--- title: British Spies Worked to Prevent 'Harry Potter' Plot Leaks description: Bloomsbury publisher Nigel Newton described the climate of secrecy that enshrouded the publication of the 'Harry Potter' series. canonical: https://time.com/4288306/harry-potter-half-blood-prince-gchq-spies-leaks/ author: Nash Jenkins article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-04-11T09:11:11.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:06:16.091Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: British Spies Helped to Stop 'Harry Potter' Plot Leaks og:description: The series' publisher described the U.K. intelligence agency as "good guys" og:url: https://time.com/4288306/harry-potter-half-blood-prince-gchq-spies-leaks/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd5cc601668f05750/69888e795f570f638ab20679/gettyimages-53224333.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Amazon.com Prepares To Ship Latest Harry Potter Book og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: British Spies Helped to Stop 'Harry Potter' Plot Leaks twitter:description: The series' publisher described the U.K. intelligence agency as "good guys" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd5cc601668f05750/69888e795f570f638ab20679/gettyimages-53224333.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # British Spies Were Involved in Stopping _Harry Potter_ Plot Leaks > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account. ## Video: J.K. Rowling Reveals A 'Harry Potter' Play Is In The Works [Watch (HLS stream): J.K. Rowling Reveals A 'Harry Potter' Play Is In The Works](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/DGvt7frX.m3u8) (1:21)  _Published 2015-06-26. Author J.K. Rowling tweeted she's been working on a new play called_ by [Nash Jenkins](https://time.com/author/p-nash-jenkins/) ## Nash Jenkins Apr 11, 2016 9:11 AM UTC  Copies of the new Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, by author J.K. Rowling, are seen at the Amazon.com shipping facility July 11, 2005, in Fernley, Nev. Copies of the new Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, by author J.K. Rowling, are seen at the Amazon.com shipping facility July 11, 2005, in Fernley, Nev. Justin Sullivan—Getty Images by [Nash Jenkins](https://time.com/author/p-nash-jenkins/) ## Nash Jenkins Apr 11, 2016 9:11 AM UTC In the summer of 2005, British intelligence officials were monitoring a serious threat to the U.K.’s commercial interests: the possibility that a forthcoming _Harry Potter_ book had been leaked onto the Internet. In an [interview](http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2016/04/06/4437991.htm) last week with the Australian Broadcasting Corp. (ABC), Bloomsbury publisher Nigel Newton described the climate of secrecy that enshrouded the publication of the _Harry Potter_ series, which remain among the best-selling books of all time. He said that there were numerous attempts to expose the plots of the books before their scheduled publication — a security guard pilfered one copy and attempted to auction it off; people were digging through author J.K. Rowling’s garbage — which they combatted with measures verging on the extreme: stringent shipping schedules, guard dogs patrolling the printing facilities, and most notably, assistance from the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), the British analogue to the National Security Agency in the U.S. “The GCHQ rang me up and said, ‘We’ve detected an early copy of this book on the Internet,’” Newton said of one false alarm prior to the July 2005 publication of _Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. “_I got him to read a page to our editor, who said it was a fake.” “They’re good guys,” Newton said of the British surveillance organization. The _Sunday Times_ [contacted](http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-36010426) the GCHQ for a statement, according to the BBC, but the agency responded that it didn’t “comment on our own defense against the dark arts.” \[[_ABC_](http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2016/04/06/4437991.htm)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4288306/harry-potter-half-blood-prince-gchq-spies-leaks/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4288306/harry-potter-half-blood-prince-gchq-spies-leaks/"},"headline":"British Spies Were Involved in Stopping Harry Potter Plot Leaks","datePublished":"2016-04-11T09:11:11.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T08:06:16.091Z","description":"The series' publisher described the U.K. intelligence agency as \"good guys\"","url":"https://time.com/4288306/harry-potter-half-blood-prince-gchq-spies-leaks/","keywords":["Books","Harry Potter","J.K. 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