Harry Potter

For decades, scientists have used references to popular culture to help people understand breakthroughs in technology. Although the go-to series for the smart folks behind every innovation in your life has been 'Star Trek,' the latest crazy advancement is also applicable to something a little more, well, magical. Yes, someone has gone and built themselves an rudimentary invisibility cloak, like the one seen in the Harry Potter series.

Here's another reason to be excited for 'Harry Potter' spinoff film 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them': the new project has just taken on a director quite familiar with the wizarding world of Harry Potter. David Yates, who helmed four of the films in the series, is returning to tame the mythical beasts.

'The Tonight Show' is down in Orlando for the week, and although the 'Harry Potter' theme park they overtook is packed with families, it's really for the kids, because it doesn't seem as if any of the parents in attendance have ever even picked up a book. Need proof? Jimmy Fallon sent out a writer to quiz some park-goers (no kids!) about some basic 'Potter' trivia, and the results were kind of dismal.

'The Tonight Show' is down in Orlando, Florida, this week, camped out at the Universal Studios backlot for some road-tripping fun, and all the better to serve up some exciting sneak peeks at the theme park's newly expanded Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Jimmy Fallon decided to really get into the spirit of things, dragging his faithful announcer Steve Higgins over to Diagon Alley to pick out some shiny new wizarding wands from master wand shop Ollivanders.

Well, this is an unexpected and perfect surprise: the latest internet buzz suggests that the absolutely brilliant 'Gravity' director Alfonso Cuaron is in talks to helm the Harry Potter spin-off 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.' Take all of this with a grain of salt until an official announcement arrives, but it's difficult to imagine a more perfect choice for the job.

It was announced last September that 'Harry Potter' franchise author J.K. Rowling is working with Warner Bros. on a spinoff titled 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,' and now comes word that the studio will follow in the footsteps of the 'Hobbit' franchise by making the exciting new project into an even more exciting new trilogy, milking every bit of of this magic for what its worth. Read M

The boy who lived continues to live on. Two years after the last 'Harry Potter' movie hit theaters (and six years after 'Deathly Hallows' was published), author J.K. Rowling is working on a Potter prequel that would follow a young Harry as an orphan, before his time at Hogwarts.

It's been more than two years since 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2' hit theaters, thereby completing the eight-film series adapted from J.K. Rowling's bestselling books. But it turns out we're not through yet with the land of witches and wizards. Warner Bros. is adapting 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,' a companion book to the 'Harry Potter' universe, for a new film series

Like many Harry Potter fans, we are convinced that our Hogwarts acceptance letter was hidden away by cruel parents on our 11th birthday, or else it somehow got lost in owl-post. Either way, we've been cruelly denied the opportunity to stroll the famous, cobbled street in order to shop for magical school supplies.

Some sad news to report this morning: Richard Griffiths, who co-starred in the 'Harry Potter' films as Vernon Dursley, has died following heart surgery in London. He was 65.

Redheaded 'Harry Potter' franchise star Rupert Grint might have grown up playing one of modern literature's greatest sidekicks, but that isn't stopping the former Ron Weasley from breaking out as a leading man, and a superhero in his own right. Following the close of the billion-dollar film franchise, Rupert Grint's next major project will take him to CBS as the leading man of upcoming single-came

We'd like to take a moment to give sweet, sweet thanks to our girl J.K. Rowling for introducing us to the coolest wizard of all time-- Harry Potter. Why? Because he rules. Remember how Harry fought off Lord Voldemort and had an awesome pet owl? It's impressive stuff.

If you're a fan of J.K. Rowling's hit 'Harry Potter' series, you must have longed for your own invisibility cloak so that you could go off on your own magical adventures just like Harry himself. But invisibility cloaks are merely fictional, right? Wrong!

You might think you have the greatest pet in the world, but that's probably because you don't watch much TV. Instead of a cat that secretly hates you, fictional pets can be dragons or loyal household animals who stick by your side as you step out into the great unknown, rather than eating the contents of your bathroom trashcan the second you're out the door.

If you're missing 'Harry Potter' and are desperately in need of a good Potter fix, then J.K. Rowling has some good news for you. In a recent interview with BBC News, she admitted that she'd written many of the 'Potter' novels on the run and is sorely tempted to expand upon the universe by writing a "director's cut." While that's not a direct "yes, I am writing a new Potter book,&quo