The non-profit Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has issued a report that accuses certain companies of bypassing parents and marketing directly to children. Report author Margo G. Wootan said characters like Harry Potter, Winnie the Pooh, SpongeBob SquarePants and Elmo, as well as games, contests and sports stars, “are all enlisted to …read more!

Having taken a snippet from a Telegraph article, Contact Music has a short article with Emma Thompson discussing Trelawney. The scene she seemingly describes as part of PoA is pretty much something that happens in Order of the Phoenix: “I have a nervous breakdown in the film and in one scene I get to stand …read more!

It’s rumored that Tony Blair may offer J.K. Rowling a peerage, in recognition for her contribution to literature. Thanks to Dr. Fidelius for the link.

U.K.’s Home Secretary David Blunkett will appear on the quiz show Mastermind, where he will answer questions about the Harry Potter series. You may recall that Blunkett, who is blind, expressed frustration this past summer at the cost of the audio books, as well as that they were not scheduled for release in the U.K. …read more!

Asked about Harry Potter allusions in his comic strip “Get Fuzzy”, cartoonist Darby Conley said that his character “Satchel would like Neville and my favorite characters are the Weasley twins. I’m glad you like the Harry Potter references. I’m already waiting for Book 6.” Thanks for the link, Andy!

It’s Chris Rankin’s (Percy Weasley’s) 20th birthday, and we wish him a great one! Thanks, Alex!

The German publisher of Order of the Phoenix has offered the first chapter as a PDF download – click through to the site and on the button that reads “Zur Leserprobe”. Thanks to Dr. Fidelius for the info!

Team TLC wishes everyone in Germany, Austria & Switzerland a wonderful day of reading OotP in German! HP-Fans.de tells us they’ll be posting pictures of the book release events of the day.

A lot of you wondered what’s going on with the origami swan Draco’s got in this picture – so did we. Today, editor Megan and I had the extreme pleasure of interviewing and just plain hanging out with Jamie Waylett, otherwise known as Vincent Crabbe. We will have a LOT of coverage, pictures, even funny …read more!

Thanks to reader Alice for sending us a scan from today’s article in USA Today. because of that, we have details for a few more pictures and two new ones: Floating Aunt Marge (If you look closely, you can see Ripper down below her to the left). Dumbledore at Start of Term (You can see …read more!