The final countdown is on. Harry Potter fans worldwide have only days to wait to learn the boy wizard's fate, when the last instalment of the best-seller series finally goes on sale on Saturday.
After an enormous build-up, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is expected to fly off the shelves in Britain and around the world.
"It is quite conceivable that it will be another 20 years or even longer 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.
Bookshops have vowed to open late to satisfy the anticipated massive demand for British author J.K. Rowling's last Potter book, amid huge speculation -- not to say fear -- among his fans over whether Harry will die.
While the last book's plot remains a tightly-guarded secret, Rowling has said that two characters will die.
But the prospect of Harry himself being killed off has sparked such concern that Waterstone's, a major bookseller, is planning a helpline for concerned readers.
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.
A theme park in Florida -- The Wizarding World of Harry Potter -- is expected to open in Orlando in late 2009.
Since the original publication in 1997 of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Rowling has made an estimated US$1 billion from the wizarding novels.
The final book is set to shatter even those records.
The novel's British publisher Bloomsbury said last month that export orders for the latest edition are 17 percent higher than the total for the sixth instalment, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
Such has been the commercial phenomenon of the series, that Harry Potter now holds six spots on internet retailer Amazon's top 10 all-time bestseller list, along with the likes of the Da Vinci Code, the Star Wars film trilogy DVD set, videogame Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and Coldplay album X&Y.
Last week, the strength of the Harry Potter brand was confirmed by US box office figures on the latest screen adaptation of his adventures.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix netted US$44.8 million in its first day, making it the biggest ever mid-week opening by a film in North America.
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.
In response to a Save Harry Internet campaign, which organizers are hoping a million people will sign up to by the book's release date, Rowling declared last week "never say never."
"I've always said that I wouldn't say never," she told the BBC. "I can't say I'll never write another book about that world just because I think, what do I know in 10 years' time? But I think it's unlikely."
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