New York, March 29
What picture shows a dramatic gold and orange sky and a teenage boy in glasses reaching upward?

It's the cover to the seventh and final Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, coming out July 21. As always, the cover was designed by illustrator Mary GrandPre, US publisher Scholastic, Inc, announced on Wednesday.

"The structures around Harry show evident destruction and in the shadows behind him, we see outlines of other people," David Saylor, Scholastic's art director, said in a statement.

"For the first time, the cover is a wraparound. On the back cover spidery hands are outstretched toward Harry. Only when the book is opened does one see a powerful image of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, his glowing red eyes peering out from his hood."

J K Rowling's fantasy series has sold more than 325 million copies worldwide. "Deathly Hallows" has an announced first printing of 12 million in the United States alone.

The cover for the children's edition released by Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, Rowling's British publisher, shows an adult-looking Harry, Hermione and Ron. The adult edition has a photograph of a locket bearing a serpentine "S" — believed to be the "horcrux" in which Lord Voldemort keeps a fragment of his soul. — AP