Bogus 'Harry Potter' Hits China

Don't envy the Harry Potter fans in China snapping up copies of a fifth volume in the series—they're fake. The anonymously written Harry Potter and Leopard Walk Up to Dragon portrays the boy wizard as a fat, hairy dwarf and is selling fast on the streets of Beijing for about $1.50, according to the BBC.

"We have not found who wrote the book or where they come from," Zhang Deguang of the People's Literature Publishing House, Harry Potter's official Chinese publisher, told the Associated Press. The 198-page bogus novel claims to be the long-awaited fifth volume in J. K. Rowling's series and features her name and biography on the cover. A spokesperson for the Christopher Little Agency, Rowling's representative says, "As with all piracy matters throughout the world, we take this issue extremely seriously, and we are looking into the matter urgently."

Copies have appeared in wholesale markets and private bookstores throughout Beijing and are reportedly selling well, says Zhang. While police have threatened to fine vendors caught selling the book, it is not clear how the pirating author will be punished. Merchants continue to hawk bootleg merchandise across Beijing, despite China's repeated promises to crack down on intellectual property theft.

Eager fans awaiting the real thing —Rowling's Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is not due until next year—may or may not be satisfied with the pirated version, which sees the hero transformed after a "sour-sweet rain" and stripped of his powers by an evil dragon.

"Harry doesn't know how long it will take to wash the sticky cream cake off his face," the book begins. "For a civilized young man it is disgusting to have dirt on any part of his body. He lies in the high-quality china bathtub, keeps wiping his face, and thinks about Dudley's face, which is as fat as the bottom of Aunt Penny."