A short Harry Potter prequel written by JK Rowling has been sold at a Waterstone’s booksellers charity auction for £25,000.

The prequel to the seven-book series is set three years before Harry is born and features the characters Sirius Black and James Potter, Harry’s father. They get into trouble with a policeman before escaping with broomsticks, drumsticks and a little bit of magic.

The handwritten prequel comes almost a year after the last book in the boy wizard series, Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows, was launched.

Rowling said: “I had great fun writing the card and I’m absolutely delighted that it has raised £25,000 for worthy causes.”

Rowling has said she has no plans to write another novel about the boy wizard, but in December she sold a handwritten, leather-bound book of fairy tales she described as drawing on the series’ themes for nearly $4 million at auction. The money went to the Children’s Voice, a charity she co-founded in 2005.

Twelve other authors and illustrators also contributed cards to the charity auction, including Nobel Prize winner Doris Lessing and novelists Nick Hornby and Margaret Atwood.

Posted: 06|11|08 at 6:19 am. Filed under: UK News.