Virginia Run resident Lauren Hicks, 14, had the opportunity to go to Carnegie Hall in New York City to see J.K. Rawlings. She was one the lucky 1,000 children from across the U.S. who won the JK Rawlings Book Tour Sweepstakes.
The daughter of Cindy and Todd Hicks said one of the most shocking moments of the trip was when JK Rawlings outed the gay character Dumbledore.
"Everyone was screaming and yelling because it was a big and surprising shock to everyone in the room," she said.
Lauren said her first trip to New York was a lot of fun. Besides going to Carnegie Hall for the presentation, she visited Central Park, and the Trump Tower with her father.
Lauren said that everyone at the presentation was really excited to be there. People were even jumping up and down and screaming excitedly, she said.
At the book tour, everyone had to be dressed up nicely; however, most people were wearing Harry Potter wizard hats, and others were dressed up in Harry Potter costumes.
The eighth-grader at Stone Middle School says her favorite Harry Potter book is "The Goblet of Fire," and her favorite character is Harry Potter himself because, "He is the main character and you learn a lot about him in the book."