Harry Potter and Leopard-Walk-Up-to-Dragon
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Harry Potter and Leopard-Walk-Up-to-Dragon is the title (loosely translated into English) of an unauthorized 198-page book written and published in 2002. It was written and published in China, and it was seen as an attempt to profit from the worldwide popularity of the Harry Potter series of books. At that time the anticipation for the release of the fifth book in the series, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, had reached a fever pitch.
The book was quickly recognized as fake. J.K. Rowling (as well as movie rights holder Warner Bros.) took steps to stop its distribution. Nevertheless, copies of the book were briefly distributed around the world, including e-book copies traded on the Internet. When the actual novel Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was released in 2003, interest in the unauthorized book quickly faded.
Readers who have given Harry Potter and Leopard-Walk-Up-to-Dragon even a cursory read quickly noted many errors and inconsistencies between the book's story and the official series written by Rowling. The story centers around a struggle between Harry and his classmates at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and a mysterious wizard.
Characters well-known to fans of Rowling's series make an appearance — the Dursleys, Harry's friends Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, and his archrival Draco Malfoy. In several instances in the book, the master wizard Albus Dumbledore is referred to as "Gandalf."
The cover of the book shows a dark-haired, bespectacled boy in black robes riding a centaur (actually an illustration created by Warner Bros. to advertise the first film), which is battling a dragon (which appears to be Maleficent in dragon form from Disney's Sleeping Beauty).
In what is seen as a genuine homage to Rowling, the book includes a dedication to the owner of the house in Edinburgh, Scotland, where Rowling lives, and to the owner's 3-year-old granddaughter.
In November, 2002, the Bashu Publishing House, in the southwestern city of Chengdu, agreed to pay a £1,600 fine and publish an apology in China's Legal Times for printing and distributing the novel. The identity of the anonymous author of the book has not been discovered, as of 2004.
During its brief publishing run, the book sold well enough to inspire additional imitation Harry Potter books entitled "Harry Potter and the Golden Turtle and Harry Potter and the Crystal Vase. A sample opening of one of the books (translated from Chinese):
"Harry doesn't know how long it will take to wash the sticky cream cake off his face. For a civilised young man it is disgusting to have dirt on any part of his body. He lies in the high-quality bathtub, keeps wiping his face, and thinks about Dudley's face, which is as fat as the bottom of Aunt Petunia."
External links:
- Times of London report (http://www.boalt.org/biplog/archive/000107.html)
- English translation of several excerpts (http://www.young-0.com/php/index.php?pageid=excerpt)