*SPOILERS* Please post HBP leaks and rumours here... read at your peril!

[Guest]

[Roz]

Do I want to look at the US cover? With you guys if there are spoilers on the outside you are going to see them before you read the book anyway, so you might as well look - but for us folk in the UK it's a different story....... is it the sort of thing we wouldn't want to see?

[kbmum]

There are spoilers on the US front and back covers, although the tidbits in the artwork won't make much sense until we read the book.  Roz, if you don't want to see any spoilers, don't look at the US book.

The Bloomsbury back cover is a different story, since it has text.  We've seen a minute amount of text on JK's site (three chapter headings and a short description of a new male character), but cover gives some plot info.

[EmmasOneandOnly]

Bloomsbury has release the inside cover complete with plot summary. I've read it myself and I dont think its much of a spolier (the US cover usually has alot more spoilers thats why I think they havent posted it yet, they didnt for OotP) but I'm posting it here as a spoiler for all you guys. If you'd like to read it heres the link. http://www.bloomsbury.com/harrypotter/content.asp?sec=4&sec2=1&unart=yes&artTitle=Back%20Cover%20Copy%20Released

I'm also posting as a spolier, a close look at the HBP deluxe edition cover. This is on Scholastics site. Heres the link
http://www.scholastic.com/harrypotter/funstuff/art.htm

I'm also posting a comment I read about the Deluxe Edition. On a forum somone said that the man is the man spoken about behind J.K.s door last year. The info said

He looked rather like a lion. There were streaks of grey in mane of tawny hair and his bush eyebrow; he had keen, yellowish eyes behind a pair of wire-rimmed spectacles and a certain rangy, loping grace even thought he walked with a slight limp.   

If you walk with a limp you mostlikely carry a cane, am I right so it is possible the "X" character in this picture is possibly the character spoken of, possibly why we dont see his face.
 

[Roz]

I could be very very very wrong but something tells me that there is something kindly in her tone....

Can anyone remember whether we ever got a full description of Aberforth (Dumbledore's brother)?

[EmmasOneandOnly]

I dont know, its been a while since I read the last book.

[kbmum]

The Scholastic link doesn't work, and the Bloomsbury link has nothing because the site is being updated.

There was at least a partial description of Aberforth in OOTP.  Off the top of my head, I remember something about Harry thinking the man looked familiar.

[EmmasOneandOnly]

Try them now

[Roz]

Cindy would you indulge me and help me find the info on JK's site on the new character or has Mike transcribed the lot?

[EmmasOneandOnly]

I got this info from a screenshot of the picece from Veritaserum Photo Gallery

[kbmum]

The quote doesn't appear to be anywhere on JK's site at the moment, so I found it at The Leaky Cauldron.  There are a few minors differences:

He looked rather like an old lion. There were streaks of grey in his mane of tawny hair and his bushy eyebrows; he had keen yellowish eyes behind a pair of wire-rimmed spectacles and a certain rangy, loping grace even though he walked with a slight limp.

Since we only see the man from the back in the artwork, it's hard to tell if he's the same person described above.  It doesn't look like he has a "mane of tawny hair."  Maybe he put it up under his hat.

[Roz]

The only thing is that it struck me that the character on the book seemed short and stocky. Whereas I picture this guy with his "loping grace" as being much taller, but of course, that is only my interpretation.

[EmmasOneandOnly]

I got mine here. I didnt put in the Old before lion

http://www.veritaserum.com/galleries/displayimage.php?album=125&pos=2