It may not be the ending Harry Potter fans are hoping for, but the film's teenage stars predict Harry will die at the end of the series, Ron will turn evil and Hermione may end up with him.

"People are going to hate me for saying this but I've always had the suspicion that Harry might die," Daniel Radcliffe (Harry) told a news conference on Thursday ahead of the British release next week of the third film in the series.

 The young wizard's fate in the promised seventh and final book is a closely guarded secret but the author has included more and more intriguing connections between Harry and his arch-enemy, the evil Voldemort.

"Harry and Voldemort have got the same core in them, which you see in the fourth book. The only way Voldemort could die is if Harry dies as well," Radcliffe said.

Rupert Grint, who plays Harry's friend Ron Weasley, has equally dark expectations of his character.

"I'd like him to turn a bit evil. I've always wanted to play an evil person," he said.

The only positive note came from Emma Watson who plays Hermione Granger.

"I hope she ends up doing something she loves, maybe with Ron if that makes her happy," she said playfully.

"Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" opened in the United States at the weekend to rave reviews that described it as deeper and darker than the previous two as the child actors have matured.

The actors could be well into their 20s by the time the high-school adventure's final film is made, but they all said they hoped to continue playing their parts.

"People do play younger characters than themselves," said Radcliffe. "I'm going to be 15 in a couple of months but Harry's 14. It doesn't matter."

Watson said she hoped to continue acting but would have difficulty choosing between the fifth Harry Potter film and starring alongside Brad Pitt. "It would depend what it was," she laughed.

"These are big projects and I think it's hard for anyone to look beyond that."

Grint said he was still hoping to stay in the series although it would mean giving up his childhood dream of being an ice-cream man.

(Agencies  May 28, 2004)