Harry Potter and the Chocolate Factory?

Author: Eric Olsen — Published: Jul 14, 2005 at 11:34 am 10 comments

Sylum Mastropaolo, 9, from upstate New York state, for a time was the only possessor of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, currently tightly under wraps until the publication date of July 16.

Young Sylum bought the book from a store that mistakenly put it on display for less than an hour on Monday. "As far as I know, he is the only one [in the United States] who has the book," said a spokesman for US publishers Scholastic. Fourteen books were "inadvertently" sold in Canada.

However, after he had read but a few pages, the lad's parents returned the eagerly awaited sixth book in the Potter series to Scholastic, which said the family will be rewarded with Potteresque swag.

"We don't want to ruin it for other kids and take away from the experience of everyone reading it together," said Sylum's stepfather, Mike Muldoon.

Was this a test? Does Mastropaolo inherit the chocolate factory? Inquiring minds want to know.
Edited: PC

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  • 1 - DrPat

    Jul 14, 2005 at 11:39 am

    Good one, Eric - and for the kid's parents, too. Plus, he gets the distinction of being first in the US, -and- he gets the booty as well...

  • 2 - Eric Olsen

    Jul 14, 2005 at 11:51 am

    thanks DrP! I wonder how calculated the return was? Not much to lose and much to potentially gain, no? I feel cynical today

  • 3 - theco

    Jul 14, 2005 at 2:31 pm

    There were a couple Canadian books sold, several returned but not all.

  • 4 - Eric Olsen

    Jul 14, 2005 at 3:02 pm

    thanks co, I mentioned the Canadian situation here but hadn't heard the latest

  • 5 - Aaman

    Jul 14, 2005 at 3:19 pm

    I just got this email from Amazon,

    Hello from Amazon.com.

    We're happy to let you know that we've begun preparing your order for
    "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" for delivery.

    You should have the book(s) in your hands no later than 7:00 p.m. in
    your time zone on Saturday, July 16. Most books will be delivered by
    U.S. Mail, either with your regular mail delivery or in a separate,
    special mail delivery. Some orders may be delivered by UPS.

    Because our carriers are delivering hundreds of thousands of books on
    that day, we do ask that you wait until 7:00 p.m. before contacting
    customer service if you haven't received your order.

    Although we're not requiring a signature, we still recommend that
    someone be home to accept the package, as the driver may not leave it on
    your doorstep if they don't feel it's safe to do so.

    You'll receive our usual shipment confirmation e-mail after your package
    leaves our fulfillment center.


    Sweet!

  • 6 - Eric Olsen

    Jul 14, 2005 at 3:38 pm

    thanks, very interesting

  • 7 - Tan The Man

    Jul 14, 2005 at 7:17 pm

    I heard if they returned the books, they get an autograph from Rowling and a goodie bag.

  • 8 - Eric Olsen

    Jul 15, 2005 at 9:12 am

    yes, AND they get their books back tomorrow

  • 9 - Dawn

    Jul 15, 2005 at 10:22 am

    Daaaadddddy, I want a Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince book NOW Daddy, NOW!!!

  • 10 - Eric Olsen

    Jul 15, 2005 at 10:32 am

    there there, Veruca

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