To Whom It May Concern,

It has come to my attention that there are some who believe that Harry Potter, fledgling wizard and student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, is not a real person but merely a fictional character. As one favourably placed to know, I assert that Harry is indeed real. In evidence I offer that Harry Potter has a birth date and place and therefore a horoscope. Astrologers (even those who are Muggle-born) know that anyone with a birth chart is essentially real, and that astrology can offer insights into the character and destiny of such persons.

Careful readers of J. K. Rowling's eminently readable history of Master Potter (to wit, "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone") may indeed deduce the date and place of Harry's birth. However, drawing upon sources of my own, I may unequivocally state that Harry Potter was born on July 31, 1979, near Little Whinging, Surrey, England. My records do not reference the time of birth, nor is one likely to find Little Whinging on any Muggle map; however that place exists as certainly as does Platform 9-3/4, King's Cross station.

I shall conclude with the words of author Rowling, from page 17 of the American edition of the aforementioned book: "[Harry Potter] couldn't know that at this very moment, people meeting in secret all over the country were holding up their glasses and saying in hushed voices: 'To Harry Potter--the boy who lived!'"

Yours sincerely,

AD