CHICAGO, July 20 A Chicago-area mail carrier asked a woman on his route to return her copies of the new Harry Potter book, which he delivered before its official release.
Publishers have been working to ensure that distributors and retailers honor the Saturday publication date for "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," the seventh and highly anticipated final installment of author J.K. Rowling's series.
Belinda El-kaim told Chicago radio station WBBM she received two copies through the mail before the official date. A label on the outside of her package read, "Do Not Open Until July 21."
She said her reaction to the "do not open" label was: "Are you kidding? Open it. What do you think is going to happen, the Harry Potter police will come down the chimney, or we'll go to Azkaban (a prison in one of the books)?"
The book police didn't show up, but the postman did, asking that the books be returned because he feared he'd lose his job for delivering them before the novel was officially available, El-kaim said.
She returned them, but not before one of her daughters finished the book. She was keeping the ending to herself, her mom said.
Copyright 2007 by UPI
