Potter book reprinted over error

Author JK Rowling has become a multi-millionaire

Publishers have been forced to reprint millions of copies of the latest Harry Potter book after an error was spotted in the text.

Bloomsbury say they were bombarded with letters and e-mails from eagle-eyed young readers of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the fourth in the hugely popular series.

In the book, Fudge the minister of magic is with Dumbledore, the headmaster, when his name changes to Crouch, a villain who disappeared earlier in the story.

We've had e-mails and letters from loads of children

Bloomsbury publishers

Huge sales in the UK and the US of the Harry Potter series, which is centred around an orphaned boy wizard, have made author JK Rowling a multi-millionaire.

The error in the fourth book of the series was spotted by publishing editors soon after the book went on sale on 8 July. The book sold more than 370,000 copies on its first day in the UK alone.

The mistake was corrected in subsequent reprints but hundreds of first edition owners contacted the publishers to highlight the error.

One of those who complained was Laila Banjar, of Paulton, Somerset.

She said: "I was just reading it and thought this can't be right.

"I e-mailed them and they were very nice about it."

I was just reading it and thought this can't be right

Laila Banjar
Potter fan

A Bloomsbury spokeswoman said: "We were already working on subsequent editions by the time this was spotted.

"One name was substituted for another by mistake, which may have caused some confusion in the story.

"We've had e-mails and letters from loads of children ever since, and we've written back to tell them they are right."

The spokeswoman said many editorial errors were spotted in first editions.

"It would be very unusual to withdraw books because of such a small error, particularly in this case when so many had been printed."