At least two characters will die in the seventh, and final HARRY POTTER book, but author J.K. Rowling won’t reveal who.

Rowling, who is still writing the book, said that the final chapter, however, has been written for a long time.

“The final chapter is hidden away, although it’s now changed very slightly,” she said in an interview today on Britain’s Channel 4. “One character got a reprieve, but I have to say two die that I didn’t intend to die.” The author implied that the doomed characters would be major players, not extras, and that they’d face pure evil.

Rowling said she does understand the temptation to kill of the main character of successful series. “I’ve never been tempted to kill [Harry] off before the end of book seven, because I always planned seven books and that’s where I want to go. I can completely understand, however, the mentality of an author who thinks, ‘Well, I’m going to kill them off because that means there can be no non-author-written sequels…so it will end with me, and after I’m dead and gone they won’t be able to bring back the character.’”

The fifth film adaptation, HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX, is scheduled for release on July 13, 2007.