First off, Emma’s official site has been recently updated with a new EMS (or, Emma Messaging System) message. Emma writes about a recent trip to Cuba, taking the SATs (tomorrow!), shooting for Deathly Hallows, and other miscellaneous news. Check that out on the official site here!

Second off, a much-discussed and rumored new Half-Blood Prince trailer has finally showed up online! That’s currently available (with Japanese subtitles!) on YouTube. The trailer is playing with Inkheart and He’s Just Not That Into You in theaters, starting today, and we hope to have a better-quality version online soon. Enjoy!

Thirdly, here’s the big one. We’re not quite sure as a team how to break this news to you. We’ve talked about it some thought about it a lot, and pushed the job off for another day or another time. I’m really hoping for your unconditional love here.

You ready? (This feels a little like one of those really irritating email forwards: “READY? ************** READY? ********** NOPE YOU’RE STILL NOT READY! HAHAHA! ********** . . . READY? ****** NOPE!” Thank you all so much for never sending us a single one of those in two years.)

Okay, I’ll say it. We’ve added a fifth member to our team!

I know, this is big! This is BIG! Two years of the same, and now we’ve got some crazy newcomer mixing things up. We know you’re going to love her. Please welcome Niuserre to the site. She’s been our host since the very beginning and has always been one of our most staunch supporters. I worked with Niu on an outstanding fansite several years ago, almost when I first got into the HP fandom, and I know her to be very professional and very good at what she does. She’ll be helping us with Sparkly! updates and more, and she’s going to make a great member of our team. Please welcome her warmly!

You’ll be hearing from Niu and the rest of the staff soon – we’ve got yet more in the works! – so stay tuned, and enjoy that trailer!