J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter Chair

The chair in which JK Rowling sat to compose two of the "Harry Potter" books was auctioned off for a whopping £278,000 ($391,186) in New York. On April 6, an unknown private buyer purchased the 1930s oak chair from Heritage Auctions.

It is one of four mismatched chairs handed by the government to the author to furnish her previous council flat in Edinburgh, where she lived as a destitute single mother before rising to fame. The famous chair, which Rowling sat on to write the first drafts of "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" and "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets," has a replacement burlap seat decorated with a red thistle and the chair maker's initials printed on the seat.

Rowling painted the chair in gold and rose, writing along the seat apron: "I wrote Harry Potter while sitting on this chair." She also added a range of Hogwarts references, including the Sorting Hat's comment: " "You may not find me pretty, but don't judge on what you see."

The J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter Chair was first auctioned off by the 50-year-old author in 2002, with the earnings going to charity. In 2009, it was resold for £19,555 ($27,502). Gerald Gray of Greater Manchester, the chair's vendor, intends to donate a portion of the money to charity.

Price: $27,502