Spoiler alert – if you have not yet read the conclusion to the Harry Potter saga, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, you may want to skip this post, in which the ending is discussed.

For companies such as publisher Scholastic Corp. (NASDAQ:SCHL), the US publisher of the books, Time Warner (NYSE:TWX), whose Warner Brothers Studios produces the hugely profitable Harry Potter movies, and General Electric's (NYSE:GE) Universal Studios, which will open a Harry Potter theme park in 2009, the seventh and final Harry Potter book must have come as a great relief.

Despite rumors to the contrary, the title character did not die, and thereby cast a pall on the series and its offshoots. Rather, as I expected, Harry prevailed, and in general the core cast lived happily ever after. Even Snape, as I predicted, achieved redemption, but at a mortal cost.

In the coda to the novel, Harry Potter and his wife, the former Ginny Weasley, watch their children depart for Hogwarts. Also placing their children on the Hogworts train are Harry's best friends, the married couple Ron Weasley and Hermoine Granger.

This final scene, nineteen years after the climax of the book, will no doubt inspire a great deal of conversation, as it keeps open a couple of possibilities for future novels in the Potter universe. Harry is still young enough to have more adventures, perhaps as he takes on the role of the era's greatest wizard, much as Albus Dumbledore was in Potter's youth. Rowling could also, should she decide to continue the series, reboot the series with the next generation of Hogwarts students.

I don't expect her to return to the Potter storyline for a long time, if ever, but the lure will always be there; a huge, thirsty audience ready to demonstrate their devotion with their pocketbooks.

More Harry Potter news

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Gary E. Sattler: New York Times bestseller list leaves Harry Potter out
Tom Barlow: Harry Potter ending: A water cooler cheat sheet
Zac Bissonnette: With Harry Potter done, is it time for Scholastic to sell itself?
Zac Bissonnette: Is the last book the end of Potter mania?
Tom Barlow: Harry Potter and the Pots of Gold
Barry Summerlin: Harry Potter doesn't even need Muggle marketing
Julie Tilsner: Not even Harry can save bookstores from their fate
Peter Cohan: Harry Potter and the Pot of Gold
Tom Barlow: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Will Rowling kill off Harry?

His name is starting to pop up again. A year and a half after the release of "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince," Harry Potter is returning to the scene. Trailers for his latest movie, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," have begun popping up on the internet, and just yesterday, author J.K. Rowling announced the title to the seventh and last of the Harry Potter books - "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows."

All of the Harry Potter books have been released in the summer (between June and September), and with the title to the seventh installment being announced now, it looks as if the "Deathly Hallows" is likely to hit bookstore shelves in the summer of 2007.

Since the explosion in popularity of Harry Potter, the release of the books has catalyzed Scholastic's (NASDAQ:SCHL) shares; In the three months prior to the release of the last three books, Scholastic shares have risen ~30%, ~25% and ~7%, respectively. The shares have then tailed off each time, creating a release-based cycle. "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," the final episode in this seven-book series, should boost the publisher's stock in similar fashion.