Secret wedding for Potter author

LONDON, England -- Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling married her boyfriend at a private ceremony over Christmas, her spokeswoman said.

The wedding took place at the couple's home in Scotland on December 26.

The author, whose books about the young wizard have become a worldwide sensation, met anaesthetist Dr Neil Murray in Edinburgh, Scotland, just over a year ago.

"J.K. Rowling and Neil Murray were married privately on December 26 at their house in Perthshire," Nicky Stonehill said on Saturday. "Their immediate family attended the wedding."

RESOURCES Message board: 'Harry Potter' fever

Rowling's first marriage ended in divorce and she began to write the best-selling Harry Potter books as a single mother in Edinburgh while bringing up her daughter Jessica.

The books follow the exploits of a young English boy who discovers he inherited magical powers from his parents.

They had been a pair of wizards killed by a powerful enemy and Harry is invited to become a student at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

The first of the books, "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" was recently released as a film, smashing box office records in Britain and the United States, where it is titled "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone."

The books -- four have been published to date -- have been massively successfully around the world, translated into hundreds of languages.