It's a time when many people all around the world are mesmerized by magic. It's the time of the final battle between the Boy Wonder and the Bad Guy. Everyone knows who is the favorite to win the battle. The only question that remains is how. When fans and critics alike are waiting with baited breath to know how Rowling unravels the plot in the last book of the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, some smart asses (allegedly) steal the book and reveal the entire plot. Millions of dollars that went into the marketing has gone down the drain. Millions of fans have been left with the feeling of frustration. And then there are people who actually paid to be the first ones to read, who are now left behind in the race by their more radical, geeky and unscrupulous peers. Shame, really, isn't it?

Let us suppose that the (leaked) book is really the original. So what are the ramifications? A loss in sales… That eerie feeling that nothing intellectual can be protected now.. Or, just frustration for the loyal fans of Harry Potter… Being the last book, most people who hold Harry (and hence Rowling) dear would want to buy the book. For many people, the last book of the series is kind of a souvenir. For some others, a book is a convenience. I guess these people cannot be stopped from buying the book (if they haven't done it by now). So where does the loss in sales come from? From the people who would prefer to read the book on their laptops or desktops? It does not seem that their population is significant enough to cause any harm. This population would consist mostly of young adults, probably the least of Rowling's fans. They would have read from downloaded pdfs anyway.

Now let us suppose that the leaked book is not the original… To make it look pretty much the original, someone must have put in a lot of effort to just print that book. I guess the intellectual property is well protected in this case. Frustrated fans will breathe a sigh of relief. The impatient and unscrupulous ones have been fooled. Good triumphs over evil. God is still alive. Everyone will laugh at the people who took the trouble of printing the book for the little pleasure they have had.

That's not the end of it though. Let us look at another scenario. What if Bloomsbury and Scholastic print a book (with a different story) and leak it? Now that's interesting! But why would it do that? For many reasons… An important reason could be that by coming up with its own fake version, it would preempt many people who would want to leak it. In fact, the timing of the release of the book is indicative. The books have been transported to the stores; the chances of leakage are high now. Two, It is just more advertising isn't it? It would reinforce the idea of Harry Potter being the most sought after series. Catches the eye of people who still haven't been 'spellbound'. May be, we can have a few more of those young people reading the books. Three, there could be two different endings now. Choose the one you want. In fact one would expect the marketing folks to be creative. After all, this is the last one.

However, there are some (ok there are many) weak points in the argument that the leaked book is a fake. The book is good (guilty of reading it)… Really well written… Definitely a treat for a Harry Potter fan… You also get that feeling that it has been written by Rowling (it very well could be). Then, the question of why Bloomsbury would go all the way to protect a book hat would hit the streets (and very soon the web also) in a couple of days. The sales lost don't appear to be so much. It seems too much effort. May be it is. If anyone else has written the book, then the person is definitely a big fan. Why would such a person harm the prospects of the book?

However, it is worth pondering over the fact that a couple of things that were (supposed) to happen in the book seem to be missing. And there is this lingering feeling that this IS THE book, although, its always fun to develop conspiracy theories. That's one way of weaving stories. When you are sitting idle not knowing what to do, some crazy thoughts race through your mind and you blog... Wish I had a pensive.