Abebooks.com has announced today that the hundreds of people named “Harry Potter” in North America can step up for a chance to win $1,000 for themselves and another $1,000 for the library, literacty charity or school of their choice, in celebration of the publication of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. From the press release: …read more!

Film Focus recently caught up with actress Miranda Richardson and spoke briefly with her about her role as Rita Skeeter in the upcoming Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire film. This article, while short on details about the movie, does contain a hint from the actress as to how she will be portraying the …read more!

Our readers tell us that this morning Katie Couric announced that she’d be traveling to Scotland to interview Rowling in two weeks’ time, and said she’s taking questions from fans, which you can enter by going to this page.

Scholastic will officially announce a sweepstakes today to determine which American library will win the first signed American edition of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the company said in a press release yesterday. Any library in the 50 United States may mail in an entry by June 30. The winner will be notified on …read more!

Wanna eat some rotten eggs and bacon? No, no, not the food- the Bertie Botts Beans. These are two new err flavors the Jelly Belly Candy Company is adding to their Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans candy. As part of the tie-in with the release of the upcoming Goblet of Fire film, the candy company …read more!

JKRowling.com has added a new Wizard of the Month for June (yes, already in the UK). She is Elfrida Clagg, Chieftaness of Warlock’s Council.

The German publishers of the Harry Potter books, Carlsen, will be holding a contest to choose the HBP cover on their official site; Sabine Wilharm, illustrator of the first five German Covers will draw two covers fans will vote for their favorite. Thanks to Harry Potter Xperts for the heads up!

Raincoast Books has sent along an update about contests available to Canadian residents for the chance to travel to Edinburgh to become a “cub reporter” on publication weekend. Raincoast’s own contest will be unveiled June 1 at 9pm PST (12am EST): Harry Potter Launch Weekend Sweepstakes Contest: Entrants will require a contest password, available on …read more!

JKRowling.com has a brand new FAQ poll for us to vote on today, with three choices involving Occlumency, the Pensieve, and the Order of the Phoenix. Enjoy!

Classic FM recently had listeners vote on the Greatest Movie Soundtrack of All Time. The results have been announced, and the soundtrack by John Williams for “Harry Potter” came in at number sixteen on the list of favorite soundtracks. The list did not specify which Potter film was chosen. The number one spot went to …read more!