But by Thursday afternoon, reports of embargo-breaking were already coming in. According to newspapers on Friday, the volume was on sale early in small bookshops in Rome, Pisa, Naples and several other towns .

"At midnight everyone here is asleep," said one bookshop owner who was found selling the book on Thursday in the Marche town of Fermo .

"It's true. There are some people who have betrayed the pact, and so measures will be taken against them," it said, explaining that guilty stores could lose their right to sell Harry Potter books. "We stipulated a written accord with bookshops on the sales ban," it said. "We feel it is our duty to protect the relationship of trust we have with our readers and to defend their rights with regard to promises made, especially where children are concerned," it added .