I read today that British bookmakers had opened betting on who kills Harry Potter in the final book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Of course this is based on the assumption that Harry will die, which is by no means certain at this point. Apparently if he survives the release of the book, these bets will be void and the wagers refunded.

Anyway, according to the article I read, Voldemort is the odds-on favourite, at 4-5. Draco Malfoy is 6-1, but so is Ron Weasley for some reason. Presumably Ron finally gets jack of Harry getting all the limelight and offs him by sabotaging his Quidditch broom. A surprisingly strong performer is Harry himself, based on the idea that maybe he realises he has to sacrifice himself to save the wizarding world, and so deliberately does himself in.

As well as this fun, some bookies are taking bets on which major characters will die in book 7. I'm not going to reveal anything even remotely resembling a spoiler here, for the wrath of Harry Potter fans is not to be underestimated, but after the events of Order of the Phoenix and Half Blood Prince, and certain comments from J. K. Rowling herself, there may be some reason to suppose that a non-zero number of characters might be placed in some sort of situation where they may suffer potentially dangerous circumstances in Deathly Hallows. Or not. Anyway, people are laying bets on it.

You know, if Rowling wasn't already the richest person in the entire Universe*, she could make a killing placing bets through third parties.

* Hyperbole.