Hurry up Harry

Children everywhere will be going spare this Christmas with news that JK Rowling has completed the sixth Harry Potter book.

16:48 21 December 2004

Children everywhere will be going spare this Christmas with news that JK Rowling has completed the sixth Harry Potter book.

Details of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, to give it its full title, were expected to appear on the author's website on Christmas Day, but Rowling's pregnancy has given her plenty of spare time to finish the next instalment.

According to a message posted on her website today, she has been able "to tinker with the manuscript to my satisfaction and I am as happy as I have ever been with the end result".

Rowling's UK publisher Bloomsbury is set to confirm the official release date for the much-anticipated work in the next few months.

Writing on her website, Rowling said: "I know you all expected this to happen on Christmas Day.

"But I was sure that those of you who celebrate Christmas have better things to do on the day itself than fight your way into my study, whereas those of you who don't celebrate Christmas would definitely prefer not to wait until the 25th."

As the hype machine gains momentum for what promises to be yet another bestseller for Rowling, the author has already given a number of hints as to the key plot points of the sixth book, including the death of a main character.