Attention Wizard Rock fans! Wizrocklopedia columnist, Harry Potter Alliance staff member, and MuggleNet frequenter Dinah Russell has just released her third ”Straight from the Dinah-Saur’s Mouth” column!

Her article includes an exclusive interview with Paul DeGeorge of Harry and the Potters regarding their current tour with Math the Band and Uncle Monsterface, the Unlimited Enthusiasm Expo!

If you haven’t already read it, please check out her column here!

Many visitors have emailed in to tell us that the Wizarding World of Harry Potter's official website has sent out their first newsletter update! In it, they promoted a new poll and concept art.

The concept art for The Three Broomsticks shows children and adults relaxing in an open area holding wands and Marauders Maps. A wanted poster for Sirius Black is towards the right side of the art. The newsletter describing it as a place "where you may enjoy authentic food and drink from the World of Harry Potter."

The new poll is asking fans what kind of drink you would want to order at The Three Broomsticks. You can pick from either Butterbeer or Pumpkin Juice.

Today, July 31, 2008, marks the eleventh and final day of the Harry Potter Alliance’s latest project, “Eleven Days of Breaking Out of the Muggle Mindset.” It also marks the eleventh year of the Harry Potter series.

For the previous eleven days (since the one year anniversary of the Deathly Hallows release) the Harry Potter Alliance has been posting a different activity each day to help us “break out of the Muggle Mindset and into the magic of our creativity.”

Today’s activity includes lighting a candle for Harry and Jo's birthdays and listening to a brand new episode of HP Alliance Potterwatch, the site’s podcast, about Harry’s eleventh birthday. Check out the podcast here or get it here in the iTunes store.

If you haven’t already done so, check out and participate in the previous ten days of this awesome project on the HPA website!

Yesterday's live show on Ustream is now available for your listening pleasure! With over 1,400 people listening, we talked about the Half-Blood Prince teaser trailer and what we think it means for the film. Plus:

- Michael Gambon is different in this trailer. But how?
- Hero Fiennes-Tiffen was a great casting decision.
- We take your calls about the trailer.
- Eric and Jamie have statements for the listeners in light of their absence.
- Andrew tells a story of a recent natural disaster.
- Spy on Spartz!
- Contribute to Teddy Bears for Hope.

Thanks goes to Ustream for another great hosting service, as well as everyone who listened last night. We plan on doing another live show when the next teaser trailer is released, if not sooner. To download for free, we recommend subscribing through Apple iTunes. Just CLICK HERE and then press "Subscribe" to the right of our album art. (Already subscribed? Refresh your feed!) No iPod or MP3 player needed! You can also visit the MuggleCast website to listen right within your browser. Enjoy!

Even though it's her and Harry's birthdays, JK Rowling is giving us and charity yet another gift. In a press release this morning, Scholastic announced that Jo's children's charity, the Children’s High Level Group (CHLG), will be publishing The Tales of Beedle the Bard.

You may recall last December, when Amazon.com bid $4 million to snag one of seven copies in existence at a Sotheby's auction in London. The books will be printed and distributed by Bloomsbury, Scholastic and Amazon.

Jo had this to say: "There was understandable disappointment among Harry Potter fans when only one copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard was offered to the public last December. I am therefore delighted to announce that, thanks to the generous support of Bloomsbury, Scholastic and Amazon (who bought the handwritten copy at auction) – and with the blessing of the wonderful people who own the other six original books - The Tales of Beedle the Bard will now be widely available to all Harry Potter fans. Royalties will be donated to the Children’s High Level Group, to benefit institutionalised children in desperate need of a voice. The new edition will include the Tales themselves, translated from the original runes by Hermione Granger, and with illustrations by me, but also notes by Professor Albus Dumbledore, which appear by generous permission of the Hogwarts Headmasters’ Archive."

Scholastic predicts the book will generate around $8 million in sales - all going to benefit the CHLG.

The Children’s High Level Group works to make life better for vulnerable children across Europe, where over a million children and teenagers are growing up in unacceptable conditions in large residential institutions.

Today, July 31st, the author of the Harry Potter book series celebrates her birthday alongside her brainchild, Harry. Happy Birthday to the both of them, and we hope they both have great days!

Richard Griffiths (Uncle Vernon) celebrates his birthday today too. Leave wishes for all of them in the comments!

UPDATE: The show has concluded and it was a great success! You'll be able to download it on the MuggleCast feed very soon.

The MuggleCasters will be hosting a live episode of our show starting at 7 PM EST on Ustream! The show will be broadcasting right here, with music beginning at 6:30 PM EST.

We'll be talking about all of the latest Half-Blood Prince film developments and taking your calls. It's gonna be a fun show... see you there!

Yesterday's release of the Half-Blood Prince teaser trailer is still continuing to thrill and excite Potter fans, but the actor who plays Ron has something to say to the skeptics.

He spoke with MTV on the set of his upcoming film Cherrybomb, and offers a consolation for those who hoped for something more:

“It’s only a teaser, just to get people excited”

He also revealed that he hadn't seen the teaser yet, but expressed excitement at knowing one of his "favorite scenes" involving Ron had a quick appearance.

Warner Brothers has released links to Quicktime, Windows Media, iPod, and Flash versions of the trailer so you can download it in any flavor you prefer:

QUICKTIME HD - 1080, 720, 480

QUICKTIME STANDARD - Large, Medium, Small, Standard TV

WINDOWS HD - 1080, 720

WINDOWS STANDARD - Large, Medium, Small

FLASH - Large, Small

IPOD - Click here

Today, July 30th, marks the birthday of Neville Longbottom. Have a great one, Neville!

We now have online a collection of photos from the Half-Blood Prince teaser trailer that premiered earlier this evening. Check it out right here and enjoy finding all of the little things you may have missed!

Watch the trailer | Digg the trailer | Discuss the trailer

The official Harry Potter website has been updated with, well, just a link to the trailer on AOL. All previous aspects of the site are now gone.

We're sure that as the film gets closer, the site will grow. Thanks to BlogHogwarts for the tip!

Warner Brothers has just passed along four high res images that we saw on USA Today's website last night. Check 'em out below:

- Young Tom Riddle at the orphanage with Dumbledore in the background
- Dumbledore creating a firestorm to fend off the Inferi
- Harry looking at a memory "tube" Dumbledore holds
- Dumbledore looking through his Pensieve holder

We have a gallery of pictures from the teaser trailer coming soon... stay tuned!

(Digg this story!) UPDATE: AOL now has the trailer online in three different quality versions. Check 'em out HERE!

After initially appearing on MSN over an hour before the trailer was supposed to premiere on AOL, we now have the teaser trailer online in all its glory. For those of you who have seen both the MSN and AOL trailers, you'll notice that the MSN one says that the film is coming "This Year" as opposed to "November" in the AOL one. The web addresses also differ... AOL says HarryPotter.com while MSN says HarryPotter.co.uk.

Leave your thoughts in the comments!

Just hours before the Half-Blood Prince teaser trailer premieres on AOL (tonight at 9 PM EST!), more pictures from the film have surfaced.

First up is a collection of Half-Blood Prince trading cards being sold on eBay that was was given out at Comic Con. Although we are not sure which company produced these, it was a very limited release (1000 sets were made) and it included 9 cards. Each card has a new picture from HBP, and you can check out the whole collection right here and here.

Second, The Portkey has a new photo of Dumbledore checking out his Pensieve holder in his office. You can see that right here. Thanks to Angela and Adele for the tips!

It was announced today that Half-Blood Prince will make its royal premiere at The Royal Film Performance on November 18th. The Performance is a yearly charity event benefiting the British television and film communities.

Potter producer David Heyman spoke about the significance of being involved in this event:

"I am delighted that Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince has been chosen for this year's Royal Film Performance. We have always endeavoured to remain true to Jo Rowling's vision in recreating the magic of her world and we have been overwhelmed with the continual support of audiences. And thus, we are thrilled that our film is being honoured in this way and will help to raise money for such good causes."

The film will be played in the presence of some Royal Family members, although the exact attendees have not been announced yet.

USA Today has updated their gallery with two new photos:

- Harry looking at a memory "tube" Dumbledore holds
- Dumbledore looking through his Pensieve holder

David Heyman also included descriptions for the photos and reveals some new things about the plot:

In the books, the memories were a very big part of JK Rowling's story. We've actually pared them down in our story, and she was very supportive of that decision. They're such an enjoyable part of reading the Half-Blood Prince. But we've kind of distilled them down to two or three memories to try to keep everything more in the moment. Flashbacks in movies are tricky things; they tend to hold up the momentum of the story you're telling.

Since early May, rumors of the teaser trailer's theatrical release have been circulating around the internet. First it was Prince Caspian, then it was Kung Fu Panda and Get Smart, then Dark Knight, and at last The Mummy.

Now finally, after a delay that didn't meet past Potter release schedules, the teaser trailer for Half-Blood Prince will be released tonight at 9 PM EST on AOL. We'll be posting the link to it here on MuggleNet the moment it goes live, followed by screencaps in our gallery. MuggleCast will be live tomorrow (Wednesday) night at 7 PM EST with trailer analysis and your live calls about the film.

Get ready everyone! The surge of Half-Blood Prince media is about to begin.

A new article just released by USA Today reveals two awesome new pictures!

- Young Tom Riddle at the orphanage with Dumbledore in the background
- Dumbledore creating a firestorm to fend off the Inferi

The newspaper also revealed lots of big notes about the film:

The trailer for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince arrives today online and makes its debut in theaters Friday before The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. Film editing is complete, says director David Yates, and studio officials will soon see the finished product.

Then next month, test audiences will get a sneak peek — something that doesn't seem to faze Yates in the least. "That's an incredibly useful process," he says.

The big reveal in the trailer (and in this exclusive photo from it): a glimpse of the young Tom Riddle, who grows up to become the wizarding world's most malevolent force, Lord Voldemort.

In celebration of the Half-Blood Prince teaser trailer, MuggleCast will be broadcasting a LIVE recording Wednesday night starting at 7 PM EST on Ustream!

The show will be broadcast right here for free. We'll be taking your calls, live feedback, and messages in the chat room as we discuss the trailer and your burning questions. See you then!

Don't forget, MuggleCast and PotterCast will be holding a live Leaky Mug in San Diego starting tomorrow (Sunday) at 7 PM! The event location is as follows:

Borders Books and Music
1072 Camino Del Rio N
San Diego, CA 92108

For those of you at Comic Con, it's an easy 10 minute drive from the San Diego Convention Center. See you all there for lots of fun Potter and Comic Con talk!

As we did with our dual OOTP/DH countdown last summer, we now have a countdown for Half-Blood Prince that can be used on your own webpage, MySpace, Yahoo Widgets, Blogger, or most other places.

Visit this page for instructions on using the countdown. You'll always be able to enjoy it here on MuggleNet whenever you need to track how much time is left!

Thanks goes to MuggleNet fan Saul who created this great countdown very quickly. Thanks Saul!

Volume Two of the charity compilation Wizards and Muggles Rock for Social Justice is now on iTunes! Many contributors are wizard rock bands, and even the muggle bands have wizarding members! Proceeds from the sale of this album will benefit the Harry Potter Alliance and Marriage Equality Rhode Island. Until the hard copies are released in December or January the album is only available in the iTunes store.

UPDATE: Warner Brothers has informed us that the teaser will be going live at the same time as the satellite feeds: 9 PM EST.

(Digg this story!) Amid rumors of a teaser premiere this morning, Warner Brothers has officially confirmed with us that the Half-Blood Prince teaser trailer WILL be released on AOL Tuesday!

Want to catch it on the big screen too? MuggleNet first told you about The Mummy rumors back in early July, and this is most likely the film it will be attached to.

MuggleCast will be bringing you a live episode on Ustream some time after the trailer is released. We'll let you know when we have details nailed down.

Two companies well known for their Harry Potter products, National Entertainment Collectibles Association and Gentle Giant, are showing off their new Half-Blood Prince products at Comic Con 2008. Gentle Giant had signs on their products prohibiting photography, but on hand were Harry, Snape, and Dumbledore models that looked beautiful. We'll bring you pics of these when they become available.

NECA's booth also included new Half-Blood Prince models for Harry (pic), Ginny (pic), and Draco (pic). They also had a brand new board game on display called the Hogwarts House Cup Challenge Adventure Board Game (pic 1, pic 2). Made up of various stacks of cards, game pieces, and one giant game board with a map of Hogwarts, it looks like players will head around the board as they answer Potter-related questions and use the map of Hogwarts to play different parts of the game.

As promised, 2008 Magical Tours Intern Thomas Pardee has posted his latest travel video from England and Scotland featuring up-to-the minute reports on Half-Blood Prince filming, book locations, and news. This report comes to us from Edinburgh and Glenfinnan, Scotland and Gloucester, England. Check it out on YouTube just for MuggleNet visitors!

Thomas is in the UK this summer with Magical Tours assisting with the trips and visiting sites of major importance all over Britain. Check his itinerary HERE to follow his progress.

MuggleCast Matt and I are in San Diego today covering all of the Twilight happenings (and some Potter - more on that soon) at this year's big Comic Con convention. We're happy to announce that we'll be doing a joint podcast (a Leaky Mug) with our friends at Leaky THIS Sunday, 7 PM, at the following Borders bookstore:

1072 Camino Del Rio N, San Diego, CA 92108

We hope to see lots of people there for fun Potter and Comic Con discussion!

Warner Bros. confirmed today that the worldwide debut of the trailer for the sixth film, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, will take place via satellite on Tuesday, July 29th, from 9:00 - 9:15pm EST.

Below are the coordinates to pick up the feed:

Galaxy 28, Transponder 19, C-Band Analog
Downlink Frequency: 4080V
Audio Configuration: 6.2/6.8

Since most of us don't have the proper equipment to catch the satellite feed, this likely means the trailer will be placed before The Mummy, which is in theaters the next day, July 30th.

A French website called Cinereplicas has online some new Half-Blood Prince promotional product images. Check 'em out below... thanks to Angela and UniversHarryPotter for the tip!

- Dumbledore and a Sorting Hat
- Harry and Bellatrix on Glow in the Dark sticker book
- Harry Potter and a Gryffindor Scarf
- Harry Potter and a Gryffindor Cloak
- Harry Potter and a Wizard Cap
- Harry Potter Ron Weasley banner

Just a year after Deathly Hallows went on sale in the United States and United Kingdom, the final book in the Potter series went on sale today in Japan.

"I'm so excited I feel like crying. I'm totally enchanted," said a breathless young Japanese woman who gave her first name as Erina. She said she had waited outside the Tokyo bookstore since Tuesday afternoon.

"I feel sad that this is the end but since I've followed him throughout the years I will be seeing him out, and that comforts me," she said, wearing a blonde wig as Luna, one of the main characters.

The actor who plays Harry Potter in the entire film series celebrates his 19th birthday today! Happy Birthday, Dan!

The UK DailyMail has an article on Tom Felton and his attendance to the UK premiere of The Dark Knight last night. In it, he speaks about his role of Draco in the upcoming Half-Blood Prince movie and explains how the film will reveal much of his character's complexities.

There are reasons that Draco is the way he is. He’s seen so many things and been taught so many wrong ideas from his father, Lucius, and of course he worships his father.

To read the rest of the article, click here.

Thanks to Megan for the tip!

In a new interview for Scotland's Hidden Epidemic: The truth about MS, JK Rowling talks about her mother's battle with Multiple Sclerosis. Jo also says she regretted not telling her mother about Harry Potter before she died.

You can see video of her interview right here. The documentary will air tomorrow (Wednesday) on BBC One Scotland at 22:45 BST.

MuggleNet's longtime sponsor, Alivan's, is offering two special deals for our visitors. You can now purchase a Redwood wand, along with a signed edition of our New York Times bestselling book, What Will Happen in Harry Potter 7 at the discounted price of $23.99 ($35 retail value). Additionally, you can buy your choice of wand, along with House Tie for just $45.99. This combo is typically sold for $65.

These deals will only available for a limited time, so act now!

Harry Potter's birthday is quickly approaching (July 31st), and Scholastic is preparing with a new feature on their official website. Click here to access their Birthday Wish creator, where you can write your own wish to Harry and view all of them in present or list view.

Thanks to BlogHogwarts for the tip!

This week's episode of our Harry Potter podcast is now available! Join a big panel of co-hosts as we reminisce over July 21st, 2007, discuss the latest news, and much more. Including:

- Two co-hosts who haven't been on in a while return!
- The HBP IMAX teaser trailer blows us away.
- Ben provides a reason for why WB is doing things this way.
- How has the fandom changed in the past year?
- How long will the Potter fandom exist like it does today?
- What's next for JK Rowling?
- What's next for MuggleCast?

All that and much more can be found on Episode 154! To download for free, we recommend subscribing through Apple iTunes. Just CLICK HERE and then press "Subscribe" to the right of our album art. (Already subscribed? Refresh your feed!) No iPod or MP3 player needed! You can also visit the MuggleCast website to listen right within your browser. Enjoy!

In celebration of the ONE-year anniversary of the Deathly Hallows release, the Harry Potter Alliance has announced their new official podcast: Potterwatch! Also, in eleven days (on July 31) the HP Alliance will invite everyone to celebrate the ELEVEN-year anniversary of the Philosopher’s Stone release.

As Andrew writes on the HP Alliance website, one and eleven are significant ages for Harry: “when he turned one he was sent out of the Wizarding World and into the Muggle World. When he turned eleven he was invited back from the Muggle World and into the Wizarding World.”

In commemoration of July 21 to July 31 (ELEVEN DAYS), the Harry Potter Alliance has launched the first day of “ Eleven Days of Breaking Out of the Muggle Mindset!”

Each day through July 31st, the HP Alliance will post “a simple exercise to help each of us tap into the magic of our creativity – away from the Muggle Minded world of Privet Drive and into the magic and mystery that Harry discovered at Hogwarts,” that participants can discuss in the HPA forums. Today’s activity is listening to the brand-new Harry Potter Alliance podcast Potterwatch, which gives further information on the Eleven Days project!

The Londonist is reporting that a very popular tourist spot at King's Cross, Platform 9 and 3/4, will be moving to a different area of the station in September:

Platform 9 and 3/4 will be shifted later this year to allow construction work on the West side of King's Cross, according to Jon Burden the former Duty Station Manager at King's Cross, who led a tour of the area yesterday. The enchanted platform will be relocated to the front of the station, close to the ticket office, in September.

Thanks to Liz for the tip!

July 21st, 2007 was the day we all began to read the final book in JK Rowling's tale of Harry Potter. Can you believe a year has already passed? MuggleNet held two live events; one in Chicago, one in London. 11 million copies were sold in the first 24 hours. And who can forget the much-criticized early review from the New York Times?

Share your thoughts about this one year anniversary in the comments! MuggleCast 154 will be released later today, where we'll discuss the release and the state of the fandom.

IOACentral has some new photos online from Universal Studios, where cryptic signs are appearing on construction walls surrounding the Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park.

The photos are different from normal promo signs in that they depict no Harry Potter logo. Instead, each sign has two owls, a castle (Hogwarts), and a village (Hogsmeade). Additional photos show that the Enchanted Oak, rumored to be turned into something Potter-related, is already being torn down.

We'll keep you updated! Thanks to Drew for the tip.

Warner Bros. has just sent us a larger version of yesterday's photo of Harry and Slughorn in (what appears to be) the professor's office.

As we accurately reported a few days ago, the IMAX teaser trailer for Half-Blood Prince only included some titles and a line from Dumbledore.

Thanks to BlogHowarts.com, you can watch the trailer here on YouTube.

Entertainment Weekly has a new photo online from Half-Blood Prince! It's off Harry joining Slughorn in his office, where the potion teacher is giving him a lesson in chemicals.

Thanks to Lori for the tip!

Long overdue, our live podcast from Portus 2008 is now available! Join us for a fun episode of news discussion, fan interaction, and singing in the latest episode of our Harry Potter podcast.

- We discuss some of the more popular events at Portus.
- One news item to discuss: the IMAX HBP trailer.
- Our first and last Epilogue by Epilogue.
- A live Quote Quiz.
- Questions from the audience, including the HPA's Andrew Slack.
- Fans sing a new version of Good Morning Baltimore - MuggleCast edition.

All that and much more can be found on Episode 153! To download for free, we recommend subscribing through Apple iTunes. Just CLICK HERE and then press "Subscribe" to the right of our album art. (Already subscribed? Refresh your feed!) No iPod or MP3 player needed! You can also visit the MuggleCast website to listen right within your browser. Enjoy!

In a recent interview, Lucius Malfoy actor Jason Isaacs spoke a little about his possible part in the seventh movie:

"I am not in number six unfortunately, but I hope to be in number seven which starts next year and I haven't seen the scripts. If I am not in it I will be picketing the set to be sure."

Given the considerably more prominent role Lucius has in Deathly Hallows, compared to HBP, it's likely Isaacs will return for that movie.

Thanks to everyone who emailed!

The winners of the 2008 Constellation Awards, honouring the actors and producers behind Canada's favourite Science Fiction TV series and movies, were announced this weekend at ceremonies in Toronto. Emma Watson was given an award for her work on the fifth Potter film, Order of the Phoenix. Congratulations, Emma!

With the 2008 summer Olympics rapidly approaching, the Harry Potter Alliance has begun to promote the Switch Over to Darfur petition. Signers pledge that during the Olympics he or she will not watch the commercials, but instead tune into Mia Farrow’s reports from a Darfurian refugee camp.

The HP Alliance believes that “it’s inconsistent with the spirit of the Games for China to fund a genocide abroad while hosting the Olympics in Beijing.”

They are clear that they are not asking for a boycott of the Olympics, but that the pledge is “directed at the corporate sponsors of the Olympics, because of the influence they hold with the host country; if China will listen to anyone right now, it’s them.”

The companies in question – notably Coca-Cola, General Electric, and Volkswagen – have been asked time and again “to urge China to help bring peace to Darfur.” Their refusals have shown the companies’ inclinations to choosing what is easy over what is right.

With a recent success in waking up the UN Security Council with the Wanted for War Crimes petition, the HP Alliance acknowledges that it is time to wake up the Olympics’ corporate sponsors by honoring the “true spirit of the Olympics” and pledging to ignore the commercials. For more information visit the HP Alliance website!

They are looking for 5,000 signatures from Harry Potter fans – and we can surely surpass that goal! Please let all of your friends and family know about this pledge and don’t forget to sign it here.

Blog Hogwarts is reporting that the Half-Blood Prince teaser trailer will be arriving with The Mummy on August 1st in the United States. This information came to them from Warner Brothers Mexico.

While this is by no means an official confirmation (an official one would be from Warner Brothers' US offices), it lends credibility to Mummy reports we received last week from a couple of movie theaters.

We'll keep you updated!

The E3 Media and Business Summit opened its doors this week in Southern California, and developers from all major video game companies are there to demo their upcoming products.

Electronic Arts is one of those present, and one of the games they are showing off is Half-Blood Prince. A few new photos were revealed at E3, and they can be viewed over at GamerShell.com.

The game is "scheduled for release in time for the movie launch this fall."

Playbill is reporting that the Harry Potter actor will be appearing at TimesTalk on August 19th in New York City to talk about his involvement with Equus on Broadway:

"From the boy wizard in the 'Harry Potter' films and Rudyard Kipling's ill-fated son in 'My Boy Jack,' to the troubled teenager in Peter Shaffer's play Equus, Daniel Radcliffe is an actor of diverse talents," reads a desciption of the evening. "Hear him discuss his Broadway debut in the drama, which starts previews on Sept. 5, and also how he's been able to move from screen to stage so seamlessly."

Back in late June, we broke news of a "teaser trailer" coming with The Dark Knight in IMAX on July 18th. Last week, we learned that this teaser trailer is actually a 15-second preview.

A MuggleNet reader who works at an IMAX theater has provided us with a description of the trailer, as well as the one line of dialogue in it. We understand that some people may want to be surprised, so highlight in between the arrows below if you'd like to read it before Friday!

-->A black screen with Dumbledore saying "Once again I must ask you to do the impossible, Harry." After that, the title is displayed as well as the release date.<--

Thomas Pardee, the 2008 Magical Tours intern gives us an inside view of some of the great Harry Potter book and filming locations he is covering during his summer travels. One of the coolest places he checks out in this video is Slughorn's House, which will be appearing in Half-Blood Prince this November. To check out the video, click here!

You may recall that Thomas won his internship through a contest run right here on MuggleNet. To see more details about his itinerary, click here. This will be the first of three videos posted from the United Kingdom just for MuggleNet readers; so stay tuned for more soon!

US Potter audiobook narrator Jim Dale spoke at Portus 2008 this morning, and what a treat it was! After months of anticipation, Dale took the stage and entertained the audience with live readings from a few of the Potter books.

Scenes he read from (with full enthusiasm, singing, and physical acting) included the sorting hat ceremony in Sorcerer's Stone, the trio being with Moaning Myrtle in Chamber of Secrets, and Aunt Marge and Trelawney scenes from Prisoner of Azkaban. He wrapped his readings up with the Mad-Eye Moody/Ferret scene in Goblet of Fire.

The audience was nothing short of enthralled while Dale spoke, acting like students in the Great Hall whenever there was a triumphant moment in the book scenes. In between readings, he talked about what it takes to record these lengthy Potter books and coupled the explanations with funny stories. Check out some pics from the event:

- Jim speaking to the crowd: 1, 2, 3, 4
- Jim gets asked a question by an attendee
- The audience listens to Jim reading

Lots of visitors have been emailing in with some new updates concerning the Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park in Florida. Screamscape, a theme park fansite, has this report that talks about the changes:

A new large wall was put up in front of the Dueling Dragons area this week, blocking off all access to The Enchanted Oak, Flying Unicorn, the major restroom facility and the main Dragon’s Keep store area. Dragon’s Keep merchandise has now been shrunk down to work from a merchandise cart by the lockers and is mostly only selling the smaller items. The new bridge across the lagoon to Jurassic Park has now opened and they have staffed (for now) an employee to stand there with a bullhorn telling everyone that the old pathway now dead-ends at Dueling Dragons.

Additionally, our readers may want to be sure they're signed up for Universal's Wizarding World e-mail updates. Word has it that updates are going to start arriving soon!

AOL Moviefone has released their list of the top 25 movie villains of all time. Lord Voldemort, played by Ralph Fiennes, came in top of the list with the following description:

"He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is the most powerful dark wizard to ever wave a wand, and he schemes to enslave the whole Muggle world. His slithering presence has been minimal in the films so far, but we've all read the books, so we know how much more evil he'll become."

Thanks to everyone who emailed!

Hundreds of Harry Potter fans have descended upon the Lonestar State for the start of HPEF's Portus 2008! This year's HPEF symposium is quite a treat, as it includes several activities with US audiobook reader Jim Dale! Here are a few pictures from today's arrivals:

- An attendee puts her name in the Portus Raffle.
- Two attendees check out what Portus has to offer this year.
- The Moaning Myrtles model the Portus sign.
- The Hilton Anatole and the Dallas sky.
- Portus volunteers and attendees speak with the Associated Press.

MuggleCast will be a part of Portus' Podcast Palooza tomorrow, which starts at 6:30 PM. We will kick off our podcast at midnight, and hold a MuggleCast Meet Up the following day from 3 - 5 PM in the Common Room. If you want to still get in on the fun, it's not too late! Registrations are still available on Portus' website.

Coming Soon has reported a tip they received from one of their visitors, who says there may be a 15-second promo for Half-Blood Prince coming with The Dark Knight in IMAX.

While this isn't official, it goes in line with IMAX rumors we told you about a couple weeks ago. We'll let you know when Warner Brothers makes an official announcement!

You may remember that back in late May, we told you about the Harry Potter Alliance's petition against genocide in Darfur. Thousands of people in the Wizard Rock and MuggleNet communities signed the petition, and just yesterday HPA leader Andrew Slack reported some amazing news!

Here’s what Nick Donovan, the Head of Campaigns, Policy, and Research at the UK-based Aegis Trust has to say:

“You all at the HP Alliance made it possible to send almost 10,000 emails to the UN Security Council, asking for the Council to speak out and put pressure on Khartoum to hand the men over. Without your imaginative campaigns over 3/4 of these emails would never have been sent.

“The end result is the first ever UNSC presidential statement condemning Sudan’s lack of action and demanding an end to impunity. Our actions helped, the pressure generated by other NGOs helped - and the grassroots emails sent by you all really made the difference - showing that it wasn’t just NGOs and members of the elite who care about Darfur - but people from all walks of life disgusted at impunity for mass murder and eager to see action.”

Great work, everyone! For more on what the Harry Potter Alliance stands for in today's world, click here.

Thanks to Jeremy from The Portkey for letting us know that USA Today's photo gallery of Half-Blood Prince pictures has been updated with quotes from director David Yates. Now we finally know what some of these pics (like this one of Harry and Hermione) are all about!

On each photo at this link, there is a sentence or two from him describing the scene. There are also a couple words from producer David Heyman.

Movie Magic magazine's latest issue includes a really big spread for Half-Blood Prince. They interviewed a variety of cast and crew, who also spoke about the upcoming Deathly Hallows film. Thanks to Magical-Menagerie.com, we have text copies of the interviews.

Production Designer Stuart Craig on the HBP cave:
Movie Magic: Because you have actors performing against the small parts of the cave you have to actually build, what aspects of it did you construct?
Stuart: We built that island, we built the boat that they travel in, and part of the shoreline they leave to get to the island. But they are like one percent of the total that you'll see in the final film.

Producer David Heyman on the Deathly Hallows split:
"You obviously need to find the right end point in the book halfway through," he says. "Each has to be a self-contained unit. Each film so far has been different from the one that preceded it, so we need to do that with Deathly Hallows Part 1 and Part 2. There is the challenge of making two separate films that you want to have an identity of their own while you're shooting them at the same time. That being said, what is exciting , what works in our favor, is taht we have a very clear sense of what the two films are and what the thematic underpinnings of each part are, which in itself will provide a distinct nature to each of them."

Thanks to Snitch Seeker for the tip!

Coming Soon has a new article online about trailers you can expect to see with The Dark Knight, and confirmed that there will be no Half-Blood Prince teaser trailer.

This falls in line with rumors we received the other day. A couple of people working in movie theaters told us to expect it with The Mummy. Coming Soon speculates it will be with Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

As always, nothing is official until Warner Brothers confirms it. Stay tuned! Thanks to everyone who e-mailed with the tip!

This week's episode of our Harry Potter podcast is now available! Just one week away from our live show at Portus, this week's episode includes our Chapter by Chapter discussion on the last chapter in Deathly Hallows. Plus:

- High Res Half-Blood Prince pics are FINALLY released. We discuss 'em.
- Teaser Trailer rumors continue, and we wonder if it'll every come.
- Chapter by Chapter goes over the final chapter in DH.
- Was Voldemort in limbo with Harry?
- A parallel between Hagrid carrying in DH and in SS.
- Does the US cover really match what happens in the book?
- We pick two songs to play in memory of Voldemort and Bellatrix.

All that and much more can be found on Episode 151! To download for free, we recommend subscribing through Apple iTunes. Just CLICK HERE and then press "Subscribe" to the right of our album art. (Already subscribed? Refresh your feed!) No iPod or MP3 player needed! You can also visit the MuggleCast website to listen right within your browser. Enjoy!

Theme Park Insider has shown us a new interview they conducted with Steve Jayson, the executive chef at Universal Orlando Studios. Of interest to Potter fans, he talks about what you may be seeing at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park next year:

Jayson confirmed that he and his staff are working on new food service concepts for Universal's Harry Potter land.

"We've visited Scotland to get a real close, personal look at the cuisine that they eat," Jayson said. "We're going to have one restaurant that's going to have a nice selection of items that you would probably expect to see in that vein of cooking, and I think it is going to be great."

It's clear that great research is being conducted by Universal to make sure the Potter experience is authentic as possible.

Thanks to Warner Brothers, we now have eight more high resolution Half-Blood Prince pictures for you! There are lots of great shots in this batch... enjoy!

- David Yates, Dan Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Bonnie Wright
- Harry, deep in thought
- Harry and McGonagall
- Draco
- Luna
- Ron and the Quidditch team
- Slughorn and Harry
- Harry, Ron, and Hermione in the Great Hall

For the other high res images we've received from Warner Brothers, see this news post.

Yesterday we told you about the new trailer for the upcoming Half-Blood Prince video game.

As EA promised, the website for the game is now online as well! They also have a release date next to the trailer, which says November 14th. This date actually conflicts with their original announcement of a November 21st release.

We'll let you know what happened when we find out. Thanks to everyone who e-mailed with the tip!

The AFP is reporting that Amazon brought JK Rowling's Tales of Beedle the Bard to Japan in celebration of the their translation of Deathly Hallows:

Amazon unveiled the book at a Tokyo press conference to promote the release of the Japanese translation of "Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows," the seventh and final novel of the series.

The Japanese edition goes on sale later this month, but Amazon has already received more than 70,000 advance orders, the company said.

Thanks to Cat for the tip!

Yes, the other day we did tell you that a few of those who work at movie theaters heard about the Half-Blood Prince teaser trailer premiering with The Dark Knight.

Now though, we're hearing a new teaser trailer rumor. Two people within movie theaters have heard stories about the trailer coming with The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor on August 1st.

According to MuggleNet reader Kathleen, Universal pushed to have the Half-Blood Prince teaser trailer in front of Mummy to give a little boost to ticket sales. The teaser poster will be coming a week afterward. MuggleNet reader Michele tells us that her manager spoke with Warner Brothers, who told them that the trailer is to run in front of Mummy and not The Dark Knight.

Again, keep this in the rumor category for now. All of these Half-Blood Prince pictures lately is certainly a good sign of bigger things to come. As always, we'll keep you updated!

Warner Brothers has now released high res versions of the photos seen in today's USA Today:

- Ron Weasley
- Draco Malfoy
- David Yates, Dan Radcliffe, Bonnie Wright
- Dumbledore deep in thought
- Slughorn teaches a class
- Harry and Hermione

Additionally, MSN Cine has two more photos online (one of Ron in his Quidditch outfit and another of Draco). Check them out right here. Thanks to BlogHogwarts.com for the tip!

EA, the makers of the Harry Potter video games, have now released a short trailer for the new Half-Blood Prince video game on Yahoo. You can watch the trailer to the video game, set to be released in November, here.

In addition to that, EA will officially launch the official Half-Blood Prince video game site tomorrow, July 4th.

Thanks to Kalynn for the tip!

Need one more preview? No problem, AOL Moviefone has two new photos online. One of Luna wearing her Quibbler glasses and another of McGonagall approaching Harry!

Be sure to check out the other new photos in the updated news posts below. We expect high res images from Warner Brothers pretty soon!

UPDATE: New pictures from USA Today's online gallery!

- Harry and Hermione
- Rupert
- Professor Slughorn
- Dumbledore
- Draco
- David Yates, Dan Radcliffe, Bonnie Wright

It looks like the surge of Half-Blood Prince material is about to begin, as USA Today now has their preview online of the film. Included with the preview will be two new photos, of which this LiveJournal community uncovered. The two pics are below:

- Hermione in class
- David Yates talking to Dan Radcliffe and Bonnie Wright

We expect high res images from Warner Brothers in a relatively short amount of time. Stay tuned!

UPDATE: DanRadcliffe.com got a hold of the printed version of this magazine and found a few new pictures inside. See Ron and Slughorn here and Harry, Hermione, and Ginny here.

Empire Magazine now has online a photo of their latest issue, which has a bloody Harry on the cover! Check it out right here.

There is also a photo within the magazine... a photo which leaked online a few weeks ago. Thanks to BlogHogwarts.com for the tip!

Yesterday, July 1st, the Harry Potter Alliance officially launched a new project called Magical Acts of Kindness.

Publicized at Wrockstock 2008 and set in motion by the amazing Jess and Lauren, this project encourages participants to do small acts of kindness every day.

The introductory post on the site states, “The idea is that, just like Hermione trying to help out the house elves, we all need a little appreciation and encouragement sometimes, and it’s amazing how much difference the smallest of gestures can make. Even a simple smile or holding a door open for someone can completely turn their day around. We’re sure that if you think for a moment you’ll be able to find something that’s happened recently that made your day a whole lot better, yet didn’t take much effort on the part of the other person. Well, that’s what we want you to do.”

To find out more about this wonderful project and how you can do your part, please visit the Harry Potter Alliance website or the Magical Acts of Kindness page.

RupertGrint.net has received word that the actor who plays Ron Weasley in the Potter films is working on a new film titled Cherrybomb, for release in 2009:

Set in Belfast, the plot is described to be a "a gritty thriller about two teenagers who get into trouble when they both fall for a beautiful new girl in town."

Snitch Seeker has informed us of a couple new quotes coming from Half-Blood Prince director David Yates and Dan Radcliffe. Yates reportedly had this to say about the opening of the film, courtesy The Sun:

We’re opening with a big attack. We’ll bring a major London landmark crashing down.

Back in March, we provided you with details of filming going on at Millenium Bridge. We told you was that it was all for a "bridge collapsing scene," which is likely what Yates refers to in this interview.

Radcliffe also talks in the article, comparing HBP to the film Trainspotting. We'll let you if a more complete interview comes online from the original source: Empire Magazine.