Internet abuzz with Harry Potter secrets

The Internet is awash with details of the last instalment in the adventures of the boy wizard and his friends from Hogwarts.

And French newspaper Le Parisien has revealed the fates of four of the main protagonists in the final instalment of the Harry Potter book series.

The multi-million pound operation to keep Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows under wraps until midnight tonight has failed to keep a lid on what happens next.

The French daily printed a three-paragraph summary of the book's epilogue upside down so readers could choose to ignore revelations about characters, whose survival was thrown into doubt after author J.K. Rowling said she intended to kill off two characters and gave one a reprieve.

Asda has also been accused of ruining the magic for its competitors by slashing the price of the hardback to £5.

This has infuriated the British publisher Bloomsbury, which had only just been persuaded to allow Asda to sell the book at all.

The supermarket had accused Bloomsbury of 'blatant profiteering and holding children to ransom' by setting the recommended retail price at £17.99.

Bloomsbury promptly banned Asda from selling the book, only relenting after a grovelling apology.

Asda, which had agreed to sell the book for £8.87, in line with its rivals, received its consignment of 500,000 copies yesterday - and promptly reduced the price to £5.

'We hate the fact it has been turned into a price war when we try to create a level playing field,' said a Bloomsbury source.

'Thousands of independent booksellers are going out of their way to create a magical atmosphere for fans rather than just offering a cheap price.' Last night Tesco and Waterstones refused to say whether they would also cut the price.

Bloomsbury and author JK Rowling have been dismayed at numerous leaks of the plot.

Bungling distributors in the U.S., who sent out 1,200 copies of the book four days early, certainly did not help.

Within hours hundreds of thousands of photographed pages of the 759-page book were being downloaded from the Internet with rumours worldwide of how the story ends.

The New York Times reported that several characters die.

The children's charity ChildLine is preparing for a flood of calls from young fans distraught at the death of a key player, whose identity the Daily Mail has learned but chosen not to reveal.

Miss Rowling said: 'I am staggered that some American newspapers have decided to publish purported spoilers in the form of reviews in complete disregard of the wishes of literally millions of readers, particularly children, who wanted to reach Harry's final destination by themselves in their own time.'