The inimitable boy wizard Harry Potter is back in action after a long period of absence. Literally millions of fans have been waiting over three years for the fifth instalment in the series, which hits the shelves this weekend.
And The Order Of The Phoenix looks set to be another big earner for JK Rowling. Eight and a half million copies of the 800-page tome have been printed, and advanced orders in the US alone have topped one million.
Harry's latest adventure has been shrouded in secrecy, as the author and publishers worked diligently to stop details of the tale getting out. JK has even launched a £65 million lawsuit against one US newspaper, which published a sneak preview on its website.
She has revealed that one of the central characters is killed off in the story, however. Speaking in an interview, JK told of how she wept after writing the character out of the series. "I walked into the kitchen crying and my husband said to me: 'What on earth is wrong?' and I said, 'Well, I have just killed the person'."
JK, who once scraped a living on £60-a-week social welfare, is expected to earn £30 million from her latest work. She is already worth an estimated £280 million thanks to the first four instalments, which have sold 200 million copies in 55 different languages.
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
