The Leaky Cauldron - Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Sales of HBP Paperbacks Equal OotP

Fri Jan 12 14:01:28 -0500 2007

USA Today has an article online about the sales of books in 2006, and mentions a curious fact about the Harry Potter novels. While the hardcover of Harry Potter and Half-Blood Prince was the number one bestseller for 2005, the list for 2006 sees the paperback edition of HBP ranked at number 21. Apparently, this mirrors sales for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix as well; the hardcover e

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Jason Isaacs Talks OotP and "Deathly Hallows"

Thu Jan 11 07:08:56 -0500 2007

"Magnificent" is the word actor Jason Isaacs uses to describe working with actor Gary Oldman for scenes with their characters in the upcoming Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.Returning in his role as nefarious Death Eater Lucius Malfoy, Mr. Isaacs talks to Sci Fi Wire about the battle in the ministry at the end of the story, where his character has to battle Sirius Black (Oldman).

"I ge

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A New Year's Eve in London

Sun Dec 31 19:31:03 -0500 2006

"I remember it clear as anything, because I'd just started here myself. New Year's Eve and bitter cold, snowing, you know. Nasty night. And this girl, not much older than I was myself at the time, came staggering up the front steps. Well, she wasn't the first. We took her in, and she had the baby within the hour. And she was dead in another hour." - Ch. 13 "The Secret Riddle" Harry Potter and t

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Lucky Number Seven and the Harry Potter Series

Sat Dec 30 22:01:34 -0500 2006

As this year winds to an end and we now have a title for the last Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, there are several news articles online tonight all focusing on a potential release of Book Seven in 2007.
The Observer has a new profile of Jo, in an opinion piece titled "JKRowling: The mistress of all she surveys," where they note " 2007 will be the biggest Harry Potter ye

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Video of Giant Squid

Wed Dec 27 18:26:47 -0500 2006

Here is a fun bit of unusual news for you. Researchers in Japan caught the rare Giant Squid, and for the first time ever, there is video of this mysterious creature. The Gryffindor red sea creature was caught off the Ogasawara Islands south of Tokyo earlier this month, and unfortunately later died. CNN reports that the creature which is mentioned in the Harry Potter books as living in lake Hogw

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Alfonso Cuaron Interview Mentions Ties Between PoA Film and HBP; Expresses Interest in "Deathly Hallows"

Tue Dec 26 13:11:56 -0500 2006

Prisoner of Azkaban director Alfonso Cuaron has given a new interview with SFGate.com where he mentions again his interest in possibly returning to helm a Harry Potter movie. Echoing previous reports, Mr. Cuaron says he recently spoke as well with JKR, saying "I could tell based on our conversation that she is just so excited about No. 7. She was going through a really good stream of writing.''

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Half-Blood Prince a Kids' Pick for 2007

Tue Dec 05 09:41:03 -0500 2006

The results of a new poll are in which show Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling, is the top read for children in the fourth through sixth grades. Over 2,800 children voted recently in the Scholastic "Kids' Pick For 2007" poll, which was held as a prelude to their annual day celebrating reading, to be held this year on December 8th. This Friday, Scholastic notes, that "kids, t

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"Half-Blood Prince" Wins Scottish Book Award; JKR Sends Thank You Message

Mon Nov 27 23:06:17 -0500 2006

A few weeks ago, we first told you that Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince had been nominated for a Scottish Children's Book Award. Those awards have now been announced, and Half-Blood Prince was declared the winner in the "Younger readers-8-12 years" category. The Scotsman newspaper reports that JKR was not present at the award ceremony, instead sending a message of thanks, saying she coul

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Half-Blood Prince Voted Favorite Young Adult Book

Tue Nov 07 11:00:17 -0500 2006

The American Library Aassociation announced that Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" was voted the favorite book of teen readers in its annual "Teens' Top Ten" poll. Over 5,000 votes cast online during Teen Read Week (October 15-21) were combined with results of a separate poll of teen book group members to determine the top ten new books for young adults.
The Teens' Top Ten are:

1. "Harry P

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"Half-Blood Prince" Nominated for Scottish Children's Book Award

Fri Nov 03 14:45:21 -0500 2006

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling is among those nominated at the Royal Mail Awards for Scottish Children's Books. Included in the "Younger readers â€“ 8-12 years" category, these awards are presented to "recognise excellence in Scottish writing and illustration for children." According to the newly launched City of Literature website, "almost 5,000 young people from school

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J.K. Rowling-Autographed Copy of Half-Blood Prince Auctioned Online for Charity

Wed Oct 25 09:26:24 -0400 2006

A copy of the British adult edition of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is up for auction on eBay, with 100% of the funds raised going to benefit the Helen Ritson Trust Fund.

"The book has been autographed by J.K Rowling, and is accompanied by a letter from her PA confirming its authenticity and purpose.
The Helen Ritson Trust was formed by two members of the Sutton and District Athletics C

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R.A.B. Name Rumors Surface Again

Mon Oct 09 10:40:52 -0400 2006

Reports are now online again of another supposed confirmation of the identity of the mysterious R.A.B from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. The question of R.A.B possibily being Regulus Black (the younger brother of Sirius) was first brought up in the TLC/MuggleNet interview with JKR shortly after the publication of Book Six, where Jo replied that Regulus "would be, um, a fine guess." In

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Half-Blood Prince Error "Old News," Says Bloomsbury

Fri Sep 01 10:36:23 -0400 2006

British tabloid The Sun recently reported that there had been an error in Half-Blood Prince regarding the number of O.W.L.s Hermione receives compared to the number she sat in book five. Fans had originally spotted the error, but Bloomsbury told Leaky the error is at least a year old, spotted well before the latest rash of reports.
"This error was spotted as soon as HBP was published and it was

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Live, Scholastic Podcast Now Available on iTunes

Tue Aug 22 00:44:44 -0400 2006

The live, official Harry Potter podcasts that Cheryl Klein of Scholastic, Emerson Spartz (of MuggleNet) and I (for Leaky!) did in July are now all available for download on iTunes right here. We met nearly 1,000 of you at these events, starting at Anderson's in Naperville, IL, and going to Barnes and Noble in Las Vegas, NV, and Barnes and Noble in Los Angeles, California. Each of the three show

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Two Fans Tell Story of Meeting with J.K.Rowling

Sun Aug 13 12:34:35 -0400 2006

There are new stories in the press about two lucky fans who got to ask author J.K. Rowling some questions while she was in New York for the "Harry, Carrie, and Garp" charity readings at Radio City Music Hall.
The first story involves young Kyle Searcy of Destin, Florida who spent almost a half-hour with JKR asking her questions. Kyle, who has cerebral palsy, met with Jo via the Dreams Come True

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