J.K. Rowling has once again cast a spell over readers and moviegoers of all ages. This summer, the sixth book in her best-selling series, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, flew off bookstore shelves faster than you can say Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. An amazing 6.9 million copies sold in the first 24 hours!

In November, the fourth film based on the books, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, took in $101.4 million in ticket sales during its opening weekend, a new high for the Potter movies. Rowling fans around the world wait with a mixture of excitement and dread as she conjures up the final book in the series.

Rowling first introduced readers to Harry in 1998, with the release of Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone. The book charmed readers young and old alike. So far, the first six books have sold about 300 million copies worldwide. Filming of the fifth Potter movie will begin in February 2006.

Life is pretty good for the author who is today one of Britain's richest women. But the life of Joanne Kathleen Rowling wasn't always so magical. She was born in 1966 near Bristol, England. She worked as a secretary and a teacher, but then fell on hard times. Unemployed, she struggled to support herself and her 7-year-old daughter. Inspiration struck in 1990 when she was stuck on a delayed train between Manchester and London. The idea for Harry just "strolled into my head," she says.

Rowling lives in Edinburgh, Scotland, with her husband and three children. In 2004, Forbes magazine estimated that Rowling was a billionaire, which would make her the first person ever to become a billionaire from writing books.

For spinning magical tales that make muggles young and old line up at bookstores and in movie theaters, author J.K. Rowling is the TFK Person of the Year.