LONDON, Dec 21: The name of the seventh and last Harry Potter book was unveiled on Thursday as “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” likely to whet the appetite of millions of eager fans worldwide.

The book, whose title appears on publisher Bloomsbury's website, will be the final instalment of J.K. Rowling's massively popular series featuring the schoolboy wizard.

A publication date has not yet been set for the book, which will follow Harry and friends during their final year at Hogwarts, the school for witches and wizards.

The first six books in the Potter series have sold more than 300 million copies worldwide and been translated into 63 languages, making Rowling Britain's highest-earning woman.

The novels have also been turned into hit films. “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix”, the fifth movie in the series, is currently being filmed and is due for release next year.

Rowling, 41, admitted on her website this week that she was under stress as she wrote the closing chapters of the final Potter novel -- in which she has hinted that the beloved hero may be killed off. “I'm now writing scenes that have been planned, in some cases, for a dozen years or even more,” Rowling revealed.

“I don't think anyone who has not been in a similar situation can possibly know how this feels. I am alternately elated and overwrought.—AFP