Who is The Half Blood Prince?  7/8/05

With Just 9 Days To Go Before the Publication of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Scholastic Reveals Results of On-Line Poll Over 300,000 Votes Received

NEW YORK, July 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Scholastic Inc., the global children's publishing and media company, announced today that the Shrieking Shack poll on the Company's Harry Potter website ( http://www.scholastic.com/harrypotter ) has received over 300,000 votes responding to the question "Who is the Half-Blood Prince?" Over 43% of the voters believe it is a new character.

The heavily-trafficked Scholastic Harry Potter website has been receiving 15,000-20,000 unique visits per day in recent weeks. There are eleven male characters who have received votes including Godric Gryffindor and Neville Longbottom who are tied for second with 9% of the votes. Other characters are: Seamus Finnigan (8%), Professor Dumbledore (7%), Professor Snape (6%), Hagrid (5%), Dean Thomas (3%), Professor Lupin (3%), Ron Weasley (3%), Draco Malfoy (3%) and Sirius Black (2%).

"'Who is the Half-Blood Prince?' is the subject of great speculation among readers who are counting the days to the July 16th release of the new Harry Potter book," said Barbara Marcus, Executive Vice President, Scholastic. "Fans are also flocking to the Scholastic Harry Potter website to find a midnight party where they can celebrate in the final hours."

Scholastic's Harry Potter website provides an online guide to over 5,000 midnight parties nationwide where fans can enter their city and state and find a celebratory party to attend in their community. The site also features a unique downloadable countdown clock which includes days, hours, minutes, seconds and a Harry Potter "fact of the day" for each day leading up to publication.

The fastest-selling book in history, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, J.K. Rowling's fifth Harry Potter book, was released on June 21, 2003 with a first printing of 6.8 million. It sold 5 million copies in the first 24 hours. All five Harry Potter books, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, as well as Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, have been number one bestsellers in the United States, Britain, and around the world. Rowling's sixth book, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, has an initial printing of 10.8 million. The American editions of the Harry Potter books are published under Scholastic's Arthur A. Levine imprint.

Scholastic Corporation (Nasdaq: SCHL) is the world's largest publisher and distributor of children's books and a leader in educational technology. Scholastic creates quality educational and entertaining materials and products for use in school and at home, including children's books, magazines, technology-based products, teacher materials, television programming, film, videos and toys. The Company distributes its products and services through a variety of channels, including proprietary school-based book clubs, school- based book fairs, and school-based and direct-to-home continuity programs; retail stores, schools, libraries and television networks; and the Company's Internet site, http://www.scholastic.com . SOURCE Scholastic Corporation

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