Rowling Finishes Fifth 'Harry Potter' Book

Posted Monday, November 11, 2002 at 3:08 PM Central

by John Couture

While the United States desperately awaits Friday's release of Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, the book's writer J.K. Rowling gave Potter fans the world over reason to rejoice this week. Rowling announced that she's finally finished "Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix," the fifth book in the immensely popular series of books centered on a young wizard's rise through the Hogwart's School of Wizardry.

The book, which is already over a year late, is the longest volume to date, at 38 chapters, but Rowling insisted that she's still needs to "tweak it a tiny bit more" before she turns it over to her publisher. Industry insiders predict that the new Harry Potter book could be on shelves as early as the Spring.