Will Harry Potter die?

It’s the question on the minds of billions of people across the galaxy as they await their favorite wizard’s fate in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

And while J.K. Rowling isn’t giving away any spoilers about her book, she is opening up about how it felt to finish penning this iconic series: sad. The author says she broke down in tears as she finished completed the seventh and last Harry Potter novel.

“I was in a hotel room on my own. I was sobbing my heart out,” she tells the BBC’s Jonathan Ross.

“I downed half a bottle of champagne from the mini-bar in one and went home with mascara all over my face. That was really tough.”

Wow. That’s more emotional than we got when we heard Brody Jenner had turned his man-whore attention to Hilary Duff. Stay away from him, girl!

But Rowling also felt other emotions upon completing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, due out July 21.

“Finishing the book is a relief,” Rowling told People magazine. “I can feel more relaxed. I felt euphoria, devastated, when I finished one chapter near the end. I absolutely howled, it had been planned for so long.”

The author also divulges her inspiration for the three main characters. Harry Potter, she says, is “totally imaginary,” but Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) is a bit like her younger self (”I was quite swotty [nerdy] when I was a kid”) and Ron Weasley is “a lot like my oldest friend Sean.”

Finally, there is one Harry Potter spoiler the writer will reveal: the word “scar” is NOT the final word in the book.

“It was so for ages, and now it’s not,” she says. “Scar is quite near the end, but it’s not the last word.”

That doesn’t help us much, though. Nevertheless, we’re more excited for this to be released than Nicole Richie is to have a baby.

Nothing is a secret for very long in the world of entertainment these days. We practically knew Kate Walsh was signed up for a Grey’s Anatomy spinoff before she did.

With this in mind, J.K. Rowling is pleading with fans of her world-renowned series: Don’t give away any Harry Potter spoilers.

The final chapter in the journey of this young magician is set to hit stores on July 21 when Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is released. More people may actually read it that day than visit The Hollywood Gossip. But we understand.

As the date approaches - and celebrity gossip sites learn tidbits about the tome - Rowling is afraid this information will ruin the story for readers.

“We’re a little under three months away, now, and the first distant rumblings of the weirdness that usually precedes a Harry Potter publication can be heard on the horizon,” Rowling wrote on her website on Monday.

“I want the readers who have, in many instances, grown up with Harry, to embark on the last adventure they will share with him without knowing where they are they going.”

It’s an understandable concern. The number of online searches for the phrase “Harry Potter Book 7 Spoilers” has been climbing across various search engines for weeks now. It’s almost as popular a topic as Tricia Helfer nude pics.

But perhaps Rowling should focus on another issue:

Daniel Radcliffe appears to have moved on from the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to breast-staring 101. The author may wish to do something about that.

If fans can get the image of Daniel Radcliffe and a horse out of their heads, they’ll be excited to learn the following:

Author J.K. Rowling has announced a released date for the final tome in the Harry Potter series.

7/21/07.

On that date, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will be more sought after than those elusive Jayden James Federline pictures.

Meanwhile, the next Harry Potter movie hits screens this summer. It’s gonna be a magical few months.

Literally.

Here’s something almost as shocking as Rosie O’Donnell criticizing someone:

Oprah Winfrey tops Forbes magazine’s current List of the 20 Richest Women in Entertainment.

Winfrey is estimated to have made $1.5 billion in her 20-plus year career, followed by Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, 41, who has made $1 billion since Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone was published nine years ago.

The only woman on the list with jail time on her record, Martha Stewart, came in third with $638 million.

Madonna ranks fourth with $325 million.

Finishing out the top ten are:

• Mariah Carey ($225 million)
• Janet Jackson ($150 million)
• Julia Roberts ($140 million)
• Jennifer Lopez ($110 million)
• Jennifer Aniston ($110 million)

The magazine also counts Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen as one person. Which makes sense given how scary they both look.