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An 800-word hand-written story by bestselling author J.K. Rowling, which she describes as a prequel to the Harry Potter boy wizard books, sold for 25,000 pounds ($ 49,000) at a charity auction recently. Thirteen writers and illustrators donated original short stories on notebook-sized pieces of card to Waterstone’s book store chain which sold them to benefit English PEN, which champions freedom of expression, and Dyslexia Action. Rowling’s tale accounted for more than half the night’s proceeds of 47,150 pounds, although it could yet be considered a literary bargain. In December, a hand-written, illustrated book of wizardry by Rowling fetched 1.95 million pounds at another charity auction, nearly 40 times its expected price. "I had great fun writing the card and I’m absolutely delighted that it has raised 25,000 pounds for two such worthy causes," the 42-year-old said in a statement. The story is set three years before Harry Potter is born and features the characters Sirius Black and Harry’s father James. It opens with a youthful Sirius and James cornered by two irate policemen at the end of a high-speed motorcycle chase. After an exchange of words with the policemen, the two teenagers make their escape using a touch of magic. The card concludes with the words "From the prequel I am not working on — but that was fun!", an apparent reference to continued speculation that Rowling is planning or has already begun an eighth Harry Potter adventure. When it was published nearly a year ago, the seventh Harry Potter instalment became the fastest selling book ever. The series has sold more than 350 million copies worldwide and has been translated into 65 languages, and Rowling is believed to be the first billionaire author. Other contributors to the charity auction included Nobel laureate Doris Lessing, whose story fetched 3,000 pounds, playwright Tom Stoppard (4,000 pounds), illustrator Axel Scheffler (2,700) and novelist Sabastian Faulks (2,500). The stories will be available to read at www.waterstones.com. — Reuters
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