Tattle: Infringing is a weepy issue to this Potter fan

S TEVEN VANDER ARK , the Harry Potter fan who wrote an encyclopedic guide to all things Potter, cried on the witness stand yesterday as he faced off in court against his idol  J.K. Rowling .

Wouldn't winner-take-all Quidditch have been easier?

Rowling (and Warner Bros.) sued Vander Ark's publisher RDR Books last year, claiming their "Harry Potter Lexicon" - based on Vander Ark's Web site - infringed on her copyright.

Vander Ark, a former middle school librarian, who has devoted years to studying the books and indexing their content, wiped away tears when he was asked to reflect on what the case has done to his relationship with Potter fans.

"It's been . . . it's been," he stammered, choking on his words. "It's been difficult because there has been a lot of criticism, obviously, and that was never the intention . . . ...