The Harry Potter Prequel is an 800-word short story written by J. K. Rowling, and was published online on 11 June 2008. Set about three years before the birth of Harry Potter, the story recounts an adventure experienced by Sirius Black and James Potter.

Two Muggle policemen PC Anderson and Sergeant Fisher are chasing a motorbike which is breaking the speed limit into a dead-end alley. They confront the two youths, and ask their names. After some joking, the boys introduce themselves as Sirius Black and James Potter. As the policemen attempt to arrest them for speeding and riding without helmets, three unidentified men on broomsticks fly down the alley towards them. James and Sirius use their wands to lift the police car up to form a barrier, and the broomstick riders crash into it. Sirius and James then leave the frightened policemen in the alley.

J. K. Rowling announced that she was writing a prequel story for the writers' association English PEN and Dyslexia Action. The story, handwritten on a card and signed by her, would then be auctioned off alongside thirteen similar cards from other authors on 11 June 2008, with the proceeds going to charity. The story card sold for £25,000 in the "What's Your Story?" auction at Waterstone's in Piccadilly, and the set raised around £47,150 for the two charities. The buyer of the Potter story card was Hira Digpal, president of Tokyo-based investment-banking consulting company Red-33. He had privately mentioned £50,000 as one possible bid by him. Rowling concluded the story card with the words, "From the prequel I am not working on – but that was fun!"

Harry Potter is a series of seven fantasy novels written by the British author J. K. Rowling. The books chronicle the adventures of a wizard, Harry Potter and his friends Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger, all of whom are students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The main story arc concerns Harry's quest to overcome the Dark wizard Lord Voldemort, whose aims are to become immortal, to conquer the wizarding world, subjugate non-magical people, and destroy all those who stand in his way, especially Harry Potter.

Since the release of the first novel Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone on 30 June 1997, the books have gained immense popularity, critical acclaim and commercial success worldwide. The series has also had some share of criticism, including concern for the increasingly dark tone. As of June 2011^[update], the book series has sold about 450 million copies, making it the best-selling books series in history and has been translated into 67 languages, and the last four books consecutively set records as the fastest-selling books in history.

Cody Walker (born Baltimore, Maryland, in 1967) is an American poet, essayist, and educator.

Walker holds a B.A. from the University of Wisconsin, an M.F.A. from the University of Arkansas, and a Ph.D. from the University of Washington.

A longtime writer-in-residence in Seattle Arts & Lectures' Writers in the Schools program, he was elected Seattle Poet Populist in 2007. He has been described as "Seattle's prince of the poetic one-two punch". In 2009, he spent a term as the Amy Clampitt Resident Fellow in Lenox, Massachusetts.

His work appears in Courtland Review, The Best American Poetry, Slate, Parnassus, Light, and The Yale Review. He currently teaches English at the University of Michigan, and writes regularly for The Kenyon Review.

He is a co-recipient of the 2009 Amy Clampitt Residency Award and author of the poetry collection Shuffle and Breakdown. Walker received the James Boatwright III Prize for Poetry from Shenandoah in 2003 and a Distinguished Teaching Award from the University of Washington in 2005. In 2010, he won Cartoon Caption Contest #226 in The New Yorker.

Selena Marie Gomez (born July 22, 1992) is an American actress and singer best known for portraying Alex Russo in the Emmy Award-winning Disney Channel television series Wizards of Waverly Place. She subsequently ventured into feature films and has starred in the television movies Another Cinderella Story, Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie, and Princess Protection Program. She made her starring theatrical film debut in Ramona and Beezus.

Her career has expanded into the music industry; Gomez is the lead singer and founder of the pop band Selena Gomez & the Scene, which has released three RIAA Gold certified studio albums, Kiss & Tell, A Year Without Rain, and When the Sun Goes Down, spawned three RIAA Platinum certified singles, "Naturally", "Who Says" and "Love You Like a Love Song" and charted four No. 1 Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs. Gomez has also contributed to the soundtracks of Tinker Bell, Another Cinderella Story, Wizards of Waverly Place, and Shake It Up after signing a record deal with Hollywood Records.