Today, Maggie Smith (Professor McGonagall) is celebrating her 70th birthday. Happy Birthday Maggie!

The Independent has a new interview with actor Timothy Spall (Pettigrew). While it is good article, there is only a brief mention of his returning to the role the upcoming Goblet of Fire film. Next up, he reprises the role of Peter Pettigrew in the latest instalment of the epic JK Rowling saga, Harry Potter …read more!

We’ve watched the news of the devastating South Asian tsunamis with mounting horror and know that you have, too. We know our readers in that region are few, but pray that they are all safe and sound. Our prayers are with the victims and their families. For a time TLC’s pages will host links to …read more!

PoA crops up in a few places in the Entertainment Weekly Year End issue: The article on sequels note that the “third time’s the charm Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban” landed a broom’s sweep shy of the previous films, but it was still enough to land it as the No. 32 all time …read more!

Happy birthday to our editorial director, Melissa, who spent a lot of time over the few weeks printing mailing labels and stuffing envelopes with stickers for our Leaky charity drive, Get a Clue 3 (results to be announced after the holidays). Have a great day, Melissa! (Melissa has broken in here to say, first of …read more!

Grinch alert: We’ve been about due for one of these Potter harangues for some time. This time it’s from a new face, not William Safire or A.S. Byatt or even Harold Bloom. It’s retired business editor Jack Markowitz of the Tribune Review who calls the Potter books “the most over-praised, over-publicized and marketed books ever …read more!

There’s a big blue piece of candy illustration in the place of JKR’s “Extra Stuff” section on JKRowling.com. We didn’t publish this as news at first because, well, a picture of a blue piece of candy isn’t news. It’s the picture (enlarged) of the piece of candy that has been behind every door of her …read more!

I’m wrapping up work, as I know are many of you, and various Leaksters are boarding various planes (or not, as in Kristin’s case, due to snow) to go home for the holidays. We want to take this moment to wish you all a very, very wonderful holiday, no matter what you celebrate. We know …read more!

Harry Potter film actors James and Oliver Phelps (Fred & George Weasley) and Devon Murray(Seamus) will be here in the states in January, 2005. They are due to appear at “The Coolest Show on Earth” collectors show, held in Orlando, Florida. They will be available for autographs at this show which runs January 28th-30th. Admission …read more!

MovieMistakes.com mentions all three Potter films in their Most Mistake-filled Movies of 2004 round up, with Prisoner of Azkaban making the number one slot with a supposed 234 mistakes. The movies are also mentioned in other categories, including Best Mistakes of All Time. Thanks to Pejhman for the link!