Thousands of Asian Harry Potter fans are counting down to what has been dubbed ?P-day? with huge queues expected outside bookstores and a marketing blitzkrieg featuring secret train rides, fancy dress competitions and free breakfasts.

When the new Potter book Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is released on Saturday, children in select Indian homes will be sleeping in miniature castles, complete with fortress, turret and stone-effect loft bed versions of the Hogwarts castle.

Many less fortunate ones will be selling Harry Potter toys, tattoos and merchandise on the streets of India, demonstrating the all pervading reach and influence of the Potter phenomenon.

The new book hits shelves at one minute past midnight British Summer Time on Saturday, July 21, and anticipation, from Tokyo to New Delhi and from Sydney to Taiwan over how the last chapter ends may ensure it becomes the fastest-selling novel of all time.

Thousands of Potter fans dressed as wizards and witches will queue at shops, eager to learn the fate of Harry and his Hogwarts pals after author J.K. Rowling said she would kill off at least two characters.

Bookstores in the Philippines are expecting sell-out crowds.

In Australia?s, one bookshop is taking 1,146 Potter fans aged from 2 to 84 on a steam train ride to a secret destination before they get their hands on the new Potter.