It’s official! I just got off the phone with the media contacts for The Recording Academy and Jim Dale has won the Grammy for Best Spoken Word Album for Children for his reading of “Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire.” I called them after some confusion that it appeared the winners were listed on …read more!

It seems that Warner Bros. has pulled the wool over our eyes when their spokesperson claimed their attempt to make Claire Field take down her Web site was totally incorrect. According to a press release from Claire’s solicitors (lawyers) and associated “press pack” which includes all letters sent to and from Warner Bros. lawyers, they …read more!

Remember having themed birthday parties as a kid? Do you have a child of your own now? Thanks again to Heidi for pointing out this ultimate Web site for Harry Potter party supplies from plates & napkins to balloons and horns.

Interesting commentary from Rob Walker of Slate about the recent Coke/Warner Bros. deal to promote the Harry Potter movie. Thanks to Heidi of the “Harry Potter for Grownups” list.

Some news we missed the first time we posted this article: Spinning off the first “Harry Potter” book and upcoming film is Tiger’s Talking Portrait (aka the Fat Lady Room Alarm, $30). She talks and her eyes follow you when you walk by, thanks to a built-in motion detector. Freaky.

More casting news from the Harry Potter Movie Site! Lily Potter will be played by Geraldine Somerville, best known for “Cracker” in the UK (TV series). She has aslo appeared in Jilting Joe as Olivia (1997), as well as playing characters in many other TV shows. James Potter will be played by Adrian Rawlins, who’s …read more!

The overall reaction to the new and improved Official Harry Potter Web site from readers, other fan sites and discussions on Web boards has been quite subdued. The site, while displaying excellent graphical arts and sounds, is completely lacking in any new content or interactivity. The Daily Prophet section contains old news from last year …read more!

According to an AP article, Warner Bros. has tapped Coca-Cola as their only marketing partner for the Harry Potter movie. Luckily, it will only include images of Harry on product packaging and will not include product placement in the movie. Rames from the Harry Potter Galleries has reminded me “It’s $150million, the largest promotional deal …read more!

Very interesting news this morning. According to Empire Online, it appears that John Hurt will be playing the role of Mr. Ollivander and *not* Morgana as the same publication had originally printed. Note that Empire was also the publication who said the role of the wand salesman would be played by Derek Jacobi. I wonder …read more!

A few readers have emailed me and asked why I did not have permanent links to the Harry Potter Anti-Warner sites like PotterWar and DADA. I cannot speak for the rest of the editors at “The Leaky Cauldron” but while I fully support the right for fans to have their own Harry Potter-related domain names, …read more!