New York, August 1, 2006 – We gathered in the Great Hall of a castle in New York City called Radio City Music Hall to meet the one and only J.K. Rowling, the sorceress who cast the "Harry Potter" spell upon the world.

Also on hand were word-wizards Stephen King, who is well versed in Defense Against the Dark Arts, and John Irving, who, it was revealed, is an inductee in the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, and who, we’d bet, was quite the Quidditch champ in high school.

The three great wordsmiths came together to announce their two-night benefit reading, “An Evening With Harry, Carrie & Garp”. King said he tried to keep ticket prices as low as possible. “When Jo Rowling agreed to take part, the thing went through the roof. We had so many requests for tickets, and tried to keep them down.” Rowling’s chosen charity is Doctors Without Borders. “I used to work for Amnesty International, and that’s where I first came across the organization”, she said.

Sipping Butterbeer and munching on Bertie Botts’ Every Flavor Beans, muggle reporters asked questions, and we learned that Rowling’s six-year absence from visiting the U.S. was merely due to being a busy mom. “I absolutely love coming here, and I particularly love coming to New York; it’s one of my favorite cities. But during that six years I’ve been pregnant twice, and I’ve had small children and that’s really why we weren’t doing the long flights and the tours. They’re old enough to travel now, so it’s great to be back.”

Rowling’s own children have not yet developed magical powers: “My eldest daughter is very scientific, very logical, which I think is great.”

She’ll miss Harry Potter once the series is done. “I am going to feel sad. Harry’s been an enormous part of my life, and it’s been quite a turbulent phase of my life as well, and he was always the constant.” She expects her first post-Potter project will be to complete a shorter, half-written children’s book.

All too soon, security Dementors uttered a disappearing spell, and we were outside on the street, blinking in the sunlight.