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NEW YORK - JK Rowling said today she was both heartbroken and euphoric about wrapping up the long-awaited final book in the Harry Potter series, but gave no clues about the boy wizard's fate.
On her website, Rowling side-stepped speculation that the beloved Harry would be killed off in the seventh book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, saying fans would still have plenty to argue about at the book's end. The final instalment is due out July 21.
Rowling, who became the world's first billion-dollar author thanks to the success of the series and spin-off movies, said she always knew that Potter's story would end with the seventh book, but saying goodbye was difficult.
"Even while I'm mourning, though, I feel an incredible sense of achievement," Rowling wrote on jkrowling.com.
"I can hardly believe that I've finally written the ending I've been planning for so many years. I've never felt such a mixture of extreme emotions in my life, never dreamed I could feel simultaneously heartbroken and euphoric."
Rowling, who last year said at least two characters would die in the final book, said one thing had stopped her from "collapsing in a puddle of misery on the floor."
"While each of the previous Potter books has strong claims on my affections, Deathly Hallows is my favourite, and that is the most wonderful way to finish the series," she said.
Rowling said some Potter fans had expressed a more muted mixture of happiness and sadness at the prospect of the last book being published.
"If it comes as any consolation, I think that there will be plenty to continue arguing about, even after Deathly Hallows comes out. So if you're not yet ready to quit the message boards, do not despair," she said.
The release of the last book promises to be one of the biggest publishing events in recent years, with bookstores and online retailers bracing for another outbreak of Pottermania.
The series has sold an estimated 325 million copies world-wide and has a huge influence on the financial results of their US and British publishers, Scholastic Corp. and Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.
- REUTERS
