Happy Birthday, Chris Rankin

Happy Birthday wishes go out today to actor Chris Rankin, who portrays the character of Percy Weasley in the Harry Potter films.  Please join all of us here at TLC in wishing Mr. Rankin a fantastic 26th birthday.  Cheers to you, Chris!

Winners of the Harry Potter Pumpkin Carving Contest Announced

Congratulations are in order for the winners of the October Pumpkin Carving Contest, who have been chosen by our Contest Crew.  As readers will recall, this contest challenged you to create a Harry Potter themed pumpkin.  After receiving many splendid entries, here are the winners:

Overall Winner

• Emma Fee - Harry

• First Place: Nicole Verhey - R

New from Noble Collection: Crystal Goblet from Cave, Dumbledore's Knife, Narcissa Malfoy Wand

The latest catalog from the Noble Collection is arriving in mail boxes, and reveals a few new Harry Potter products for this holiday. New are Dumbledore's Knife, and the crystal goblet used in the cave scene from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Seen in this scan are the most recent wands these belonging to Narcissa Malfoy's and Professor Slughorn; older wands from the collectioContinued...

All Aboard! The Hogwarts Express Arrives at Wizarding World Theme Park

Last month, many details on the upcoming Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park attraction being built in Florida were confirmed at a press event, including word that indeed fans would see the Hogwarts Express. The train has now arrived in Orlando, which you can see in this photo right here. As revealed in this high res map and in the video (also here in our galleries) released lasContinued...

Early Holiday Sale at WBShop.com plus a Look at the 2010 Harry Potter Calendars

To help get the holiday shopping off on the right foot, Warner Bros let us know about a special sale they are holding on Harry Potter merchandise all this weekend. At this link, fans can take advantage of discounts saving up to 50 % off on a vast assortment of Potter items including many Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince pieces including the new mini film cells, Noble Collection iContinued...

Video of Ace of Cake's Hogwarts Express Cake Creation for HBP Premiere Online

As readers will recall, the special Hogwarts Express cake created by master baker Duff for the Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince premiere last July was featured on his Ace of Cakes program on the Food Network.  We have for you, care of our Video Galleries, the creation of the cake by the Charm City Cakes crew in this nice image quality video right here.

This episode of the Ace of CContinued...

Another Revamp for Official Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Website

The US official WB Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince website has gotten a slight makeover into a DVD theme, with links to info on the live screening event  December 12th with Dan Radcliffe and David Yates. Please note too that it says of the special sneak peek at Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows "Get an exclusive, first-look on the set of the next Harry Potter movie, Harry PotContinued...

Play a Demo of New Harry Potter Wizarding World DVD Game

Check it out! Due out the first of December is the new Harry Potter Wizarding World DVD game, with a demo now available to play online at this link. Enjoy! As a reminder, you can see the trailer for the game here in our video galleries, with many more details on the game in this news post.

Pre-orders for the game are available right here.

Deals on Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince DVDs

As the days draw nearer to the release of the Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince DVD, many retailers are slashing prices on the disc. Of note was news today that retail giant Walmart was offering pre-orders on the standard DVD at very low prices. Reuters reports that store is "offering its top 10 pre-order DVD movie titles at just $10 and free home delivery on its entire assortmentContinued...

Harry Potter Bookmark Contest Now Open

The Contest Crew has for you our November Contest, which asks you to design a Harry Potter themed bookmark.  Originality and creativity rule the day for this contest, for your bookmark may be hand drawn, computer generated, or consist of original photos.  Only one original entry will be accepted per person; collaborations or team efforts will not be accepted for this contest.  Any persContinued...

New Edition of The Quibbler Now Online

We have for you today the latest issue of The Quibbler, Leaky's publication which contains "all the news you won't find anywhere else."  This issue, which you can download in PDF format right here, is Halloween themed and includes a myriad of spooky stories ranging from the Headless Hunt festivities of 2009, to the latest in tantalizingly traumatic Tentacula trimmings for the holiday. Continued...

The Prodigal Son Returns: Chris Rankin Filming as Percy Weasley for Deathly Hallows

In the wait before the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, our fandom debated...and debated...and debated on many topics, one being the possible return and redemption of Percy Weasley. When we learned the news that actor Chris Rankin was to return as Percy for the final Harry Potter movie, we were all delighted; today it is perhaps bittersweet news that we learn he is indeContinued...

John Hurt to Film again as Ollivander this Month for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Actor John Hurt has made some new comments regarding his role as the mysterious wandmaker Mr. Ollivander for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Confirming his character will be in both films, John Hurt spoke to Rotten Tomatoes about filming again this month on the movie, as well as some frank comments on the studios in Britain, large franchises and more. Quotage:

JH: I've filmed

Wizarding World of Harry Potter Construction Photos Update

UPDATE: Thanks to an TLC reader who wished to remain anonymous, we now have some gorgeous high res photos showing earlier off-site construction for the park, including this of the walls and windows of the great hall, others such as this which reveals the icicles formed on buildings in Hogsmeade, and a photo detailing the base of one of the towers, with the rest found here.

ConstructionContinued...

Dan Radcliffe as Harry Potter: An Icon of the Decade Cover for Empire Magazine

The December issue of Empire magazine will see ten different covers featuring ten different film "icons" including Dan Radcliffe as Harry Potter. The UK film magazine says this issue will contain a feature that has "Ten years of the boy wizard. Ten years of Daniel Radcliffe - by Olly Richards" Other covers include those of Viggo Mortensen as Aragon from Lord of the Rings, Johnny Depp aContinued...