Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling knows she has a highly passionate fan base that she can use for good or evil -- depending on where your loyalties lie in the 2015 Rugby World Cup.
On Saturday, her beloved Scottish rugby team was to square off against Samoa, and Rowling decided to call in the Twitter hordes for their support. The quid quo pro? A choice piece of Harry Potter trivia in the form of Sirius Black's birthday.
Off to Newcastle for #SAMvSCO and if lots of you tweet #AsOne to support Scotland, you can have Sirius's birthday! #RugbyWorldCup— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) October 10, 2015
To those asking: if @Scotlandteam beat Samoa, they progress to quarter finals of #rugbyworldcup2015. We're basically at the lake task.— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) October 10, 2015
Needless to say, Potter fans were into it -- especially those whose countries had nothing to lose in the World Cup.
@jk_rowling as far as I know, we Yanks have no dog in this fight... #AsOne Sorry I don't know how to do the flag!— Mary Sue Sylwestrzak (@marysuesylw) October 10, 2015
#ASONE #ASONE #ASONE #ASONE #ASONE #ASONE #ASONE #ASONE #ASONE #ASONE #ASONE #ASONE #ASONE #ASONE #ASONE #ASONE https://t.co/d42SGqe6Wc— elli (@siriusbIcks) October 10, 2015
BRAZIL SUPPORTS THE SCOTLAND #AsOne #AsOne #AsOne #AsOne #AsOne #AsOne #AsOne #AsOne #AsOne #AsOne #AsOne #AsOne https://t.co/221DOcxKD8— larissa (@radscliffer) October 10, 2015
#asone#ASONE#asone#ASONESupporting Scotland all the way from the Middle East! https://t.co/aySSEPtfDf— ιѕα (@diagonilly) October 10, 2015
O...M....G #AsOne #AsOne #AsOne #AsOne https://t.co/EJ38GSleyS— ronald FOCUS+ (@hogsmedia) October 10, 2015
Others felt themselves severely tested -- would patriotism or Potter win the day?
Emotional Blackmail! #IrelandForever https://t.co/CMsZEkFtsI— Sarah (@juicycapoochie) October 10, 2015
Imperius curse, obviously. https://t.co/m4z4QwwRBI— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) October 10, 2015
In the end, fans were duly rewarded with Black's birthday when Scotland emerged victorious.
WE WON!!!!!! And Sirius Black was born on the 3rd of November xxxxxxxx— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) October 10, 2015
Would Rowling have hexed her fans if Samoa had managed to get one over Scotland? We may find out when Scotland plays Australia in the quarter-finals on Sunday, Oct. 18.