JK Rowling channelled her inner Malfoy to get revenge on Stephen Fry over Harry Potter audiobook

'She thought for a moment, then said ‘no’, and hung up'

Jack Shepherd
Sunday 10 January 2016 11:57 GMT
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Don’t cross JK Rowling. Seriously, she can be dastardly to anyone who gets in her way. Luckily, we haven’t had to find out the hard way unlike Stephen Fry, who narrated the Harry Potter audiobooks.

On his latest stand-up tour, the soon-to-be ex-QI presenter reportedly explains that - when the pair first met - all he knew about the first book was that it was a children’s novel that had sold well enough to get a sequel.

"Good for you," he apparently told her, not realising that Harry Potter would go on to be the worldwide cultural phenomenon it is today.

Years later, he was doing his job as normal when, reading The Prisoner of Azkaban, he came across a part where the titular character pockets something.

“Harry pocketed it” was the exact phrase in the book. It turns out this phrase was particularly hard to say, with Fry accidentally saying “Harry pocketeded it” every time except for when speaking very slowly.

According to Petty Revenge Stories Tumblr, who wrote up Fry’s story: “They tried time and time again to get it right, but to no avail.

“Eventually, he called up JK and asked if he could say ‘Harry put it in his pocket’ instead. She thought for a moment, then said ‘no’, and hung up.

“The phrase ‘Harry pocketed it’ appeared in the next four books.”

Perhaps JK Rowling really does belong in Slytherin? In other Harry Potter news, actress Noma Dumezweni has responded to those who criticised her being cast as Hermione in The Cursed Child.

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