The Web has played an increasingly big role in the hubbub, as the books have been released over the last decade, with all sorts of online sites related to the young wizard’s exploits getting massive traffic.

On the downside, of course, has been the release of what look to be actual pages from JK Rowling’s seventh and last in her series: “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” which is quite a naughty thing to do.

I still read all the spoilers, of course, and am dying to tell Walt, a big fan of the Potter oeuvre (don’t hate me, but me, not so much). I will not, of course, as he can wait until the book is out to enjoy it.

It seems he will, given the review published today by the enterprising New York Times book critic Michiko Kakutani, who managed to buy a copy from a bookstore and post here.

She liked the book overall, writing that: “It is Ms. Rowling’s achievement in this series that she manages to make Harry both a familiar adolescent–coping with the banal frustrations of school and dating–and an epic hero, kin to everyone from the young King Arthur to Spider-Man and Luke Skywalker.”

But where would we be without videos about it all? Here are two on YouTube, of course.

One is a strangely satisfying puppet show (who knew Voldemort’s name could be sung to the Chordettes’ catchy “Lollipop” tune?).

The other a perfect takeoff of the 1970s sitcom “Welcome Back, Kotter” called, of course, “Welcome Back, Potter” and complete with a dumb laugh track–I never knew I could miss Arnold Horshack’s bray so much.

All this for naught. Because the book’s been leaked. And torrented. And uploaded to a number of image hosting sites as well–even as millions of preordered copies sit sealed in closely guarded boxes around the world.

Now granted, the leaked book is being distributed as a poor-quality scan–legible only if the reader possesses some rudimentary Photoshop skills and a lot of free time. Still, some $20 million was spent to prevent exactly this sort of thing from happening. And for what? Harry.Potter.and.the.Deathly.Hollows.Complete.jpg.screenshots.torrent? “We have a litigation specialist poised 24 hours a day, seven days a week to deal with any breaches,” a spokesman for the series’ British publisher, Bloomsbury, told the Telegraph last week. “It is our intention to enforce the embargo vigorously and seek an immediate injunction if required.”

Best get to work on that, guys.

All this for naught. Because the book’s been leaked. And torrented. And uploaded to a number of image hosting sites as well–even as millions of preordered copies sit sealed in closely guarded boxes around the world.

Now granted, the leaked book is being distributed as a poor-quality scan–legible only if the reader possesses some rudimentary Photoshop skills and a lot of free time. Still, some $20 million was spent to prevent exactly this sort of thing from happening. And for what? Harry.Potter.and.the.Deathly.Hollows.Complete.jpg.screenshots.torrent? “We have a litigation specialist poised 24 hours a day, seven days a week to deal with any breaches,” a spokesman for the series’ British publisher, Bloomsbury, told the Telegraph last week. “It is our intention to enforce the embargo vigorously and seek an immediate injunction if required.”

Best get to work on that, guys.