The owner of a dog rescue center has revealed that she was left spellbound when she realized a mystery woman offering to rescue one of her pets was world-renowned author J.K. Rowling.

Celia Fernie, who runs Greyhound Rescue Fife, had no idea that the woman who arrived with her family to look at her greyhounds was the multi-millionaire Harry Potter creator.

The revelation came when the writer asked to adopt a four-year-old dog named Sapphire - and handed over a signed £1,000 check.

Fernie, 61, said:

I apologized and said ‘Oh I’m sorry, I didn’t realize who you were.’ She just laughed and said ‘It’s been a nice visit, we’ve enjoyed it.’ She was just a lovely person. We were chit-chatting and she was saying that other members of her family had dogs. They were just a very nice family. She was very pleasant and down-to-earth, a real doggy person”

Fernie also revealed that Rowling got in touch by telephone a few days earlier to book an appointment under the name Mrs. Jo Murray.

Fernie said she asked the caller to bring photographs to prove that her garden had good fences in place. She also asked her to bring along her husband, three children and her Jack Russell terrier, Butch.

It was during the subsequent visit to the center, near Kinghorn, that Rowling and her family fell in love with Sapphire, a blue breed retired racing dog.

[Source]