Two characters will die in the final instalment of the Harry Potter series, author JK Rowling has revealed.
Speaking on Channel 4's Richard and Judy show, the 40-year-old writer would not be drawn on whether the boy wizard himself faces the chop.
But she said she understood why authors had killed off their main characters, saying that it stopped other people writing sequels to their books.
JK said that the seventh book was not finished, but she was "well into it".
She added: "I wrote the final chapter in something like 1990, so I've known exactly how the series is going to end.
"One character got a reprieve, but I have to say that two die that I didn't intend to die."
As for Harry, JK said: "I have never been tempted to kill him off before the final because I've always planned seven books and I want to finish on seven books.
"I'm not going to commit myself because I don't want the hate mail apart from anything else."