3 days…yup that’s the remaining time until the official release of J.K Rowling’s last and most awaited addition to the Harry Potter series. But even before 12:01 a.m. of July 21, a spoiler for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows has already transpired. While majority of Potter fans like myself still don’t know what became of Harry and his friends at the end of the book, some have already had the privilege…all because of the leaks on the Internet.

Reports say that the entire 759 pages of the new book found their way to the sharing site BitTorrent. The leaks were in the form of pictures of every page of the book. Being such, some of the contents, especially the early part of the story, were blurred… It is ironic though that the pictures of the much protected ending were said to be quite clear. Aside from the ending, the names of the 2 main characters that died in the book have already propagated widely on the net.

It is really baffling that leaks happened when the publisher has already done the strictest security actions. It’s also said that the publisher has assigned secret warehouses, 24-hours security and even satellite tracking system on trucks that were used for carrying the books to their designated locations. In the US, swift action is being made in order to put a stop to the leaks in various websites - blogs and photo-sharing sites.