If there’s only one book that can really be described as ‘eagerly awaited’, it’s Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Love him or hate him, the next Harry Potter book has been ‘eagerly awaited’ by kids (and adults) around the world for about two years and for a while it looked like it wasn’t going to happen at all.

So, speaking hypothetically, if a journalist was sent a copy of what purported to be the manuscript - all four hundred and something pages of it - from an anonymous source, should he delete it before reading the first chapter?

If he did go and read the first chapter, but stopped there before he spoiled the rest of it for himself, should he discount it as a hoax because it included the word ‘mom’ and was formatted on Letter paper rather than A4 or put it down to the fact it was a localised version for the American market?

Or should he just accept the fact that nobody would go to the effort of writing a 400 page novel to hoax the world?

It’s all hypothetical, of course, but I’m sure that if all this happened and he scrolled through the chapter names before deleting it he’d think it was going to be a good one…

1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
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2. Harry Potter and the Curse of the Evil Supermarkets
   What a shame. As a 10-year publishing phenomenon reaches its climax it's been turned into nothing more than a supermarket price war. This morning, or...
   
   
3. Harry Potter and the Curse of the Supermarkets
   What a shame. As a 10-year publishing phenomenon reaches its climax it's been turned into nothing more than a supermarket price war. This morning, or...