Everyone, please join us as we send joyous Happy First Birthday wishes to Mackenzie Jean Rowling Murray. The third child of our favorite author was born one year ago today, and readers will remember that Jo dedicated Half-Blood Prince to her newest little one, writing “To Mackenzie, my beautiful daughter, I dedicate her ink-and-paper twin. …read more!

Previously, we told you that author J.K. Rowling would be visiting Romania to take part in a charity dinner as part of an effort to help raise funds and awareness of the plight of orphans in Eastern Europe. This visit is to take place this week, on January 25th and the 26th. HarryPotter.as.ro reports that …read more!

The New York Times confirms the Ralph Fiennes (Lord Voldemort) will return to Broadway this spring in Brian Friel’s play “The Faith Healer.” The play will be staged at the Booth Theater and directed by Jonathan Kent, who directed Mr. Fiennes’ Tony award-winning Hamlet in 1995. Cherry Jones and Ian McDiarmid co-star. Previews begin in …read more!

The signed item that J.K. Rowling has donated to Book Aid International is, as was the last, a secretive document that, is written on A3 (11×16″) paper, “involves Harry Potter, is signed by her and involves the phrase, ‘between the lines.’ There will be a preview of it in the Daily Telegraph this Saturday and …read more!

The Patronus 2006 conference will be held in Copenhagen, Denmark from July 7-9, 2006 at the University of Copenhagen. The conference will be hosted by the independent organization Patronus in cooperation with the Department of English, Germanic and Romance Studies at the University of Copenhagen and the Danish Harry Potter Society. The purpose of the …read more!

In a new interview in today’s Toronto Sun, Emma Thompson (Professor Trelawney) talks about bringing the “Nanny McPhee” children’s stories to the big screen, a process that took her nine years. She also discusses childhood discipline and working with (many) children and animals. “[The] donkey was supposed to be active,” Thompson says. “And it just …read more!

Actor John Hurt (Mr. Ollivander) celebrates his 66th birthday today. Cheers! Thanks, Diane, for the reminder.

As rumored and suggested, Chris Rankin (Percy) has confirmed to us (and now on his site) that he will be in Order of the Phoenix, ending a lot of speculation and wonder about whether he and his role would be in the film adaptation of the book.

Matthew Lewis (Neville) and Chris Rankin (Percy) have both pulled out FXShow 2006 due to filming commitments “on Harry Potter 5,” the site says, suggesting Percy will be in the fifth film after much speculation that he wouldn’t be. We’ll have more for you on this soon. Thanks Christina!

The cover of the Spanish translation of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince may now be viewed at HarryLatino.com. As we have reported, the book will be released on February 23, 2006. Thanks, Pablo!