The Harry Potter author JK Rowling's prequel on Tuesday in London raised 25,000 pounds, more than 31,500 euros at auction. Rowling's new story, a secret until now, describes events, which were settled before the first Harry Potter volume was released in 1997.
The prehistory was auctioned nearly a year after the publication of the last book in the series, Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows. In contrast to the enormous final tome, the prequal is only 800 words and was written on two sides of an A5 card last month.
The author, who sold world-wide more than 375 million of her Potter books, had written the text specifically to be auctioned for charitable purposes.
In addition to Rowling other famous authors also donated work for the fundraiser - among them Doris Lessing, Margaret Atwood, Sebastian Faulks and Nick Hornby. Doris Lessing's text brought in 3000 pounds (about 3800 euros).
Auction winnings will go to the English section of PEN the writer's association, which promotes understanding through literature, and Dyslexia Action, which works to help people, who despite normal intelligence have trouble reading and understanding the printed word.
