World News for Students of English

15-04-2016 07:00

Sixty-five thousand dollars is what it’ll cost you to take a seat on this chair that J.K. Rowling used when she wrote the “Harry Potter” series. The place that inspired “Harry Potter” and created millions of so-called Potterheads is hitting the auction block – and with a hefty price tag.

Once owned by J.K. Rowling, it comes with a letter from the author explaining how sad she was to let it go. And valuers say the steep bidding price for the two together is worth every penny because of their importance in “Harry Potter” history.

“Well, as a chair it’s probably not very exciting and, in fact, she said at that time that it was something you’d pick up in a junk shop for a tenner, but it’s really just a fact that she took the time to decorate it, and the fact that she actually wrote the books in it is important.

But the fact that she took the time to decorate it and sign it and say, ’I wrote ‘Harry Potter’ in this chair’, I think, is very important. There’s not that many things in the ‘Harry Potter’ world that are especially valuable because her books became so popular so fast, and then they were published in huge editions so they’re not that uncommon.”

And just in case it wasn’t clear enough, the sides of the chair are inscribed by the author herself with, “I wrote Harry Potter while sitting on this chair.”

The live auction will be held at New York City’s Waldorf Astoria Hotel and online for all the Potterheads out there who want to get their hands and their backsides on this significant seat.

Difficult words: Potterhead (a Harry Potter fan), hefty (large), junk shop (a shop selling second-hand things), tenner (a ten-pound note), huge (very big), inscribe (to write on something), significant (important).

Source: www.ondemandnews.com