Harry Potter "prequel" sold for $49,000

An 800-word hand-written story by bestselling author J.K. Rowling, which she describes as a prequel to the Harry Potter boy wizard books, sold for 25,000 pounds ($49,000) at a charity auction on Tuesday.

Thirteen writers and illustrators donated original short stories on notebook-sized pieces of card to Waterstone's book store chain which sold them to benefit English PEN, which champions freedom of expression, and Dyslexia Action.

Rowling's tale accounted for more than half the night's proceeds of 47,150 pounds, although it could yet be considered a literary bargain.