July 20 (Bloomberg) -- A U.K. children's charity has brought
in extra staff to man its phone lines in expectation of a deluge
of calls from distraught youngsters if Harry Potter dies.
``Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,'' the seventh and
final book in J.K. Rowling's series of adventures about the boy
wizard and his friends at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and
Wizardry, goes on sale tomorrow.
``For many children, Harry Potter and his friends have
become a major part of their childhood,'' said Kate Trench, a
spokeswoman for ChildLine, based in London, which provides
telephone support services for children. ``Excitement could give
way to sadness for those caught up in the huge build-up to the
seventh and final book.''
Speculation about the book's ending has been rife after
Rowling admitted two characters perish, with many predicting that
Harry himself will die. The New York Times, which said it bought
a copy of the book this week in New York, described the ending as
``a big screen, bone-chilling confrontation,'' providing ``an
epilogue that clearly lays out people's fates.''
The charity deals with reactions to the fate of fictional
and real people alike, according to Trench. ``When boy band Take
That split up, hundreds of distraught children contacted
ChildLine,'' Trench said in a statement today. ``Last year we
spoke to more than 6,000 children about bereavement, and many
more may call this year in relation to death of characters in
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.''