It will take £10 million to protect Harry Potter’s final secret

When the finished manuscript was taken by hand from London to New York, the lawyer for the book’s American publisher, Scholastic, sat on it during the flight.

With each successive Potter book, security has grown. Nothing has come close, however, to the arrangements for the seventh and the final. London-based Bloomsbury, which publishes the Potter books in Britain, has hired secure sites across the country to house the book prior to distribution early this week. It is understood that several dozen security teams will protect the sites round the clock. Experts say security staff with a guard dog will earn up to £30 an hour, up to £20 without.

Print factory workers in Britain have been threatened with the sack if they leak any details, while German publishers banned mobile phones and even packed lunches in the printing plant. Some employees reportedly had to work in near-darkness to prevent them from reading the book.

It is from Tuesday, however, when copies begin to be sent out to retailers, that the most crucial part of the security operation will come into effect. The trucks Bloomsbury will use are fitted with satellite tracking systems costing up to £1,000 each, which will reveal whether any of the vehicles deviate from their intended route. The books are in sealed pallets fitted with alarms to prevent tampering.

At one of the world’s biggest booksellers, Barnes and Noble in America, the books will be kept in padlocked trucks at the insistence of Scholastic. Amazon, the online retailer, has cordoned off special sections of its warehouse to ensure restricted access. All retailers have had to sign a legal embargo preventing them from divulging any of the book’s content or selling copies before the release time.

A spokesman for Borders, the bookshop chain, said the ban means “We agree not to open any of the books before midnight. We can’t even line the shelves before then.”

A spokesman for Bloomsbury said: “We have a litigation specialist poised 24 hours a day, seven days a week to deal with any breaches. It is our intention to enforce the embargo vigorously and seek an immediate injunction if required.”

While experts put the cost of all this at £10 million, the lengths to which publishers have gone are not surprising.

In recent weeks, Rowling has reportedly received letters from people asking her to reveal the ending of the book because their terminally-ill relative may not live until Saturday.

Booksellers across the globe expect record sales for a number of days. Jon Howells, a spokesman for the Waterstones chain, said: “Everyone wants to find out the ending for themselves. They don’t want to hear it second-hand. Putting The Da Vince Code against this book is like putting a bungalow next to the Great Pyramids.”