While the popularity of Harry Potter sweeps the country, J.K. Rawlings’ [sic] books dominate the best-seller lists, and the movie adaptation of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone earns upward of $300 million, poor Harry faces foes in this country more formidable than his nemesis, Draco Malfoy and villainous Lord Voldemort (thanks to Donna for …read more!

Thanks to Monica for the pointer to a pic of Gemma Padley, who is reportedly set to play Penelope Clearwater. The image is from a UK show called Casual+y and show that Ms Padley has experience acting from a hospital bed, which is important in anyone playing Ms Clearwater.

Thanks to Trond Michelsen, we’ve been able to get more information on Huskeiran. He found a webpage that provides its coordinates, and gives its location as 57°32’22” Northern Latitude, 07°43’58” Western Longitude. “This would probably place it with the Monach Islands, which is a part of the Outer Hebrides.” At a website Trond found which …read more!

I’ve fixed the below link on the Huskeiran item – it was going to a general page.

Thanks to everyone who wrote today pointing out that in this interview with Chris Rankin (Percy), it was mentioned that newcomer Gemma Padley has been cast as Penelope Clearwater! (The article also seems to confirm that Mark Williams has been cast as Mr Weasley.) Harry Potter returned to Gloucester this week and children are flocking …read more!

So – I’ve been hot on Huskeiran’s trail all morning…and were it not for a listing of the Scottish isles and all the mail our readers have been sending us, I would be convinced it does not exist. But it does exist, if not on any online maps (hm, unplottable, perhaps? :P) Anyway, the obvious …read more!

The official site has updated their Behind the Scenes section with a ton of interviews and such. Thanks Ana for the heads up!

Thanks to reader Alexander for this link to what looks like a B&W picture of Harry reading Tom Riddle’s Diary in CoS.

Potter challenges romantic fiction in library league. JK Rowling has soared up the lending league to mount a challenge to Catherine Cookson’s dominance of the library world. Her Harry Potter book Goblet Of Fire has become the third most loaned title in Britain. And in a related article, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire …read more!

Three from the BBC: A Muggle’s guide to Harry Potter. If you have resisted the urge to delve into Harry Potter’s world – but don’t want to risk derision – here is BBC News Online’s essential guide to bluffing your way deftly around the subject. “In my wildest fantasy I could not have imagined anything …read more!