2 mn order for Harry Potter and the Deathly Ha

Over two million people across the globe have pre-ordered the seventh and last book in the Harry Potter series to ensure they are among the first to discover the boy wizard's fate.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will be released next Saturday, marking the final chapter in an extraordinary publishing phenomenon.

Since the first book in the series was published in 1997, the magic of the wizarding world, Hogwarts School and Harry's battle against dark wizard Lord Voldemort have proved massively popular with children and adults. Such is the anticipation around the final book that worldwide advance sales have topped two million, according to Amazon. This is well above the previous record of 1.5 million for the sixth instalment, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

Britain's Royal Mail has spent six months planning how to deliver 600,000 editions of the blockbuster on Saturday -- that is, on average, one copy for every 43

homes across Britain.

The operation will see 180 extra trucks and an additional train service used to distribute the books from retailers' warehouses to 1,400 delivery offices across the country on Friday evening and the early hours of Saturday.

Alex Batchelor, Royal Mail's marketing director told The Daily Telegraph: "We have been working closely with retailers for more than six months to plan our Harry Potter delivery operation with military precision.

Postmen and women across the UK will be putting in a magical effort to ensure the delivery of these books is as successful as our performance for the previous two editions of Harry Potter."