After 17 years of plotting the best-selling life of Harry Potter, how is J.K. Rowling, author of the “Harry Potter” series, going to wrap up Potter’s final wizarding adventures? The anticipation of the final book has spurred many rumors and opinions about which Rowling comments on her Web site, www.jkrowling.com.

But, after Rowling confirmed that some major characters would die in the seventh book, the question that seems to be on the minds of “Harry Potter” fans around the world is who those people will be. Will it be Harry, Ron or Hermione?

Becky Van Leeuwen, senior in communication studies, said, “If it’s not Harry [who dies], it has to be someone close to him.”

Van Leeuwen, who began reading after one of her friend’s aunts suggested it, said she read the first three books within a week of the recommendation.

“I have read them all – I preordered the last two and you can start preordering the next one soon,” Van Leeuwen said.

Preorders are now available at most major retailers in the United States.

Kelly Anderson, senior in liberal studies, said she felt someone dies simply based on the title Rowling has chosen.

Anderson, who has also read the entire series, said, “It’s the last book – I know a lot of people are upset.”

With speculation rampant, it doesn’t appear that the recently released book jackets will give much insight to “Potter” fans regarding the life or death of Harry in “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.” But FYI asked a couple of fans for their takes on the upcoming book.

Title opinions

Though it has been revealed the some main characters will not make it, the title is unhelpful in determining who will survive.

“It is difficult to tie her [Rowling’s] titles to the story line,” Van Leeuwen said. She said Rowling delays the explanation of the title in each book.

The “Hallows” could be referring to a cemetery or a scene of a battle. Rowling could also be alluding to the hallowed halls of Hogwarts.

Opinions about the U.K. children’s version

Although Anderson said she wasn’t fond of the children’s version of the jacket, she thought the pile of jewels from which the trio is being pulled might represent [Gringott’s] bank.

Van Leeuwen said she thought the sword on the jacket could be the sword of Gryffindor that Harry used to kill the basilisk in the second book in the series.

The U.K. children’s version was obviously created to lure young readers into the magic, action-filled events of the story, and Van Leeuwen agreed that the jacket shows more action than the U.S. versions ever have.

Opinions about the U.K. adult version

“The adult version of the book jacket seems to hide the fact that it’s a kid’s book,” Anderson said. In fact, Anderson compared the cover to those typically used by romance author Danielle Steel.

The serpentine “S” engraved on the locket appears to represent Slytherin, which would also link to Lord Voldemort. Also, in the fifth book in the series, Harry and his friends find a heavy locket they are unable to open, and it is implied that it could be a horcrux Harry needs to destroy.

Opinions about the U.S. version

Anderson said she felt the U.S. book jacket tells us nothing at all. Agreeing with Anderson, Van Leeuwen said that there isn’t much detail in the U.S. jacket, however, it is similar to the rest of the book jackets released for the series in the United States.

The similarities between the three jackets are few and far between. The one similar characteristic appears to be a circular shape. The U.K. children’s version shows the trio of main characters falling through a circle, the U.S. version shows Potter with part of a circular shape behind him and the U.K. version shows us a oval locket.

Inside flap released with the book jacket by Bloomsbury:

“Harry has been burdened with a dark, dangerous and seemingly impossible task: that of locating and destroying Voldemort’s remaining Horcruxes. Never has Harry felt so alone, or faced a future so full of shadows. But Harry must somehow find within himself the strength to complete the task he has been given. He must leave the warmth, safety and companionship of The Burrow and follow without fear of hesitation the inexorable path laid out for him.

In this final, seventh installment of the Harry Potter series, J.K. Rowling unveils in spectacular fashion the answers to the many questions that have been so eagerly awaited. The spellbinding, richly woven narrative, which plunges, twists and turns at a breathtaking pace, confirms the author as a mistress of storytelling, whose books will be read, reread and read again.”