The room in Edinburgh’s picturesque Balmoral Hotel where J.K. Rowling finished writing Harry Potter has been renamed, with the author’s permission, the J.K. Rowling Suite, the Telegraph reports. It costs £965/night to stay there. The suite is room number 552 in the hotel, and reps for the Balmoral say that since it was revealed on …read more!

Great news today: Registration for LeakyCon 2009 is now open! Tickets (which have been open to those who signed our e-mail list for about 12 hours) are going at a rapid clip so be sure to get yours early. The cost of the four-day conference is $165 through October 1. ALSO, our block of rooms …read more!

Entertainment Weekly online has posted the top 25 “new classic” death scenes, and in at number three is Cedric’s book four demise. The ranking refers to the scene in the film, in which Cedric, played by Robert Pattinson, dies swiftly at the soon-to-be-reborn Voldemort’s creepy feet.

Bit of a light note tonight: this week, you can watch Dr. Horrible, a free Internet musical by Joss Whedon and his brothers and associates (Joss Whedon wrote Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly, Serenity, and is working on a TV series called Dollhouse). Dr. Horrible (played by Neil Patrick Harris) is a goober “supervillain” who…shall …read more!

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As you might have heard on PotterCast, at the end of this month, Sue Upton and I serve on a Harry Potter phenomenon panel at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, the annual fantasy and sci-fi convention that brings over 100,000 fans from all over the globe. The panel is on Sunday, July 27 at 10:30 …read more!

This week we’re proud to report that actions spurred by The HP Alliance have caused the UN Security Council to make its first-ever presidential statement demanding an end to impunity and condemning Sudan’s lack of action in the genocide in Darfur. According to an official at the UK-based Aegis trust, this real-world action came about …read more!

Hello! Welcome to my Leaky blog. I’ve found that more than six years covering this “beat” has given me a lot of thoughts about Potter, life, culture, fandom and more, that no one but you fine folk would be interested in hearing. Plus, I’ve been getting angry e-mails for two solid years from people who …read more!

Julie Walters, who plays Molly Weasley in the Harry Potter films, will star in the upcoming film version of the stage play Mamma Mia!, and there is an absolutely not-to-be-missed preview clip out today. To take a look, click here and then choose the “Take a Chance On Me” clip. Don’t miss “Dancing Queen,” either. …read more!

If you’re American today is the day of barbecues, hot dogs, fireworks, stars and stripes, and we hope you enjoy all those things. If you’re not American, we hope you enjoy the day anyway!