What a strange story. A tertiary character from the Harry Potter films escaped death last month when her own father and brother tried to kill her. What the????

According the BBC, Afshan Azad’s father and brother have been charged with attempting to kill her in their Manchester home.

Afshan, 22, plays Padma Patil, a classmate to Harry, Ron, and Hermione in the ‘Harry Potter’ films. Her father, Abdul Azad, 54, and brother Ashraf, 28, appeared in court Tuesday for threatening to kill her. Ashraf is also charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm against his sister. The case was adjourned until July 12. The attack reportedly happened May 21.

No one is giving any reason for the attempted murder, but maybe it’s one of those Muslim-you’re-bad-girl-ways-have-shamed-our-family-kind of things.

In case your rusty on her HP characters…Padma was the girl that Harry to the ball in The Goblet of Fire after Cho Chang turned him down to go with Cedric Diggory…played by Robert Pattinson way before the Twilight mania started.

Padma and Harry

Cho and Cedric

Collegiate comedy favorite Dane Cook has been royally ripped off….by his BROTHER. TMZ reported yesterday that Dane’s business manager/brother has been arrested for stealing millions of dollars from his famous sibling.

Darryl McCauley — who was in charge of Cook’s financial affairs since the 90s — was arrested today by the Massachusetts State Police and charged with three counts of larceny and forgery. Authorities say in one case, Dane’s bro forged a $3 million check and deposited it in his account. McCauley will be arraigned tomorrow in Woburn District Court.

Maybe he just got sick of watching his overrated brother get the money and the girls. I really can’t blame the dude.

What is going on in Chicago? In what should be the happiest time of her life, tragedy has struck the life singer Jennifer Hudson.

The mother and brother of Jennifer Hudson were found shot dead Friday at a South Side home, and police were seeking a missing child who is the nephew of the singer and Oscar-winning actress. “We can confirm that there is an ongoing investigation concerning the deaths of Jennifer Hudson’s mother, Darnell Donerson, and her brother, Jason Hudson,” Hudson’s personal publicist, Lisa Kasteler, said in a statement. “No further comment will be made and the family has asked that their privacy be respected at this difficult time.”

Stay tuned for more updates….