A visit to J K Rowling's web site (http://www.jkrowling.com/) could get you a lot more than information on the author's whereabouts.

Hidden amid the masses of odds and ends that adorn her crowded table is a brief preview of the unreleased, sixth book in the Harry Potter series!

It's called Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. That much fans know.

However, if they successfully crack a code on the site, they are rewarded with an excerpt, part of which reads: 'He looked rather like an old lion. Streaks of grey in his tawny hair and his bushy eyebrows; he had keen yellowish eyes behind a pair of wire-rimmed spectacles and a certain rangy, loping grace even though he walked with a slight limp.'

Who is being described? Your guess is as good as ours. Rowling's not saying.

The author, 39, is expecting her third child, but has reassured fans that pregnancy will not delay the completion of the book. Interestingly, the site's 'Rumours' section also reveals that among the titles tossed around for the next book were The Pillar of Storgé and The Toenail of Icklibogg.