Title of Harry Potter 7 revealed

JK Rowling has amassed a £540m fortune from writing

Author JK Rowling has revealed the title of the seventh and final Harry Potter book.

It will be called Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The announcement was made on the writer's official website.

Despite the publication date not being known, the book is tipped to be a big seller, like the rest in the series.

Speculation about the plot has surrounded the book after Rowling admitted two characters will die - some think it could be Harry Potter himself.

'Elated and overwrought'

The title has certainly got some fans excited.

Harry, 13, from Leicestershire emailed BBC Newsround and said: "It sounds interesting, but a bit sinister."

Book chain Waterstone's children's buyer, Sam Harrison, said the announcement had been greeted with "huge excitement" among Potter fans.

"This is a wonderfully intriguing and ominous title, with all the sense of magic and adventure that any true Potter fan has come to love and expect," Harrison added.

I'm now writing scenes that have been planned, in some cases, for a dozen years or even more JK Rowling

The last book, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, broke UK records by shifting just over two million copies on its first day of release.

Sales of all Harry Potter titles now total more than 52 million worldwide.

This week Rowling revealed how she has gone back to writing in cafes - as she did 13 years ago when starting to write about the boy wizard.

She has also admitted how she has been dreaming of the character.

Writing on her website she described it as an "epic dream" where she was Harry and the narrator simultaneously.

THE HARRY POTTER SERIES Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in the US) Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

In a recent web posting, she said she has been working hard on the last book.

"I'm now writing scenes that have been planned, in some cases, for a dozen years or even more," she said.

She also described feeling "alternately elated and overwrought" at writing it and joked she cannot decide if she wants to finish it or not.

The first four novels in the series have been turned into films, while the fifth, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, is currently in production and is due for release in July 2007.

Helena Bonham Carter joins the cast as the evil Bellatrix Lestrange and Imelda Staunton will play the part of dark arts teacher Dolores Umbridge.