Save Harry!

There is a possiblity that Harry Potter dies in the 7th book of the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which is due out at midnight, 20 July 2007. I hope he doesn't . . . and so do many others.

Reuters: Potter fans beg Rowling to "Save Harry!"---

LONDON (Reuters) - Thousands of Harry Potter fans have signed a petition urging J.K. Rowling to keep writing novels about the boy wizard after she admitted she could "never say never" to more books.

The "Save Harry!" petition calls on Rowling to reverse her decision to end the bestselling series with the seventh and final installment, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows."

"Millions, perhaps billions of us, love reading his adventures and we never want them to end," says the online petition, launched on Monday at www.saveharrypotter.co.uk.

But what does Rowling think?

"I think that Harry's story comes to quite a clear end in book seven," she told the BBC at the weekend. "But I have always said that I wouldn't say never.

"I can't say I will never write another book about that world, just because I think: 'What do I know, in 10 years' time I might want to return to it'. But I think it is unlikely."

A glimmer of hope!


As promised:

Rowling said some characters will die in the last book, but wouldn't say if the boy wizard is among them: "It's not a bloodbath, but it's more than two," she said.

I am sure that I will cry when I read next weekend (can you believe it?). Rowling "broke down in tears during the completion of her final book" in the series.

You can sign the petition to "Save Harry!" here.

One thing I am worried about---terrified even---is some absolute idiot driving past the bookstore as we all leave that night and shouting spoilers. After Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince came out and I finished reading it, I found a horrid little video online. Some dreadful guy got the book, looked at who died, and drove past a line outside a bookstore shouting the information while videotaping it. People started shrieking. I think I will if that happens. :) Seriously, though.

And I am glad to know I am not the only one worried about this.

Now, as the July 21 release of the seventh and final book in the series, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," approaches, fans who have waited the better part of a decade to find out the ultimate fate of Harry, his friends and his nemeses are taking no chances.

But how far do they have to go? Must they close their eyes, cover their ears and scream, "LALALALALALALA?"

Pretty much.

In fact, if you want to get in touch with a rabid Harry Potter fan on the weekend of July 21-22, you might be out of luck. Readers are planning media blackouts — no computers, no cell phones, no TV, no radio. And if that's not enough, they're threatening to get physical.

"I'll beat the crap out of the person who spoils it for me," Pritthish Chakraborty wrote in an e-mail. Chakraborty, 17, who runs a fan Web site, Harry Potter Beyond, in his native Bangladesh, was spoiled two years ago when a "friend" sent a picture message to his cell phone of the page describing Dumbledore's death.

Many fans don't want to give up the excitement and camaraderie of a midnight release party, but they know they're putting themselves at risk.

"We advise people — I know this is terrible — to bring headphones to the book release and put them on as they leave the store so they're not subject to the idiot across the street screaming the end to them," said Melissa Anelli, webmaster of The Leaky Cauldron, a prominent Harry Potter fan site.

Some excellent advice. I won't be on the internet around that time, until I finish reading it.

When do you plan to get Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows?

Are you worried about people spoiling it for you?