J.K. Rowling Reveals She Graffitied Hotel When Writing Harry Potter

J.K. Rowling doesn’t exactly have a reputation for misbehaving, but on Monday she revealed on Twitter that even she has dabbled in vandalism. After finishing the final installment of the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Rowling left her mark on a bust in the hotel room she was staying at. The bust was of the Greek god Hermes, and Rowling wrote: “Finished writing Harry Potter + the Deathly Hallows in this room (652) on 11th Jan 2007.”

Finished Hallows 9 yrs ago today. Celebrated by graffiti-ing a bust in my hotel room. Never do this. It's wrong.

 — @jk_rowling

The hotel was the Balmoral in Edinburgh, which Rowling professed her love for in an interview with Oprah in 2009. Rowling explained that one day during the final stages of writing the book, her dogs were barking, all her kids were home and the window cleaner was coming, and so she decided to throw money at her problem and rent a room at the Balmoral so she could have some peace to finish her writing. And that’s exactly what she did. Rowling also mentioned adding half a bottle of champagne to her celebrations, in response to a fan question on Twitter.

The location of Rowling’s writing space for her final Harry Potter book was revealed in a TV documentary back in 2007, and ever since, fans with deep pockets have been staying at the same room in order to experience a bit of Harry Potter history. Back in 2008 Rowling paid about £1,000, but these days the room goes for a bit more than £1,400. The room features include the desk Rowling wrote at, the bust, which has now been encased in glass, as well as an owl knocker in honor of the many owls in the Harry Potter books.