Andrew Preston, 9, was first person in line to receive new Harry Potter book at Chapters in St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada, 20 Jul 2007

Legions of Harry Potter fans around the world swarmed bookstores in the early hours of the morning Saturday, seizing the first opportunity to grab the seventh and last book of the series - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Despite leaked copies of the book appearing on the Internet in the lead-up to its release, Harry Potter fans showed they are still eager to know the fate of the boy wizard who is at the center of the series.

One over-excited fan in Australia - eager to know what happens in the end of the book - had to be rescued from a lake after he dived in to retrieve a coupon that reserved him a copy of the book.

The Deathly Hallows is expected to be another triumph for British author J.K. Rowling and her publisher. Twelve million copies are being printed for the United States alone.

The first six books in the Harry Potter series have sold 325 million copies worldwide, and have been translated into 64 languages.

Movies have been made of the first five books in the series, with a sixth film due out next year. They are among the highest grossing films of all time - earning about $3.5 billion so far.