US publisher Scholastic will start an invitational Quiddich tournament in July. Participating teams include the famous “Chudley Cannons” of England and the American team “Fitchburg Finches.” No playing rules are published yet, but 1,000 sweepstakes winners will receive an official Quidditch backpack. Thanks to the HPFC.

Student registration for HOL – the virtual Hogwarts simulation has started this weekend. More than 800 students from about 50 different countries have joined HOL within the first 24 hours. Students of any age will be able to register for HOL until mid-August. The main goal of HOL is bringing people of any nation, culture …read more!

Hogwarts in Springfield? Well, not exactly Hogwarts, but The Simpsons will get the “Springfield Elementary School for Wizards”, where children are tutored in the fine art of transforming frogs into princes. The premier broadcast date for this season thirteen episode, titled “Treehouse of Horror XII”, has yet to be announced. Thanks again to Carla for …read more!

The June 18th edition of Maclean’s (Canada) includes an interesting snippet about a weeklong summer writing camp for children, co-sponsored by the Canadian publisher of the Harry Potter series, Raincoast Books. (Thanks to Carla) Thank Harry Potter for reviving the magic of the printed word. Joy Gugeler, editorial director of fiction for Vancouver’s Raincoast Books …read more!

The Halifax Herald tells us that Hogwarts opens a branch in Canada Hogwarts, the fictional school for magic by British author J. K. Rowling recently opened an extension school at Dunbar Heights United Church, reports the United Church Observer. Some fundamentalist Christians have decried the Harry Potter books for their popularization of sorcery, but Susan …read more!

Belgian (De Morgen) and Dutch papers report today that Mars Foods, the mars bars company, made a deal with Warner Bros to bring out a range of Harry sweets. Flavors should include Brussels sprouts, grass and toast. Thanks to Frency and Inge.

Done some research on Celine Dion performing the title song for the HP movie. Next to several rumors on the internet, a Dutch paper named “Spits!” confirmed the news on wednesday. But as there is nothing in that article that we could take as a reliable source for that confirmation, we’ll move Celine back on …read more!

From the “Duh” Department – a reader informed me that I was incorrect when I stated that Empire Online was wrong saying the trailer may be out June 22nd due to no Warner Bros movies being released around that time. Well, duh….I was only looking at June 22nd. On June 29th, A.I. comes out. Perhaps …read more!

From the Licensing 2001 show in NYC (Source: Associated Press): Warner Bros. was completing merchandising plans for its upcoming fall movie “Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone.” “Retailers are looking for success, and we think that this movie will be huge,” said Dan Romanelli, president of Warner Brothers worldwide consumer products division. A limited amount …read more!

Our reader Karenlee let us know that a Dutch newspaper confirmed today that Celine Dion has recorded a song for the HP movie that will be played over the end credits. It’s called ‘The Boy Who Lived’ and was written by the same duo who wrote ‘My Heart Will Go On’, James Horner and Will …read more!