--- title: J.K. Rowling Responds to Harry Potter Book Burning description: J.K. Rowling had a few choice words for a former fan who tweeted at her to say she had burned her Harry Potter books. canonical: https://time.com/4657055/j-k-rowling-twitter-harry-potter-book-burning/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-02-01T21:40:12.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:02:53.186Z og:title: J.K. Rowling Shuts Down Readers Who Burned Harry Potter Books og:description: The author doesn't mince words og:url: https://time.com/4657055/j-k-rowling-twitter-harry-potter-book-burning/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: J.K. Rowling Shuts Down Readers Who Burned Harry Potter Books twitter:description: The author doesn't mince words twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # J.K. Rowling Is Shutting Down Readers Who Burned All Their _Harry Potter_ Books > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME The Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition The Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. The day's top headlines, curated by TIME editors. The Brief brings TIME's perspective to the day's most important stories, helping readers understand not just what is happening, but why it matters. It combines original reporting and analysis with the best of TIME, spanning politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=b6adbc39-5799-47ff-a870-7c18483deeb3&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named Apparently Isn't As Bad As Donald Trump [Watch (HLS stream): He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named Apparently Isn't As Bad As Donald Trump](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/bAyHxPZ1.m3u8) (0:46)  _Published 2015-12-08. Trump's recent calls to stop all Muslims from entering the U.S. have prompted JK Rowling and others to compare him to Voldemort._  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Feb 1, 2017 9:40 PM UTC  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Feb 1, 2017 9:40 PM UTC After one former _Harry Potter_ fan tweeted at [J.K. Rowling](http://time.com/4609349/j-k-rowling-new-books-twitter/) to say she had burned her [_Harry Potter_ books](http://time.com/4581632/jk-rowling-harry-potter-book-syria/) in response to the author’s criticism of [President Donald Trump](http://time.com/4655165/donald-trump-meme-gifs-executive-orders/), Rowling had a few choice words for the disgruntled Twitter user. “Guess it’s true what they say: you can lead a girl to books about the rise and fall of an autocrat, but you still can’t make her think,” she captioned a screenshot of the online message, which read, “just burned all my _Harry Potter_ books after being a fan for 17 years. _The Phil\[osopher’s\] Stone_ was one of the first books I EVER read. I’m upset it has to be that way.. You embarrassed me, disgusted me, and I will never read your work again.” > [](https://twitter.com/jk%5Frowling/status/826776134125772800) This was the second time in two days Rowling shut down the idea of burning her work, with the first takedown coming Tuesday morning. “Well, the fumes from the DVDs might be toxic and I’ve still got your money, so by all means borrow my lighter,” she wrote in response to a Twitter user threatening to burn both her books and movies. > [](https://twitter.com/jk%5Frowling/status/826407039861653504) ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] Wow, thank you. Thank you so much. [ MUSIC ] Aah! [ LAUGH ] [ MUSIC ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4657055/j-k-rowling-twitter-harry-potter-book-burning/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4657055/j-k-rowling-twitter-harry-potter-book-burning/"},"headline":"J.K. 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