Potter Publishers in Harry Situation

If only Scholastic could wave a magic wand and make the spoilers go away.

As it is, the only weapons in the publisher's arsenal are legal threats and karmic retribution, neither of which seem to be powerful deterrents against the throngs of leak-happy Harry Potter fans.

Despite what was, up until this week, airtight secrecy surrounding the release of the seventh and final boy-wizard installment, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, what appears to be a complete photographic reproduction of the eagerly awaited tome has popped up on a number of file-sharing pages and fansites.

The most widely disseminated version is a PDF file depicting all 36 chapters of the American version, complete with seven-page epilogue. In the photos, a hand is seen holding open the book, with each double-page layout photographed on a speckled carpet.

While the pages appear to be accurate, naysayers have already pointed out some potential red flags. For one, the book in the photographs ends on page 759, while online sellers such as Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com have previously listed it at 784 pages.

For her part, Potter mastermind J.K. Rowling—who has confirmed that at least two main characters would perish by story's end and who has spent the past few months pleading with fans to protect the integrity and secrecy of the ending—has lashed out at the influx of spoilers without confirming their authenticity.

"As launch night looms, let's all, please, ignore the misinformation popping up on the web and in the press on the plot of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," she wrote in a posting to her official Website Wednesday. "I'd like to ask everyone who calls themselves a Potter fan to help preserve the secrecy of the plot for all those who are looking forward to reading the book at the same time on publication day.

"In a very short time, you will know everything!"

Some, however, already know.

Earlier this week, online retailer deepdiscount.com sent out copies to customers who preordered Deathly Hallows. By Tuesday, a full four days before the official release, more than 1,000 copies were in the wild due to the shipping snafu.

Fans theorize that it is one of these copies that was hastily photographed and released online; other copies are already up for bid on eBay. The book, which has a list price of $34.99, is available via "Buy It Now" for a mere $250 (including overnight delivery) from a seller identified as "willpc."

"That's right—I've got one copy of Harry Potter 7, on July 17, and it can be yours as soon as July 19," reads the entry, which includes a photo of the book on a dated newspaper. "I don't work for a bookstore, and I don't have a magic wand—an online store shipped a copy early."

Deepdiscount.com has yet to comment on the early mailing, and it is not known whether it was a purposeful move or an honest mistake.

But Scholastic isn't waiting to find out. Harry Potter's U.S. publisher announced that it has taken "immediate legal action" against both the online retailer and Levy Home Entertainment, the Website's operator.

In papers filed Wednesday in Cook County Circuit Court in Chicago (where the retailer is based), Scholastic accuses the defendants of a "complete and flagrant violation of the agreements that they knew were part of the carefully constructed release of this eagerly awaited book." Scholastic is seeking unspecified damages.

The publisher also sought to downplay the effect of the leaks on the book's sales. Deathly Hallows has already registered more preorders than the previous six Potter books.

"The number of copies shipped is around one 100th of 1 percent of the total U.S. copies to go on sale at 12:01 a.m. on July 21st," Scholastic said. The first run is a record-smashing 12 million copies.

The company is also imploring those lucky readers who did receive advanced copies of the would-be bestseller to keep their packages hidden until Saturday.

"We ask everyone, especially the media, to preserve the fun and excitement for fans everywhere."

The publisher has proved to be an equal-opportunity spoiler snuffer, sending take-down notices to both the most authentic-seeming Internet postings as well as to fan fiction masquerading as spoilers. All the while, Scholastic has steadfastly refused to confirm the veracity of any of the purportedly leaked information.

"There is a lot of material on the Internet that claims to come from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, but anyone can post anything on the Internet, and you can't believe everything you see online," said Scholastic spokesman Kyle Good.

Rowling's U.K. publisher, Bloomsbury, is also keeping quiet about whether the pages are the real thing.

"People are being very clever putting stuff online," a spokesperson told the London Times. "There are many different versions, and it's easy to use Photoshop to make something look very real. We're asking people not to spoil the book for fans."

At least some technologically savvy fans have obliged. Theleakycauldron.org and mugglenet.com, two of the leading Potter fansites, have shunned such material and vowed to keep their pages free from would-be spoilers.

They're not the only ones. Several media outlets, including the Associated Press, have agreed not to disclose key plot points during the first days of the books release.

As are some retailers, who are doing their best to ensure a spoiler-free purchasing experience. Wal-Mart, for instance, has made its 1 million-plus employees pledge not to discuss the book with customers to allow them to "buy without fear of reveal."