World goes potty over final Harry book

Released on 21 July, the final book in the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows has already caused controversy before even making its way to the bookstores. Reports claim that the 759-page book has now been leaked on the internet despite extra security measures and round-the-clock surveillance. Some fans, who have downloaded the leaked version, however, claim the novel to be a piece of fanfiction.

Anyone remotely involved with the wizard has been sworn to strict secrecy. Griffin Press, which printed the previous books in the series, could neither confirm nor deny that it has printed Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, nor could it speak about any other matters related to the book.

The story of a courageous young wizard has made its once destitute author, JK Rowling, richer than the Queen. By February 2007, more than 325 million Harry Potter books had been sold worldwide, with the sales expected to continue further with the final instalment, which many have speculated sees the death of Harry.

But Harry's fate isn't the only thing that's being kept a secret. Allen & Unwin, the Australian publishers of the book, would not disclose figures regarding the book's print run.

"We don't talk about the print runs for any of our books," said a spokesman.

"With the last book [Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince], our distribution service processed orders for over 1 million copies. We expect that this one will be just as big; if not bigger."

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