Harry Potter prequel is up for auction

An 800-word Harry Potter prequel is one of 13 card-sized works to be sold at a charity auction in London.

Waterstone’s Booksellers Ltd. says the cream-colored A5 papers -- each slightly bigger than a postcard -- were distributed to 13 authors and illustrators, including the boy wizard’s creator J.K. Rowling, Nobel Prize winner Doris Lessing and playwright Tom Stoppard.

Rowling used both sides of her card to handwrite a prequel to her seven-book Harry Potter saga, while Lessing penned a story about the power of reading. Stoppard wrote a short mystery.

The cards will go on sale at the “What’s Your Story?” auction June 10. The proceeds are to go to English PEN, the writers’ association, and the British charity Dyslexia Action. Copies of the cards will be collated into a book to be made available at the bookstore and online in August.