Potterheads are abuzz once again as news about the "Harry Potter" prequel being stolen in U.K. broke out. According to reports, the burglary happened sometime in mid-April. A burglar broke into a property in a Birmingham suburb. It is still undetermined if the crime was committed by a group or a lone person. Aside from the rare copy of the prequel, a large amount of jewelry was also reportedly stolen. For those who are wondering how rare or special the stolen copy is, it is an 800-word prequel written on a postcard by J.K. Rowling herself. To put simply, it is considered to be a collector's item and can very well be sold for thousands of dollars, or even millions.
According to reports, it is still unknown if the motive of the burglar(s) was to steal the jewelry or the "Harry Potter" prequel. Fans of J.K. Rowling's book series were actually thinking of a tragic scenario wherein the stolen copy was dispatched somewhere because the only intention of the thieves was to steal the jewelry. If that's the case, then the rare, handwritten copy of the prequel might be already sitting somewhere in the dumps, or worse, destroyed and reduced to a garbage-like entity.
Owner still hopes to see the stolen copy again
In the official Twitter account of West Midlands Police, a photo of the stolen postcard has been posted with a caption explaining that the said item was purchased to raise money for charity.
Following the brief description, the Twitter post encouraged the "Harry Potter" fans to call them if they have any information about the stolen collector's item.
If the main purpose of the burglary was to get a hold of the "Harry Potter" prequel and make money out of it, the police are making sure to catch the thieves by asking Potterheads to contact them if they encounter a sale or an auction featuring the item.
For all we know, the said item might have been smuggled into another part of the world, but it would still be recognized because the franchise is extremely popular worldwide.
The prequel that never was
While it would be fun to imagine that J.K. Rowling is busy working on a "Harry Potter" prequel, she made it clear in 2008 via the postscript of the postcard that she is not working on the said project.
However, she expressed that she had a lot of fun working on it.
The "Harry Potter" prequel was sold in 2008 for $32,000 during an auction to benefit Dyslexia Action and English PEN. J.K. Rowling herself has called upon the fans not to buy or support any sale or promotion connected to the lost rarity, and instead, call the authorities if they encounter it.
