The Oxford Mail reports that film crews for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix were in the vicinity of Blenheim Palace preparing for shooting there this week. Although Warner Bros. has not discussed details of the filming, the Mail reveals that “a location near the park’s lake will feature in the much-anticipated [film].” …read more!

Jessica Rowling becomes an official teenager today! Happy birthday, Jessica — and cheers to the entire Rowling-Murray family!

Warner Bros. Consumer Products will transfer Harry Potter master toy merchandising rights, which include gift and specialty product rights, to National Entertainment Collectibles Association, beginning in 2007. Those rights are currently held by Mattel, who will continue to produce the Harry Potter version of its Scene It? game after its contract expires, but will no …read more!

As you heard on this week’s PotterCast, we’re proud (and late, but still proud) to welcome Emily Bytheway and Susan Faust to Leaky as the new organizers of Scribbulus, our essay section. These two have been writing essays – mostly on Harry Potter – for years and having them here to guide the essay project …read more!

American publishers of the Harry Potter books, Scholastic, has published results of a study today that shows that the Harry Potter series has a positive impact on kids’ reading and their school work, particularly among boys. “While the overwhelming success of Harry Potter is undeniable, this study quantifies for the first time the impact children …read more!

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was released in paperback today in the United States; you can order your copy here from Barnes & Noble or here from Amazon if you like! And if you’re in the Las Vegas area, remember to come celebrate with the “Harry Potter Experts” tonight at 7 p.m. at the …read more!

Scholastic has now updated their website to offer subscriptions to the Harry Potter Experts Tour Podcast. These podcasts are part of the release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince in paperback on Tuesday, and feature our own Melissa Anelli, Emerson Spartz from MuggleNet, and Cheryl Klein from Scholastic/Arthur A Levine books discussing Harry Potter, …read more!

USA Today has a new article about the release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince in paperback, which comes out tomorrow. In addition to the anticipation by booksellers of brisk sales of the book (“It is going to be crazy,” says one seller), the paper also mentions the Scholastic sponsored “Harry Potter Book Experts …read more!

There is some additional information online tonight about the videotaped message from David Yates and Dan Radcliffe promoting Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix that was played at Comic-Con over the weekend. In addition to the photo and reports from earlier, Movie Web now has some additional quotes from this video, where David …read more!

The Tempo section of today’s Chicago Tribune features a short piece on the official Harry Potter tour event that took place in Naperville last Thursday, calling it the “best book club discussion ever.” You can see a scan here in our gallery – thanks Lilah! The piece reads: Potter Panel Event: Potter Panel Podcast at …read more!