Whimsic Alley, a Potter merchandise store located in Santa Monica, California, is one of the coolest places to shop for Potter in the world. So cool, in fact, that they are asking fans ages 8 to 14 to come out on May 18th to be interviewed on their love for the Potter books.

The interviews are being recorded for a special project that cannot be announced yet, but they can say JK Rowling herself will be watching some of the interviews at a later date. For more information, check out their website! Best of luck to all you kids who participate.

RupertGrint.net has spotted these new spools of yarn from German yarn company Opal. They have a new Half-Blood Prince collection with 8 color themes to be released Fall 2008. Each of the themes represents one character from the sixth Potter film and includes a picture.

Those characters include Harry, Ron, Malfoy, Lupin, Tonks, Dumbledore, and Hedwig. Tonks most notably has a new, much shorter, haircut. Check 'em out in our gallery!

Casting Call Pro UK has several actors and actresses listed for roles in Half-Blood Prince, and one of them may suggest how the film opens up.

Teresa Mahoney, pictured left, has been cast as "Sofie" in "Boardroom - Opening Scene". This leads us to believe that Half-Blood Prince's opening may stay true to the book.

Other casting includes a Slytherin Student, a Death Eater, and a Slughorn Ball Graduate. Thanks to Ryan for the tip!

In celebration of the 100th anniversary of Mother's Day, Chief Parenting has announced its inaugural Chief Mommy Officer Hall of Fame inductees, women they feel have "achieved greatness in their respective careers, while simultaneously maintaining their roles as exemplary mothers."

Jo Rowling is, of course, among them: "Unemployed, suffering from depression and solely raising her infant daughter on state benefits, Rowling wrote a little book titled Harry Potter."

Thanks to Shane for the tip.

A brief new interview with Jessie Cave, Lavendar Brown in the sixth Potter film, has surfaced where she comments on the kiss between her and Rupert Grint for the film.

"It was a bit embarrassing. Our first screen kiss was on my third day of shooting. It's been an amazing experience though. I've been completely immersed in the Harry Potter world since filming started last year."

Thanks to JCF for the scan!

In the midst of JK Rowling's US-based court trial, her court case in England (over a published photo of her son David taken in 2004) has gone in her favor. The BBC reports:

The agency photo - taken in November 2004 - showed Ms Rowling pushing David in a buggy on a street in Edinburgh.

The picture was published in the Sunday Express and the newspaper later settled the claim.

Judge Sir Anthony Clarke said: "If a child of parents who are not in the public eye could reasonably expect not to have photographs of him published in the media, so too should the child of a famous parent.

"In our opinion, it is at least arguable that a child of 'ordinary' parents could reasonably expect that the press would not target him and publish photographs of him."

Read the full story, including a statement from Jo and her husband Neil, right here. Thanks to everyone who e-mailed!

Nearly two months ago we told you about HP Quest, an online Potter scanvenger hunt brought to you by HP Fan Trips. Today, they announced the grand prize winner, who happens to have found out about the Quest through MuggleNet!

Lucy Adams of Australia has won a trip for two to the HP Fan Trips' School of Wizardry, July 23-27, 2008 at Ford’s Castle in England. Congrats to her! For a list of the weekly winners, click the Read More link below.

And lastly a reminder: HP Fan Trips' Equus and HP6 trip is selling out quick! For an all-in-one trip to see Equus on Broadway and Half-Blood Prince in the city, check out their site.

The kiss in Order of the Phoenix between Daniel Radcliffe and Katie Leung (Cho) has been nominated for this year's MTV Awards in the best kiss category.

You can vote at this link, until May 23rd. The site says "Juno may be super hip, but the hipster movie moment of the year was undoubtedly the kiss between nerdy Daniel 'Harry Potter' Radcliffe and foxy Katie 'Cho' Leung.

The Awards will air on June 1st. Thanks to everyone who emailed!

In lieu of Half-Blood Prince trailer news, BBC is feeding our craving by providing some interesting video shots of Leavesden Studios via helicopter. Leavesden has been used to film most interior and exterior Potter scenes since the beginning of the franchise.

The aerial shots provide a glimpse at several outdoor sets, including Privet Drive, Hagrid's Hut, the Hogwarts Express - Hogwarts station, an entrance to Hogwarts, and one end of a Quidditch pitch.

Additionally, there are several sets that cannot be identified from recognition in past Potter films. Possibilities include the Gaunt's House (CBBC's guess), a part of The Orphanage, and The Burrow.

Watch the video and sound off with your ideas in the comments! Thanks to everyone who e-mailed with the tip.

About a month ago, Amazon announced a new contest giving a lucky winner the chance to read Tales of Beedle the Bard themselves. The semifinalists were announced today and voting has commenced for the two different age groups.

Click here to vote in the 13 - 17 age group and click here to vote for 18 and above. You must have a free Amazon account. Each group's winner will receive a $1,000 Amazon gift certificate. They will also move on to the final round of voting to determine the grand prize winner, which begins May 13th.

Voting in the current semifinalists round wraps up May 11th, so make sure to get your vote in soon! Thanks to Becky and Tessa for the tip.

SnitchSeeker.com was at Collectormania 13 in England and spoke with Natalia Tena, who plays Tonks in Order of the Phoenix and Half-Blood Prince. Tena revealed that she has completed filming for HBP:

The only scene Natalia has filmed for the movie, isn't actually in the book at all. She was only on set for the part where Death Eaters attack the Burrow at Christmas (where Harry & the Weasleys are present). She said that none of the angst of her character is there - indeed, she and Lupin are just suddenly a couple when they meet there.

Read more at Snitch Seeker. Thanks to Trish for the tip!

This week's episode of our Harry Potter podcast is now online, featuring Chapter by Chapter, This Week in MuggleCast, Sorting Hat, discussion on the latest news, and much more! Join Laura, Eric, Micah, Matt and I for:

- Potter leaves the NYT Bestseller list for first time in decade.
- Fans think this is the end? LOL!
- Hogsmeade is being built. We discuss, Micah tries to move on.
- Lots of MuggleMail based on last week's show and more.
- Chapter by Chapter covers Chapter 28 of DH: The Missing Mirror.
- Aberforth's fight with the Death Eaters, his story, and an actor to play him.
- We play Sorting Hat, This Week in MC History, HUH?!, and Chicken Soup.

All that and much more can be found on Episode 144! To download for free, we recommend subscribing through Apple iTunes. Just click here and then press "Subscribe" to the right of our album art. No iPod or MP3 player needed! You can also visit the MuggleCast website to listen right within your browser. Enjoy!

It's been a couple weeks since we've updated you on the JK Rowling VS RDR court trial. The trial itself occurred from April 14th - 16th, and at this point we are just waiting for the judge's final decision on the copyright infringement claims by JKR/WB.

The Chicago Tribune recently spoke to RDR owner Roger Rapoport, who sheds some new light on their decision to turn the HP Lexicon into a book:

The publisher did not know of Vander Ark's Lexicon Web site until he saw a newspaper profile of the Webmaster last July. A month later, Vander Ark agreed to put together a print version with the help of three of the site's other editors. The plan was to print 10,000 copies.

"I couldn't understand why this book hadn't been published yet," he said. After all, Rowling herself had endorsed the Web site in 2004, giving it an award as "a great site" which, while writing, she occasionally used to check facts from her earlier books. Little did Rapoport envision that, at the trial, Rowling would dismiss the manuscript of the printed Lexicon as "sloppy."

For the full interview, click here! Thanks to Jonathan for the tip!

AbeBooks.com, a site for finding new and used books of all types, analyzed sales data from 2007 and created a list of the top collectible authors. JK Rowling took the top spot followed by Roderick Gordon, Brian Williams, and Stephen King:

On-going demand for signed Harry Potter books means Rowling tops the index although few first editions of her debut book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, reach the market. An autographed Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows sold for $5,500 just after its release last July.

If you're in the market for a signed Potter novel, we recommend you check out our friends at JKR's Army. They'll tell you what to look out for when shopping for a genuine JK Rowling signature. Thanks to Ali for the tip!

BlogHogwarts.com has online an interview with Tony Coburn, who will be playing Young Lucius Malfoy in Half-Blood Prince. In the interview, he talks about what scenes he's filmed and who he's worked with:

BH: Have you filmed your scenes for Half-Blood Prince? In which scenes are you involved?
TC: The scenes have been shot and I was in a dinner scene with Professor Slughorn. I was also an extra in Dumbledore’s death scene which was a night shoot.

BH: Who did you work with? Who did you meet?
TC: I acted with Jim Broadbent and was in the death scene with Michael Gambon, Daniel Radcliffe, Maggie Smith and Robbie Coltrane.

To read more of what he has to say, including how he prepared for the role, check out this translation at The-Portkey.com. Thanks to them for the tip!