Harry Potter Fictional Character

Let it begin: the countdown, the party planning, the predictions, the meaning of it all. The tears -- for the end of Harry Potter. The world's most anticipated book finale, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," will come out midnight, July 21, according to author J.K. Rowling and her British and U.S. publishers, Bloomsbury and Scholastic Inc. Ten years, and a few hundred million sales, after the first Potter book was released, Rowling will wrap up the magical adventures of the boy wizard.

Breaking its earlier record, Scholastic Inc. announced Wednesday that it would flood the market this summer with 12 million copies of the seventh, and final, Harry Potter book: "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows." The previous title, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," had a first printing of 10.8 million copies in 2005 and sold 6.9 million copies in the first 24 hours, making it the fastest-selling book in history, according to the publisher.

When J.K. Rowling's publishers announced that the final book in the Harry Potter series would hit stores this July, the agonizing began in earnest. Would she kill him? Could she kill him? Was there any point in reading if she did? No, not Harry Potter. Severus Snape. For a surprisingly large number of Potter fans, mostly adult ones, the fate of the intrepid boy wizard -- you know, the one the books are ostensibly about -- isn't nearly as interesting as what will happen to his ex-professor.

No peeking. The publisher of the new Harry Potter novel has strict rules for libraries handling the book this summer. Among them: Libraries must limit the number of employees who handle the books before the July 21 release and provide names and contact information for each branch manager, according to the contract from Scholastic Inc. "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" is the final book in J.K. Rowling's popular series about the boy wizard.

J.K. Rowling has a request for those with inside dirt on her seventh and final Harry Potter book: Please keep it to yourself. "We're a little under three months away, now, and the first distant rumblings of the weirdness that usually precedes a Harry Potter publication can be heard on the horizon," Rowling wrote on her website Monday.

Harry Potter will soon be working his wizardry in Florida with a 20-acre attraction that could spawn Hogwarts castles at theme parks worldwide. On Thursday, Warner Bros. Entertainment and Universal Orlando Resort took the wraps off the $200-million-plus "The Wizarding World of Harry Potter," capturing the amusement park industry's most sought- after cast of characters. The project, expected to open in late 2009, extends the global juggernaut of British author J.K.

Warner Bros., the studio behind the "Harry Potter" blockbusters, could find itself in an awkward position when author J.K. Rowling lets the black cat out of the bag next month about the ultimate fate of her characters.

The mystery surrounding the end to fictional British boy wizard Harry Potter's saga deepened Wednesday with a computer hacker posting what he said were key plot details and a publisher warning that the details could be fake. The hacker, who goes by the name "Gabriel," claims to have taken a digital copy of author J.K. Rowling's seventh and final book, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," by breaking into a computer at London-based Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.

WITH a few weeks to kill before the July 21 release of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," the seventh and final book in the epic J.K. Rowling series, many anxious readers across the globe are biding their time by conjuring up predictions about the fate of everyone's favorite wizard. Though the plot lines remain under lock and key, here are a few things we know for sure about the release of the concluding tale: * Author J.K. Rowling will embark on a rare tour to read to L.A.

AS the embodiment of Harry Potter from the time of the first film's release in 2001, Daniel Radcliffe has grown up with his character and, as he approaches his 18th birthday, has signed on for the final two films. On the eve of the release of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," Radcliffe reflects on his personal and professional growth as well as the darker nature of the later story lines. You were 11 when you took on the part of Harry Potter, having had just one small film role.