LEGO Harry Potter Video Game Interview, Images, and Preview Round Up

There has been a recent slew of new interviews, previews, and a few new images from the soon to be released Harry Potter LEGO: Years 1 – 4 game to come online. Here now is a brief rundown:
First, two videos are online featuring behind-the-scenes looks at the creation and creative process of the game. GamesWeasel.com included this video as part of their weekly video podcast, which features Jonathan Smith, Head of Production at Traveller’s Tales Games, speaking to the kind of new and innovative ways in which gamers may use the LEGO game within the Harry Potter world. He adds that with this game, the characters “learn and grow” throughout the experience, which adds an even deeper level to the overall gaming experience with character progression. The second video, thanks to SS, contains a short conversation with a character artist for the Harry Potter LEGO game who briefly walks us through the creation of Buckbeak for the game.
Next, GameSpot for Wii has a few new stills from the game online, showing Professor Quirrell, the LEGO Trio, Harry and Ron, the Great Hall, and the Troll. For a complete look at the complete series of released stills, check here in our Image Galleries.
Finally, Eurogamer has an article online which also makes note of the character progression throughout the game, saying, in part:

Most of the story levels will still work a little bit like instances – we’re shown a bustling Diagon Alley complete with Gringott’s Bank and The Leaky Cauldron, while the village of Hogsmeade is mentioned as a later location – but Hogwarts is intricately tied in with another of the game’s new ideas: character progression.

Far more than a simple interactive menu, the school is the place where Harry and friends will attend lessons, learning new kinds of spells, which will in turn open up more of the story. Starting the game – which, as the title suggests, charts the narratives of the first four books – with no knowledge of magic whatsoever, by the end of the adventure, Harry will have filled up a reassuringly spacious selection wheel of powers.

The full article and preview can be found at this link.
With an official release date still yet to be announced, multiple sources are reporting a May 2010 release date for the game on the PS3, XBox 360, Wii, PC, DS, and PSP platforms. Check back to Leaky for the very latest!
Many thanks to SnitchSeeker and those who owled!