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At some point before the release of the seventh Harry Potter book, someone had taken the fanfiction "The Seventh Horcrux" by Melindaleo, and packaged it as an ebook intended to look like a leaked copy of the real book.

I vaguely recall seeing a copy of this being passed around at the time (though the person I knew who had it refused to let me read it), and I've encountered many examples of people on the internet who read the fake book, thought it was the real thing, and didn't realize until several years later when they tried reading the book again.

It is easy to find the fanfic in question online, but what I want is the file that was going around purporting to be the real thing.

Where can I find this file?

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    This has been bothering me for some time, so I shall be offering a perpetual 300 point bounty to anyone who can provide the actual file and some type of reasonable proof that it's the legit unlegit thing.
    – ibid
    Commented Jul 23, 2021 at 6:50
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    Holy smokes, whomever scrubbed the files/download locations did a good job. I've been searching, and you're right, the file just seems to be gone. What a fun hunt
    – Sensoray
    Commented Jul 28, 2021 at 13:55
  • Do you remember finding that file somewhere on any website online back then? If you do, you could retrieve that (now probably dead) link and try your luck on the Wayback Machine/archive.org. That's what I've been doing the past few months to retrieve old macromedia and flash games that don't exist anymore.
    – Clockwork
    Commented Aug 23, 2021 at 6:49
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    @Clockwork - The only time I ever saw the file was when someone showed it to me in person, the file having been passed around offline as well.
    – ibid
    Commented Aug 23, 2021 at 14:42
  • Not sure exactly which version of the file you are looking for but I have one in pdf format. I can send it to you through email or upload it in google drive and link here, if it's the version you're interested in. I think I might have found it in rapishare or some similar file sharing site, can't really remember.
    – user13267
    Commented Oct 6, 2021 at 7:23

2 Answers 2

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https://www.fanfiction.net/s/2818538/1/The-Seventh-Horcrux

This is the story that I had read when I was trying to pirate a "leaked" version of the book. I ended up pasting it into a MySpace Bulletin for folks to read.

Everyone I shared it with (early teenagers) were also under the impression it was the real deal.

As someone who read what I believe you're talking about, this is probably it.

I had access to a convincing .rtf file I'd found on LimeWire. My sister, who also read it, has confirmed that it's the same fanfic that was floating around at the time.

The part that rings a bell with me is the terribly awkward bit in Chapter 4 involving push-up bras.

Short of someone having the actual file with some sort of download/creation date, anecdotal might be as good as you'll get.

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  • Creating fake sequels and new albums was a fad prank in p2p days. I doubt you'll find a direct download link outside of a p2p.
    – Aww_Geez
    Commented Jul 23, 2021 at 19:19
  • If you wanna extract the useful info from this post, it's probably that the file lies in the depths of ancient p2p folders of internet cretins of old.
    – Aww_Geez
    Commented Jul 23, 2021 at 19:29
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    While I do appreciate the acetadote, and an rtf fits with my recollection of this having been a word doc, I'm really looking for the file itself, not the ff.net link to the story it was using.
    – ibid
    Commented Jul 23, 2021 at 19:45
  • I can't get over how similar this is to the actual book. Was this released before Deathly Hallows ?
    – GamerGypps
    Commented Aug 23, 2021 at 14:43
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Here's one I downloaded in pdf format
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tMxt9ux2tyQBCIqB_4sJhUfr52z6WPqR/view?usp=sharing
It was probably from rapidshare or similar file sharing site which was linked in a forum
It was being shared as a leaked version of the final Harry Potter book and I think it was even before the name of the final book was released
Hopefully this is the version you were looking for
I had to encrypt it because it was getiing automatically blocked
The password is password

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  • Are you sure that's the right link?
    – fez
    Commented Nov 11, 2021 at 14:35
  • Looks like google blocked it i didnt know they did that
    – user13267
    Commented Nov 11, 2021 at 14:53
  • @fez try this one password is password. Let me know if it doesn't work
    – user13267
    Commented Nov 11, 2021 at 15:00
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    @NJohnny - Yes, I know which story it is, and the story in question is still easily available online. I'm specifically looking for the dressed up ebook that was being passed around. I understand that most people probably deleted it, which is why I'm offering a perpetual bounty if anyone can still find it.
    – ibid
    Commented Nov 11, 2021 at 23:18
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    @ibid actually i might have renamed the file to what it is now. I think i downloaded this before the name of the final book was even released, but it has been so long i genuinely don't remember. If the pdf font and overall look and feel didn't jog any memories maybe this wasn't the file you were thinking about.
    – user13267
    Commented Nov 12, 2021 at 0:13

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