Resigned though I have become to seeing the name “Harry Potter” in articles containing little news and less truth, when The Scotsman decides to devote most of its front page (8 August) to several columns of total fabrication, the moment has come to protest.

As I, my publishers and my agent have stated since the publication of Goblet of Fire, in July 2000, there was never any intention of publishing the fifth Harry Potter book in 2001, nor has any deadline ever been set for the delivery of the manuscript.

These facts have been on record for over a year and, as children all over Britain have grasped them with ease, I am mystified to know why “Scotland’s national newspaper” is so slow on the uptake.

I made it clear last summer that I wanted to take the time to make sure that book five was not dashed off to meet a deadline, but was completed to my full satisfaction as its predecessors have been, as I was committed to producing two additional books for Comic Relief this year.

There is no writer’s block; on the contrary, when your journalists take a break from leaning on my doorbell, I am writing away very happily.

And while we are on the subject of non-news, some people seem to need reminding that wearing a swimsuit in the vicinity of a man in shorts does not constitute a marriage ceremony, even on Mauritius.

J K Rowling

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