Rowling wishes for invisibility spell

She is the world’s most recognisable author, but JK Rowling said today that she would give anything to be invisible for just one day.

The multi-millionaire writer admitted she longed for the power to disappear - just like Harry when he dons his invisible cloak.

Rowling yearns for some of the plus points of the days when she was an unknown single mother writing her first Potter book in an Edinburgh cafe.

At a special event in London’s Royal Albert Hall, Rowling was asked: “If you had one magical power what would it be?”

She wistfully replied: “If I could have any power I would love to have the power of invisibility.

“It’s a little bit sad, but I would probably sneak off to a cafe and write all day.”

She added: “My favourite way to write used to be to go to cafes. I loved doing that, to be surrounded by people even though I didn’t talk to them.

“These days I can’t write in cafes because so many people come up to me and say, ‘aren’t you that woman who writes that Harry Potter?’.”

Rowling is now worth a staggering £310 million – £30 million of that made overnight when the fifth book, Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix, was released on Saturday.

But the 37-year-old is fiercely private and has spoken of being uncomfortable with her fame and wealth.

Four thousand schoolchildren packed the Albert Hall to see Rowling, and millions more were expected to watch world-wide through a live webcam.

The west London venue was transformed for the day into Hogwart’s School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, with an elaborate stage set done up to look like Professor Dumbledore’s study.

The lucky children had secured their £5 tickets through a nationwide ballot in schools and many had dressed up as the schoolboy wizard especially for the occasion.