Film executives and location and special effects personnel have just completed an updating recce of the four picturesque glens which have featured in all the previous Harry Potter blockbusters.

They were researching the eventual making of not one but two movies out of JK Rowling's seventh and last best seller, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which was published last year. Teams of cinematography experts and production designers visited Glenfinnan, Glen Etive, Glencoe and Glen Nevis, all Lochaber landmarks which have already become established in the series.

They were looking at the autumn and winter changes of the terrain, trees and vegetation in these areas, and have since been in Yorkshire examining tracts of moorland to supplement the Highland locations.

Insiders say that much of the shooting of Deathly Hallows would take place in the studios at Leavesden near Watford, where many of the earlier sets like Hagrid's Hut and the Bridge to Nowhere can be re-assembled, and computer-aided filming can be carried out.

However, the Glen Etive and Glencoe scenery, the Hogwart's Express Viaduct at Glenfinnan and the breathtaking Higher Falls of Glen Nevis are considered indispensable to the Harry Potter overall continuity, and look certain to feature in any new filming.

The West Highland locations have already proved they can lend themselves to the spooky side of things, and this will be particularly important with Deathly Hallows because the storyline involves plenty of ghosts, witches and warlocks.

And Highlanders with local knowledge, and guides to provide mountain safety cover, will be required to ensure that the film crews can access and operate in remote and difficult filming spots.

It is understood that Emma Watson, who has starred as Hermione Granger throughout the Harry Potter series, will be going to university next year, and this will have a bearing on the early filming.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows became the fastest-selling book in history, with more than 11 million copies being bought in the first 24 hours in Britain and the USA.

Some 325 million copies of the first six books have been sold worldwide, having been translated into 64 languages.

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