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SETTLE WITCH’S BREW-HAHA

J.K. Rowling, meet Charles Dickens.

A judge yesterday told Harry Potter’s creator she could learn an important lesson by reading an even more famous British au thor, as he urged both sides to come to an agreement in their contentious copyright case.

“I think this case, with imagination, could settle,” Manhattan federal Judge Robert Patterson said at the start of the trial’s third day.

“My father used to read to me, novels, Shakespearean tragedies, not comedies,” Patterson said. “As you recall in Dickens’ ‘Bleak House,’ there was a man named Jarnydyce who destroyed his personal life in litigation.

“It’s been brought home to me in the last 20 years that litigation is not always the best way to solve things,” he said.

The judge’s remarks came after two days of testimony, which saw Rowling nearly burst into tears and lament that the legal case has “decimated” her creativity over the past month.

The fan behind the unauthorized encyclopedia, Steve Vander Ark, also broke down on the witness stand as he described being cast out of Harry Potter fandom because of the unwanted controversy.

Vander Ark, a Potter-obsessed former librarian who based his book on a popular fan Web site he operates, testified that he always thought a print version of his lexicon would be a violation of copyright law.

He said he only agreed to compile the encyclopedia after RDR Books owner Roger Rapoport approached him last summer and promised to indemnify him in the event of a lawsuit by Rowling. Rowling and Warner Bros. are suing RDR Books in an effort to stop publication of Vander Ark’s “Harry Potter Lexicon.”

Patterson cautioned that the lawsuit is ripe for a prolonged dispute. “This could go to the appellate court. This could go to the Supreme Court,” he said.

Rowling, who took the stand for a second time yesterday, hinted she would be willing to settle the case if Vander Ark would agree to change his book to include more commentary and analysis.

The billionaire author said litigation was her “absolute last resort” after attempting to “reach out” to Vander Ark.

“I repeatedly said to Mr. Vander Ark, ‘Do your book, but change it so it does not take so much of my work,’ ” said Rowling, who has plans to write her own Harry Potter encyclopedia and give the proceeds to charity.

Rowling claims the encyclopedia manuscript is a “wholesale theft” of her words, offers nothing more than a list of characters in alphabetical order and her own descriptions, without the courtesy of even quotation marks.

“I didn’t fly here [from Scotland] because I was worried about losing sales,” said Rowling. “I’m here because I passionately believe that this case is about authors’ right to protect their creation. If this book is published, the floodgates will open.”

At the close of the court day, Patterson once again urged the parties to settle the lawsuit.

“This case is in a murky state of the law,” said Patterson. “I’ve listened to the parties and heard them. I’m not sure you couldn’t settle even now, if you listen to what’s being said.”

kati.cornell@nypost.com