But who's going to die already?

Author J.K. Rowling was no closer to revealing the fate of the boy wizard Harry Potter at a reading at Radio City Music Hall in New York, but instead made comments about the seventh and final book in the series that will worry readers even more.

"Some will loathe it, some will love it, but that's the way it should be," she says at a Tuesday (Aug. 1) benefit reading alongside Stephen King and John Irving in an event billed as "An Evening with Harry, Carrie & Garp," report news sources. She also added that in "an epic saga, the hero has to fight alone."

On a UK talk show in June, Rowling revealed that two main characters will perish in the finale, which she's currently still writing. Readers don't know who they'd rather see spared: Harry, his pals Ron and Hermione, or one of the other number of Hogwarts students and teachers that have become familiar, beloved characters.

Fellow author Irving is gunning for the title character's survival: "I have my fingers crossed for Harry."

Prolific author King gave a more cryptic answer: "I just want the story to be fair. I love that series. I have total confidence in her. I just don't want him to go over Reichenbach Falls," referring to the way literary sleuth Sherlock Holmes died. The comment could be construed as King's wish for Harry to live or his preference for Harry to have a more meaningful, specatcular death.

Proceeds from the Tuesday and Wednesday readings will benefit Doctors Without Borders and the Haven Foundation, begun by King to help artists left uninsured by accidents or illnesses.

Rowling's seven-volume children's book series has become such a pop culture phenomenon, adults have deigned to admit they're fans and kids have learned that reading can be cool. Fans line up overnight in anticipation of the release of each subsequent volume, and even in the Fox film "The Devil Wears Prada," Anne Hathaway's character is instructed to do the impossible: obtain a copy of the full, as-yet unpublished manuscript for the seventh book in the series.

The fifth installment, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," is the current volume being adapted for the screen starring returning actors Daniel Radcliffe as Harry, Rupert Grint as Ron and Emma Watson as Hermione. A July 2007 release is scheduled.