Little, Brown

Little, Brown and Company is a real-world, or Muggle, publishing house. Its significance in the context of the Harry Potter universe stems from its role as one of the original publishers of the supplementary books Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Quidditch Through the Ages. These books were written by J.K. Rowling and released in 2001 to raise funds for the charity Comic Relief.

The UK division of Little, Brown entered into a unique partnership with Bloomsbury, the primary UK publisher of the Harry Potter series, and Scholastic, the primary US publisher, to co-publish the first editions of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Quidditch Through the Ages in March 2001. This collaboration was specifically for the charitable purpose of supporting Comic Relief. The involvement of multiple major publishers was an unusual arrangement designed to maximize the reach and distribution of the books, thereby increasing the potential funds raised for the charity. Little, Brown's participation was crucial to the project's success.

As a publisher, Little, Brown's “possessions” in relation to the Wizarding World are the co-held publishing rights for the original editions of the following works:

• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2001 Comic Relief Edition)
• Quidditch Through the Ages (2001 Comic Relief Edition)

• Bloomsbury and Scholastic: Little, Brown worked in a collaborative partnership with Bloomsbury in the United Kingdom and Scholastic in the United States. This professional relationship was established to publish and distribute the Comic Relief tie-in books to the widest possible audience.
• Comic Relief: Little, Brown was a key corporate partner in the fundraising project initiated by J.K. Rowling. The company helped produce and market the books from which all author royalties and publisher profits were donated to the charity.
• J.K. Rowling: As the author, J.K. Rowling entrusted Little, Brown, alongside her primary publishers, with the publication of her first supplementary works for the series, extending her professional relationship beyond her core publishers for this charitable cause.

The company was founded in the Muggle world in 1837 by Charles Coffin Little and James Brown, from whom it derives its real-world name.

Little, Brown is a real-world publishing company. Its inclusion in a Wizarding World encyclopedia is due to its direct, official role in producing supplementary materials for the series. The copyright page of the original 2001 editions of the companion books explicitly lists Little, Brown as a publisher alongside Bloomsbury and Scholastic. Later, J.K. Rowling would work more extensively with Little, Brown, which became the publisher for her adult novels, including The Casual Vacancy and the Cormoran Strike series written under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith. (J.K. Rowling's official website)