A group of French school children in Salon-de-Provence, frustrated by the delay between the release of the latest Harry Potter book in English and the version in French, which is scheduled to appear on 26 October, decided to translate it themselves. They put the first five chapters on the Internet within days and caused a flurry of excitement at Gallimard Jeunesse, the French publishing house, who complained to the police.

The web site, which has since been closed down, was traced to a sixteen-year-old teenager in Salon, who was arrested but released when it emerged he had no financial motive. J. K. Rowling’s lawyers are waging a global battle against pirate editions, which include translations into local languages on the web, usually supported by on screen advertising. This particular translation astonished experts as it was said to be very professional.

The official French translator of ‘Harry Potter et les reliques de la mort’, Jean-François Menard, had a sense of humour failure when it was suggested he was too slow. ‘I only got my copy of the English original on the same day as everyone else, 21 July,’ he said.

October 2007