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"I will take the Ring," he said, "though I do not know the way."
-- Frodo Baggins, The Fellowship of the Ring

"There is no good and evil, there is only power, and those too weak to seek it."
-- Voldemort, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

In the late 1920s, J.R.R. Tolkien started writing a fantastical story about magical creatures known as hobbits, elves, and dwarves, in a made up world he called Middle Earth, for the benefit of his children. The work he completed, The Hobbit, became the prelude to one of the great literary masterpieces of all time -- The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Some 70 years later, J.K. Rowling started writing a fantastical story about a different set of magical creatures known as witches and wizards, in a not so made up world called England, for the benefit of her daughter. That book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone here in the States), and the six books that followed in the series, have made Rowling the wealthiest woman in the world.

The authors share many similarities. Both are British, use initials in place of their first names, are famous for one major literary contribution (although Rowling, having the benefit of still being alive, will have many years to change that), and have had cinematic empires based on their works.

For those of you who want to take part in the Harry Potter (Scholastic Press, NYSE: SCHL) water cooler chatter but don't have the time to plow through Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, we have prepared this summary:

The last novel of the series covers the culmination of Harry's war with the evil Lord Voldemort. The story begins with the servants of Voldemort overwhelming the forces of good magic, taking over the Ministry of Magic and Hogwarts, where longtime evil ally Snape is placed in charge.

Harry and his friends Ron and Hermione are forced to go on the run to hide from Voldemort, whose single greatest ambition is to kill Harry, the only person who can destroy him.

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

Tom Barlow: The Harry Potter Finance Quiz
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.