If there is one thing the late "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry" headmaster Albus Dumbledore failed to achieve during his lengthy life, it was true love, according to J.K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter books.

Asked by a fan whether the wizard had found "true love, " the British author stunned the audience with her answer, "Dumbledore is gay," she replied.

The greatest wizard of his generation, Albus Dumbledore, one of the most significant characters in the Harry Potter books who guided and protected the boy wizard through his school years, was in love with his rival, Gellert Grindelwald, whom he killed in a duel in 1945 after he was "horribly, terribly let down," by Grindelwald for showing more interest in the Dark Arts.

"Falling in love can blind us to an extent," she explained Friday in front of 1,600 students chosen from 40 New York public elementary, middle and high schools, at New York's Carnegie Hall, where she wrapped up her U.S. tour. That love, she said to raucous applause, was Dumbledore's "great tragedy.”

"Oh, my god," Rowling concluded with a laugh, "Just imagine the fan fiction now," she joked. Fanfiction.net is a website where Harry Potter fans are able to debate such delicate issues like the characters’ sexuality, among many others.

Actually, fans of the books have been debating Dumbledore’s sexuality on forums and blogs for years, not knowing too many details about the wizard’s intimate life, having seen only the last years of his life.

"If I had known this would have made you so happy, I would have told you years ago," Rowling said.

Answering another question from Kristian Cuzco, 18, a 12th grader at Concord High School on Staten Island, which of the characters would Rowling marry, the writer admitted that "in my younger days, I dated Ron more than once," giving an inside look at why Hermione (the closest character to Rowling's younger self) might be attracted to Harry's best friend. "He's fun to write, but not so much fun to date."

"I married Harry Potter," she continued, referring to her second husband, Neil Murray, whom she married in 2001. "He's up there [in the wings]. I just mortified him," she laughed. "But he looks like Harry would look like, at a certain age. I married a very good person and a gutsy person. And that's who Harry is."