She has conjured up a bewildering array of spells though seven volumes of Harry Potter.
So perhaps we should not be entirely surprised to discover that JK Rowling has also undergone a magical transformation of her own.
The 42-year-old author appeared to have mastered some kind of vanishing trick as she stepped out in London this week.
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JK Rowling: Looking dull in 2000 and presenting a fresh, youthful face on Tuesday
Gone were the lines on her forehead and around her eyes, the dappled skin and jowly appearance she had when she first won success seven years ago.
Replacing all that - as these pictures show - has come the face of a woman who could quite easily have been more than a decade younger.
The features are markedly more chiselled, the chin more sculptured, the eyes wider and brighter and the whole skin now appears to be vibrant and perky, lifted up from where it was hanging tiredly down seven years ago.
Two leading plastic surgeons looked at the pictures yesterday.
Neither said they thought she had been under the knife - but instead had benefitted from great make-up.
Mr Alex Karidis said: "If you look at her eyelids, she still has this huge flap on skin in the new shots which was there in the old ones.
"You would have thought that had she had something down to her face, she certainly would have had that done. "The nose-to-mouth lines she has are also quite deep still. She may well have had skin treatment like lasers or skin-peels. But the main thing to say here is that she is wearing a tremendous amount of make-up."
The second, Dr Lucy Glancey said: "I do not think the treatments are surgical. I am sure that fillers have been injected here.
"First, in the tear troughs in the corner of the eyes which reduce the baggy-look of the eyes. It's like having an eye lift. She has had cheek augmentation injections and also injections in the nose-to-mouth lines.
"I would say she has also had a chemical peel to get that great smooth skin. It's difficult to tell whether she has had botox or not."
A friend of Rowling's gave a better insight into what was behind her transformed looks: "She does not have a personal trainer but is extraordinarily disciplined and self-motivated, jogging and doing yoga and pilates at home. She has been known to do upto three hours a day.
"She used to have fry-ups in the morning, to drink and swill back coffee.
"She would be heavier and her skin was worse and her eyes were not so bright, she felt lethargic.
"Now she says she feels a million dollars.
"She has cut out all saturated fats, E-numbers and red meat from her diet. She has cut right back on drink but will have a glass of champagne at an event. And she also just loves to dance.
"She may have had a bit of botox - who hasn't after all. And she is also keen on non-surgical face-lifts called caci treatments - which is basically putting electrical current through the skin on your face to stimulate the muscles.
"But the main thing for her is that she believes in good make-up, applied professionally."
JK Rowling is currently labouring over the plot of her next book - a crime thriller.
Her last, the final instalment of Harry Potter, was released earlier this year. But a friend said: "She is concerned how her legions of young fans might take this new book. She would like to write a measure of violence and sex into it - but is worried whether that will alienate all those Potter fanatics."
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