

But the details have been a closely guarded secret and Rowling publishers around the world have tried to keep the plot secure from spoilers.

A Bloomsbury spokesman declined comment on the hacker, but Kyle Good, a spokesman for U.S. distributor Scholastic Corp., warned readers to be skeptical about anything they read about the Potter book online.

"There is a whole lot of junk flying around," Good said, according to Reuters. "Consider this one more theory."

Gabriel posted information on the website InSecure.org, claiming to give away the ending of the book, among other secrets.

"We make this spoiler to make reading of the upcoming book useless and boring," Gabriel said in the posting.

Rowling told fans last month to be wary of false rumours regarding the plot.

"There will always be sad individuals who get their kicks from ruining other people's fun," she said on her website.

A copy of the sixth novel, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, surfaced in Britain about a month before its official release in July 2005. Two people were charged in connection with the theft.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is to be released July 21.

This story is now closed to commenting.

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Publishers unveil final Harry Potter cover

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