Harry Potter Book Mistakenly Sold in New York  7/13/05

A New York shop accidentally sold a copy of the hotly anticipated Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince prior to Saturday's (16JUL05) stringent release date - and have ordered the customer to return it.

Mandy Muldoon and her son Sylum Mastropaolo, nine, saw the JK Rowling books for sale at the pharmacy and immediately bought it.

But store manager Christine Ekblom is convinced this was the only copy sold, and quickly removed the embargoed publications from public reach.

She explains, "They were pulled off an hour after they were put on the shelves. It was a mistake."

Sylum's step-father Mike Muldoon says, "We're going to do the right thing. We don't want to ruin it for other kids and take away from the experience of everyone reading it together."

Kyle Good, a spokeswoman for Scholastic publishing, promises Sylum his own copy along with a gift pack as a gesture of gratitude.

Publishers have attempted to keep the latest release in the fantasy saga top secret - but they were foiled last Thursday (07JUL05) when fourteen books were inadvertently sold in Canada.

A judge commanded the customers to stay silent about the book, and forbade them to sell it or even look at it before Saturday.