LAPORTE, Ind. (AP) – A huge Harry Potter fan is about to embark on a magical mission of sorts.

Emerson Spartz, 18, who created a Web site devoted to all things Hogwarts, will travel to Scotland next month to meet Potter author J.K. Rowling.

Spartz was sound asleep when Rowling called him at home. She invited the home-school student to come see her – at her expense.

Rowling, known for cherishing her privacy, promised Spartz an hour-long interview at her home July 16, the release date for “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” the sixth book in her series.

“At first, I thought it was extremely odd,” Emerson told The News-Dispatch of Michigan City for its Thursday editions. “I thought, ‘Why would she want to talk to me?”‘

But Rowling was familiar with Spartz’s site, which she called one of her favorites.

Spartz, who’s set to attend the University of Notre Dame this fall, created the site in 1999.

More than 40 volunteers help Spartz maintain the site, which in November 2002 had about 70,000 to 80,000 hits a day when the film version of “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” arrived in theaters.

Now, the site gets about a million hits per day, Spartz said. It features, among other things, downloads, trivia, pictures and links to other Harry Potter sites.

It even has a clock that counts down the days, hours, minutes and seconds until the midnight release date of Rowling’s latest book.

“It has everything the ultimate Harry Potter fan would want,” Spartz said.

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On the Net:

http://www.mugglenet.com

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HENDERSON, Nev. (AP) – Ex-stripper Diana Hampton will soon have something new to wear – judicial robes.

Hampton was elected to the Municipal Court in Henderson on Tuesday, defeating Michael Miller in a run-off by 176 votes.

Hampton, 39, had acknowledged during the campaign that she worked at a Las Vegas striptease club to help pay her way through college 14 years ago.

She called it “a fact of life” and said she hoped the interest it drew to her candidacy would eventually die down.

She was elected to a six-year term.

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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – A crook in San Francisco isn’t just stealing from cabbies – he’s stealing the cabs.

Six Yellow Cabs have been stolen in the last two weeks by someone who may have a master key, police say. The thief has been covering the in-car video system and then picking up passengers, making money without paying the $95 daily gate fee to the company.

“He knows what he is doing,” said Inspector Dean Marcic of the auto theft unit.

One recent theft took place near police headquarters. The cab was later abandoned and showed $80 worth of fares on the meter, Marcic said.

The thief drove off in another Yellow Cab.

“This guy here, maybe he can’t get a license, maybe he lost it or can’t afford it – this is how he’s making his money,” Marcic said.

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HONG KONG (AP) – Talk about being caught red-handed.

A man was discovered plucking two live lobsters and a grouper fish from a tank at a seafood restaurant.

Police suspect the man pretended to be with a group of mahjong-playing customers who were allowed to stay and finish their game after the restaurant closed, according to the Sing Pao Daily News.

The newspaper quoted a security guard as saying he found the man, in his mid-30s, placing the seafood into a plastic bag at 2:30 a.m. Tuesday. When the guard asked the man what he was doing, the suspect said he was retrieving the seafood for kitchen staff, the newspaper said.

After he failed to convince the guard, the man fled and was found hiding in the kitchen, it said. The recovered lobsters and grouper fish had a combined value of about $154.