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WOW, THAT'S . . . OBVIOUS. TELL US MORE: It's one of those "revelations" that's not a revelation.
J.K. Rowling says her heroic boy wizard Harry Potter, who is in an ongoing fight for his life with wizardry's dark forces, will survive the series' sixth book, which she is still writing.
That means Harry will be alive for a seventh book. Rowling has always said she would do a seven-book series. And Rowling, whose masterful storytelling has gained her slavish fans, world fame and multimillions of dollars, knows a book seven without Harry would generate as much interest as a book on the history of wheat germ. And force her and her family to flee to a secluded island for several years.
However, Rowling did throw out some interesting tidbits about the final two books during an appearance before 500 fans Sunday at the Edinburgh International Book Festival in Scotland. She told fans to focus on why the dark wizard trying to kill Harry, Voldemort, had not been killed himself when the opportunities arose.
According to the transcript of her appearance on the festival's Web site, Rowling said fans should be asking 1) Why did Voldemort survive when the death curse he tried to put on infant Harry rebounded back on him? And 2) Why didn't the most powerful good wizard, Dumbledore, kill him when he had the chance in the fifth book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix?
"I would advise you to concentrate on those two questions," Rowling said. "That might take you a bit further."
She wouldn't go so far as to say whether Harry would survive book seven.
SUPERHERO UPDATE: One actor is willing to say he's among those auditioning this week to be the next movie Superman. And you've never heard of him. Conrad Coleby is an Australian who is part of the ensemble cast of Australia's version of ER. And he told the country's Daily Telegraph newspaper he may not be a long shot: "You never know with Superman because they probably want someone unknown."
Get out those bulletproof bustiers and star-spangled hot pants: Lynda Carter , TV's Wonder Woman in the 1970s, is set to play the principal of a high school for superpowered teens in Sky High, a movie scheduled to begin shooting today. The role is not specified as being Wonder Woman, but we can always hope.
BODY MUTILATION UPDATE: Christina Aguilera has removed all her body piercings but one because she's very happy with her life now and the piercings remind her of unhappy times, London's Sun says. The piercing allowed to stay is in her right nipple. "That's for me," she tells the tabloid.
Demi Moore wants a knee lift because she thinks her knees are saggy, Britain's Daily Mail says. She has consulted with plastic surgeon Brian Novack, who previously did work on her. British plastic surgeon Alex Karidis tells the newspaper that knees are a hard area to do work on because the scars can't be hidden.
Sharon Fink can be reached at 727 893-8525 or fink@sptimes.com