The British author says her move to kill off one or more of the popular characters in her next book will stun her legions of both child and adult fans.

J K Rowling - a publishing phenomenon

"I am writing about someone, Voldermort, who is evil," she told September's issue of Time magazine.

"The only way to show how evil he is, is to take a life, to kill someone the reader really cares about," Rowling continued.

So will be it be Harry, or his best friends Hermione or Ron? Rowling gives no clues.

As a single mother, who lives in Edinburgh, Rowling has become a publishing phenomenon with her Harry Potter books: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone .... the Chamber of Secrets and ... the Prisoner of Azkaban.

These first three, in a planned series of seven, tell the story of the young orphan Harry who is really a wizard.

They have sold nearly two million copies in Britain and more than five million in the US.

The first Harry Potter book - the Philosopher's Stone - was still number one on the New York Times bestseller list for hardbacks last Sunday, after 38 weeks.

Is this the end of Harry?

The third, the Prisoner of Azkaban, has also been successful. In America, eager fans unable to wait for it to reach bookstores, were buying it on the Internet.

As a result, it was second in the bestseller list of Amazon.com. The books have also been translated into 28 languages.