We’ll be posting news as regular today, so as to not let hard-hearted people disrupt the lives they seek to disrupt. Our 8-days-to-go poll is up at the Lounge, and asks whether Harry would use an Unforgivable, and which one. Yesterday’s poll, concerning what object Arthur Weasley might enchant that might later come in useful, …read more!

We at TLC wish these types of posts didn’t come so often, but today we offer our sympathy and wishes for safety to our readers from London, who were hit with what Prime Minister Tony Blair said were most likely terrorist attacks this morning. We sincerely hope you all remain safe, and send our deepest …read more!

The USA Today has posted an article on our favourite author, J.K. Rowling. It is mostly an overview of her life, re-telling the story of the struggling author, and her subsequent successes with the Harry Potter books. Barry Cunningham, her first editor at Bloomsbury Publishing in London, remembers giving her “terrible advice” when they met …read more!

The Harry Potter Fan Zone has posted an extended promotional cutout of the HBP artwork (this was done in 2003, too, in the form of large cardboard phoenixes). You can see more detail about the fire coming out of Dumbledore’s wand. Thanks HPFZ!

Extra, extra: The aforementioned Harry Potter-themed crossword puzzle will appear in the New York Times‘ book review on Sunday, July 10 (subscribers should receive it Saturday). It was created by the New York Times marketing department in cooperation with Arthur A. Levine Books/Scholastic. And I hear it’s cool (though, can it stump Leaky readers? We’ll …read more!

UK channel ITV is set to broadcast a television show where four young Potter fans will be competing for a chance to be one of the lucky cub reporters at the Half-Blood Prince launch party. Chosen from a writing contest, these young finalists will be tested on their knowledge of the Harry Potter world. The …read more!

Today’s Leaky Lounge poll is up, dealing with the kind of things Arthur Weasley might enchant. You can see a list of our Countdown to HBP polls here; we’ll tell you each day when the new one goes up. Yesterday’s poll, Who Will Harry Kiss?, which seemed to inspire a frenzy over there, is closed: …read more!

Are your kids making your crazy, waiting for the 16th? Are you making your kids (your significant other, your friends, your co-workers, your pets) crazy, waiting for the 16th? Bella Online offers instructions for a weekend diversion – plant a theme garden, featuring plants used in the first five books of the series. Thanks to …read more!

Barnes & Noble.com has announced that it will be opening up, for the first time, free online Harry Potter Reading Groups, and we’re proud to announce that Leaky staff will be helping to moderate the discussions. The exhaustive forum will be moderated by staff from the main TLC page and moderators of our forum, including …read more!

Some more details today from Bloomsbury regarding the big Edinburgh release party: The cub reporters will arrive at the Esplanade outside Edinburgh Castle by horse-drawn carriage. About 2,000 Edinburgh school children and their parents will be seated in the Esplanade outside Edinburgh Castle to cheer on JK Rowling and the cub reporters as they make …read more!