Waiting for Rowling’s last spell

LONDON:

The final countdown is on, Harry Potter fans worldwide have only days to wait to learn the boy wizard’s fate in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, when the last instalment of the best-seller series finally goes on sale Saturday. “It is quite conceivable that it will be another 20 years or more before we see anything that gets close to the incredible worldwide popularity of Harry Potter,” said Christopher North, head of books at Amazon.co.uk.

While the last book’s plot remains a tightly guarded secret, Rowling has said that two characters will die. And even the cast of the latest Harry Potter film awaits the release with tense apprehension. Daniel Radcliffe, 17, who plays Harry, reticent to venture his own theories, has said Rowling would “come up with something far more interesting or exciting than anything we can ever predict or imagine.”

Rowling’s six books so far have sold 325 million copies in 64 languages and spawned a

successful film franchise, the latest of which, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix scored record-breaking openings on its release in cinemas last week.

Since the original publication in 1997 of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, Rowling has made an estimated one billion dollars. The final book is set to shatter even those records.

All eyes now are on the new book, and whether Harry will finally cast his last spell.

Facing global concern over Harry’s possible demise, Rowling last week offered a glimmer by refusing to close the door on eventually writing another Potter book.