It's time for our annual Halloween-centric episode! This year, we're talking more about the ghosts of Hogwarts and and the Halloween-themes in the series. Ben "Larger than Life" Schoen also returns to the show and - well, the long time listeners of the show can guess who he wants to be for Halloween! Plus:

- We talk about our upcoming show at Azktraz 2009.
- Analyzing Episode 61: did we have anything right about ghosts pre-DH?
- If you had to decide which house to be in based on the ghost, which would you chose?
- Were there enough of the traditional Halloween characters in the series?
- We discuss Snape's vampire-like qualities.
- What if: JK Rowling were a man? It's a serious question.
- Debate: The Potter series should be made mandatory reading in US public schools.

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, or to download the MP3 file to your desktop. Enjoy!

NOTE: This episode was recorded a couple of weeks ago, so don't be alarmed when we note that news is very slow this week!

The happiest Halloween to all MuggleNet visitors! We hope you're enjoying the fall season, and we encourage you to get in the mood by using this year's Halloween theme created by Dylan. The cool Harry Potter pumpkin to the left was created by MuggleNet visitor Kate from Canada. Great job!

Don't forget that we're currently holding a Potter costume contest with Magical Tours and Alivan's! For full contest details, click here. We have some awesome prizes too: a Beedle the Bard Collector's Edition for first place, a robe for second place, and a wand for third place! Be sure to take pictures tomorrow night, and send them in by the end of November 5th! Big thanks to our wonderful sponsors: Alivan's and Magical Tours!

Snitch Seeker has uncovered two more photos from Half-Blood Prince. Check 'em out below:

- Harry and Ginny on the defense at The Burrow
- Hermione and Ron watch as McGonagall casts (presumably) the Dark Mark

Thanks to HPANA for the tip!

JK Rowling's official site has been updated to wish everyone's favorite Potter mom a Happy Birthday. We hope Molly has a wonderful day!

ComingSoon.net recently sat down with the producer of the Potter films to talk about his upcoming film The Boy in Striped Pyjamas. Thankfully for us fans, they also asked him about the Half-Blood Prince delay to July 2009.

In the interview, Heyman confirms that the film is complete except for one 'tweak' they'll be making. He also says that to prevent the film from leaking, it will not be pieced together until it has to be printed for theaters (six weeks prior to opening). Read the piece for David's thoughts on the delay itself, too.

Coming Soon also had a quick interview with David Thewlis in the same article. He says that the romance between Tonks and Lupin will be set up in Half-Blod Prince in preparation for Deathly Hallows.

EDIT: Moviehole.net has two interviews with David Thewlis from the same press event. You can check them out here and here. Thanks to Snitck Seeker for the tip!

MovieTickets.com recently surveyed movie-goers and asked what movie they're most looking forward to seeing in the next year.

Unsurprisingly to us Potter fans, Half-Blood Prince takes the top spot. X-Men Origins, Transformers 2, Public Enemies, and Angels & Demons round out the top five.

See the complete list right here, along with some other survey results. Thanks to Laura for the tip!

In a new interview with BBC News, actor Robbie Coltrane (Rubeus Hagrid) discusses the upcoming two-part finale to the Harry Potter movie franchise and what he has been doing to pass the time.

"I'm actually producing these days. I've got three things on the go. I'm trying to knock one of them out before we start filming Potter seven in February. There's going to be downtime between film one and two. You know, they're shooting it in two parts, so there'll be a week or two in the middle."

Additionally, Coltrane sat down with Empire Online in a new video interview where he talks about, amongst other things, the flying motorbike scene in Deathly Hallows.

Back in May, we told you that JK Rowling successfully sued Big Pictures over their publication of a photo of the author and her son in 2005.

At the time, Jo and husband Neil stated, "We understand and accept that with the success of Harry Potter there will be a measure of legitimate media and public interest in Jo's professional activities and appearances. However, we have striven to give our children a normal family life outside the media spotlight."

Big Pictures subsequently attempted to appeal the Court's decision but this has now been rejected by the House of Lords.

A specialist in media and privacy issues commented, "I am not surprised that the House of Lords refused permission because the way that the Court of Appeal dealt with the case was by saying that it should go to trial because it was fact-sensitive."

Several new photos from Half-Blood Prince, including a shot from the recently-leaked international trailer, have appeared online courtesy Potterish. You can check them out at the links below:

- Harry and Dumbledore in the Underground
- Long shot of Narcissa Malfoy
- Ron and Hermione looking up (very reminiscent of the HBP back cover!)
- Ron and Lavender sharing a moment
- Slughorn looking suspicious in the Great Hall
- Slughorn extracting a memory
- A young Horace Slughorn
- A young Tom Riddle

J.K. Rowling updated her site this morning detailing her plans for the upcoming release of The Tales of Beedle the Bard on December 4th, which includes a tea party at the National Library of Scotland in Edinburgh. In the addition to her News section, she discusses the importance of the charity, The Children's High Level Group, that will be benefiting from the sales of the book.

"Hundreds of thousands of vulnerable children in Eastern Europe are living in appalling conditions in large, residential institutions. Contrary to popular belief, fewer than 4% of them are orphans, but are in care because they are considered disabled or their families are poor or from ethnic minorities. The Children's High Level Group is publishing 'The Tales of Beedle the Bard', in collaboration with my English language publishers Bloomsbury and Scholastic, my foreign publishers throughout the world and also the online bookseller Amazon, who are producing a Special Limited Edition version, all of them to raise money to fund our work in helping these children out of institutions and in to loving families or community care homes."

She hopes this book will be a welcome Christmas present to all Potter fans that also helps to serve a great purpose.

The Harry Potter Alliance, continuing their perpetual effort to support equal rights for all, is asking for your help to ensure that every Californian be afforded the same liberties regardless of sexual orientation. Drawing on the lessons of love we learn from the Harry Potter series and remembering the greatest wizard of them all, Albus Dumbledore, the Alliance has been striving consistently to raise awareness about this serious issue.

Today, Paul DeGeorge of Harry and the Potters writes in the HP Alliance Patronus Alert newsletter, “If you live in California and you are able to vote, I ask you to take some time and think about whether or not it's fair to deny couples the right to marry. Think of any people that you might know that would be affected by this constitutional amendment. Would it be legal to deny people the right to marry based on race or social status? If the answer to that question is no, then why should it be legal to do so based on sexual orientation?”

If you are in California, sign up here to encourage fellow Californians in person or here to do so by phone! If you’re not in California, sign up here! You can also raise awareness by sending messages to spread the word.
Help California defeat Prop. 8 and make love legal!

An unexpected episode to say the least - 700 people listened live earlier today as we discussed the recently-leaked International Half-Blood Prince trailer. In this impromptu show:

- Our initial reactions to the trailer.
- Are some of the effects finished in this thing?
- Why all the fire?! Burn, baby burn!
- Dumbledore acts better when he's dying.
- Warner Brothers has no weekend staff, it seems.
- Thanks so much to Ustream for hosting us!

All this and a LOT more fills a 90-minute LIVE show. 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, or to download the file to your desktop. Enjoy!

We don't know how, or when, or who, but several readers have tipped us off to this brand new international Half-Blood Prince trailer that hit the web this morning.

The trailer has new scenes and dialogue that wasn't seen in the first trailer.

The new trailer runs roughly a minute and a half and includes several new scenes!

New Halloween design, sent our way from Dylan.

BOO!

MuggleNet's Ministry of Magic Elections, where YOU decide who should be the next Minister of Magic in the Wizarding World, has reached its second to last election! We're down to the final Hogican election this week, which decides the sole candidate representing the Hogican party!

The contenders, as voted upon by YOU, are Kingsley Shacklebolt VS Molly Weasley. As with last week's Wizocrat final election, the two remaining candidates now have a list of stances on important issues to help you cast your vote. You can check them out below their respective profiles here. Keep in mind though: as is the case with real-world elections, these stances and each candidate's solutions may be slightly skewed to grab your vote!

Once you review their stances, vote for who should represent the Hogican party by using the poll on the right side of MuggleNet. Voting will end Thursday night (that's tonight). Good luck to the candidates!

Thanks to your help MuggleCast was recently nominated at the 2008 Podcast Awards in the category of Entertainment. Voting opens today and runs through Thursday, November 6. MuggleCast is opposed by nine other great podcasts and we need your help to pull out the victory.

You can vote every 24 hours. Be sure to check your e-mail after each vote as random voters will be asked to verify their submissions. You have 24 hours to validate your vote.

Once again, thanks to everybody who nominated us and as always we appreciate your support!

Last year, readers may remember that Middlebury College received a lot of press surrounding their Intercollegiate Quidditch League. Several colleges competed for the World Cup, and this year, 14 teams will be traveling to Middlebury for the 2008 tournament!

The event will take place on Sunday, October 26th, from 10 AM to 6 PM in the middle of the campus. For more information, you can check out their website. Good luck to all of the teams, and we'll update you with the results next week!

NOTE: It's important to mention that this tournament has been graciously supported by our friends at Alivan's, who have contributed lots of Potter-related merchandise.

A new article in The Telegraph reports that Potter readers are split into four types based on the Hogwarts houses:

His research found 'Hufflepuff' readers take the tales at a slow, steady and systematic pace and enjoy re-reading the books over and over.

'Gryffindor' readers are eager and energetic and will devour the latest Potter book in one sitting, but quickly move on to new things.

'Ravenclaws' are subversive and take the stories with a pinch of salt, while 'Slytherin' readers are not fussed about the books.

The US publisher of the Potter series has announced a children's essay contest, with the grand prize (five of 'em!) being a trip for two to Jo's Beedle the Bard tea party on December 4th:

...fans are asked to write an essay of 200 words or less describing how they have helped others. Because so many kids today are taking an interest in helping others in their schools, communities and around the world, the Scholastic contest gives them an opportunity to write about causes they care about and what they’ve done to make a difference. The contest begins today and entries must be received by 5 p.m. EST on October 30.

Additionally, Scholastic announced that an original copy of Beedle the Bard will be on display from December 5th to January 4th at The New York Public Library's Humanities and Social Sciences Library at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street in New York City. The original copy was graciously lended to the library by Scholastic's Arthur Levine, who edited all seven Potter books.

BBC News is reporting this morning that our favorite author will be reading from Tales of Beedle the Bard at a 'Beedle' tea party in Scotland on the same day the book is released in the US and UK:

She will read extracts from one of them at the Beedle tea party at the National Library of Scotland (NLS), hosted by The Children's High Level Group (CHLG).

The party will take place in Edinburgh on Thursday 4 December, the same day as the tale goes on sale in shops.

The National Library of Scotland has borrowed an original copy of the tales from Barry Cunningham, JK Rowling's first editor.

The Scotsman has a quote from Jo where she describes the importance of the Beedle proceeds:

"Hundreds of thousands of vulnerable children in eastern Europe are living in appalling conditions in large, residential institutions," she said. "Contrary to popular belief, fewer than 4% of them are orphans, but are in care because they are considered disabled or their families are poor or from ethnic minorities. The charity is publishing The Tales of Beedle the Bard to raise money to fund our work in helping these children out of institutions and in to loving families or community care homes.

"I hope that The Tales of Beedle the Bard will not only be a welcome present to Harry Potter fans, but an opportunity to give these abandoned children a voice. It will encourage young people across the world to think about those who are less fortunate and help change many young lives for the better."

Scholastic's official website has been updated with a very nice new "Quick Quotes Quill" section. It holds interviews with several key members of Scholastic's Potter team. They all discuss how the Potter books are created, promoted, and much more.

As an example, Francine Colaneri, VP of Manufacturing and Corporate Purchasing, discussed how much paper it takes to create Beedle the Bard and Deathly Hallows:

Q: How much paper did you purchase for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows? What's the typical amount of paper purchased for a non-Harry Potter book's first printing?

A: 16,700 tons or 33,400,000 pounds. The typical amount of paper for a non-Harry YA first printing ranges from 10,000 to 200,000 pounds.

Q: Since Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows came out, which Scholastic book have you purchased the most paper for? And how does that compare to the amount for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows?

A: The Tales of Beetle the Bard requires 2,222,000 pounds; Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows required 15 times as much paper.

Check them all out right here. Thanks to Lauren and Arcangel24 for the tip!

Dan continues his promotional rounds for his performance in Equus on Broadway, and the latest one comes from the Associated Press. In this interview, Dan mainly discusses Equus and his move to New York City.

You can check it out right here on YouTube. Thanks to HPANA for the tip!

Just when you thought the great HBP calendar scan surge had ended, we have another batch for you thanks to BlogHogwarts.

These pictures are from the 2009 Half-Blood Prince agenda book and can be viewed right here. While some are old, we're also treated to some new photos of the trio, Draco, and others.

JK Rowling's official site has been updated to wish Hogwarts' Charms teacher a happy birthday; have a great day, Professor Filius Flitwick!

MuggleNet's Ministry of Magic Elections, where YOU decide who should be the next Minister of Magic in the Wizarding World, are well underway! We're down to the final Wizocrat election this week, which decides the sole candidate representing the Wizocrat party!

The contenders, as voted upon by YOU, are Hermione Granger VS Lucius Malfoy. New this week in our Election Center are each candidate's stances on their most important issues to tackle in office. You can check them out below their respective profiles here. Keep in mind though: as is the case with real-world elections, these stances and each candidate's solutions may be slightly skewed to grab your vote! A tricky thing, these politics!

Once you review their stances, vote for who should represent the Wizocrat party by using the poll on the right side of MuggleNet. Voting will end Friday night (that's tonight). Good luck to the candidates!

Harry Potter and Equus star Dan Radcliffe was a recent guest on Bravo's Inside the Actor's Studio, and parts of the interview have now emerged online thanks to PacePress. In the interview he talks about Deathly Hallows, Equus, and how it all came to be:

"I was crap at everything." Radcliffe laughed, telling Lipton that back in school, he was neither exceptional in academics or athletics. Radcliffe's mother hoped that acting would help her son break out of his shell and watched him grow first in a small production of Aladdin at age five; David Copperfield, in which he starred with Maggie Smith (Harry Potter's Professor McGonagall); then in The Tailor of Panama, alongside Pierce Brosnan. Despite these early forays into the world of drama - he amusingly compares his transformation to a "baby photo slideshow" - Radcliffe admits that he is still somewhat shy.

Read much more right here.

While the Potter series normally finds itself in a favorable position of polls conducted by Entertainment Weekly, this time its among the "Top 20 Pop-Culture Hits You Say We Couldn't PAY You To See." It seems as if they asked people who are quite informed on the topic when creating this list:

"I have read none of the books or seen any of the movies. I don't really plan on starting any time soon."

The good thing for Entertainment Weekly? The Potter series doesn't need the magazine to pay movie-goers to see the film. Why? It does fine on its own as the highest grossing movie franchise of all time.

The slipcase cover for the French edition of The Tales of Beedle the Bard was released earlier today. It depicts a picture of Dumbledore reading a book at his desk while taking copious notes. You can get a closer look at the image here courtesy of SnitchSeeker.com.

This French edition will be released on December 4th.

Calling all costume designers, make-up artists, and creative geniuses! For this awesome contest we’re challenging you to create your best Harry Potter-themed Halloween costume. Put together your most amazing costume, get dressed up for Halloween 2008, and get yourself photographed.

Contestants then submit his or her best photograph to be entered into the judging to determine the Top 25 Semi-finalists. MuggleNet fans will then vote for their favorite costume to choose the Top 7 Finalists. Staff judges from MuggleNet.com will then determine the 3 top winners. Here are the terrific prizes:

1st Place: The Collector’s Edition of Beedle the Bard from Magical Tours
2nd Place: Your choice of a Majestic or Regal School Robe from Alivan’s
3rd Place: Your choice of any wand from The Classic Collection from Alivan’s

Entries must be received no later than 11:59 PM (Central Time) Wednesday, November 5th, 2008! For full details, click here!

Be sure to visit our co-sponsors: see Alivan’s for all your Wizard and Witch supplies, and go to Magical Tours to check out their 2009 Harry Potter-themed trips in England and Scotland! If you still haven’t seen Thomas Pardee’s excellent movie location “on the scene” videos from last summer’s Magical Tours you can see all three episodes: #1 Here, #2 Here, #3 Here.

HPEF announced earlier today in their newsletter that they will be hosting a live podcast with MuggleCast at Azkatraz 2009 in San Francisco, CA. The great thing about it? The podcast will immediately follow the release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince at 12:01 a.m. on July 17, 2009. Azkatraz attendees will have the opportunity to see the sixth Potter film in a reserved theater with hundreds of other fans before chatting about it with the hosts of our podcast.

Make sure to go to the HPEF website to register, check out all the events, find out how you can help and sign up for the newsletter. When you register, enter the name "MuggleNet" in the referral area so HPEF knows where you came from! The convention runs from July 18-21, 2009.

More information will follow as it becomes available. We will discuss this in full on our next episode of MuggleCast.

As a Harry Potter fan, there's no better way to celebrate Columbus Day than by picking up some new Potter merchandise. Lucky for us, Scholastic is having a Columbus Day sale at their store with savings up to 75% off!

You can check out all of their Harry Potter deals right here. One particularly nice item on sale, but not listed in the discount section, is the Sorcerer's Stone Leather Bound Edition. It can be purchased for 33% off its $75 retail price. Most Potter deals range from 10% - 30% off.

Thanks to Rudy for the tip!

Known for very high quality movie products, the Noble Collection has started featuring some new Harry Potter products in the newest issue of Sky Mall. The new items can be seen on Sky Mall's site below:

- Dumbledore's Marvolo Ring
- Harry, Hermione, Voldemort wand displays for a wall
- Dumbledore's Wand
- Ron's Heart Necklace
- Slytherin Horcrux Locket

Thanks to Emily and her latest flight for the tip!

The wonderful team at MuggleNet Fan Fiction have introduced a brand new feature that opens up a new era of fan fiction: AudioFiction!

If you're looking to listen to a fan fiction instead of reading it, this service will be for you. Right now they have one episode up with some poems, but in the future they will hire a team who'll read stories from the site as requested by readers.

And as always, we encourage you to visit MuggleNet Fan Fiction when you're looking for your Potter-story-fill.

The actor who has played Percy Weasley in the Potter films recently attended Ring Con 2008 and spoke with a German Harry Potter fansite. One of the highlights of the interview for Potter fans was a little discussion about Deathly Hallows:

What scene [in Deathly Hallows] are you most looking forward to?

One of Percy's finest moments is walking back through that portrait into the Room of Requirement at the end of the seventh one when he finally comes back. I can't remember what he says, something like 'Did I miss anything?' (laughs). I just remember reading that in the book and going 'YES! Good boy!'. That would be fun. And then obviously getting to do a bit of action would be quite nice because Percy doesn't get the hardest job really. He just walks around a lot and shouts at people. They might actually give me a wand if I did the seventh film, that would be nice. I haven't had a wand yet!

Chris also reveals that he is not officially a part of the Deathly Hallows cast yet.

Round Three is now open for the next 24 hours, and the battle is between Hogicans Horace Slughorn and Molly Weasley. Who do you believe is the better candidate for Minister of Magic? Help us vote and keep track of the latest election results right here!

After this round, there is one more Hogican show down before the start of the semi-final elections. All of it leads up to a final election between one candidate of the Hogican party and one candidate of the Wizocrat party on November 4th.

Election Coverage: Micah and I have recorded a third election analysis update, this time focusing on today's candidates. You can listen to it here (MP3, 2.07 MB).

It's not what you think. A brand-new episode of our Harry Potter podcast is now online, and this week we bring back the long-awaited Debate segment. In it, we ask ourselves: Should a portrait of Voldemort be hung in the halls of Hogwarts? A surprising question that you may naturally say no to, but a fun and intriguing debate for everyone! Plus:

- Was it right for WB to remove the Hogwarts battle in HBP just because there's one in DH?
- Does modeling a printing press suggest where the DH film split will be?
- Main Discussion: What happened directly AFTER the Battle of Hogwarts?
- We ask ourselves several questions that fans have been wondering since reading the epic battle.
- Guess the Scene, This Week in MuggleCast History, and Chicken Soup.

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, or to download the file to your desktop. Enjoy!

If you have ALREADY REGISTERED to vote in the upcoming United States elections, but have not received a confirmation card, there is a chance that for a number of reasons your registration did not go through properly.

If you have NOT received a confirmation card in the mail, call your Secretary of State’s office by Monday, or (to be safe) REGISTER ONLINE:

Go to the Harry Potter Alliance’s Wizard Rock the Vote page., scroll down a little bit, and click on the icon in the left hand column that says "Wizard Register To Vote Right Here."

REMEMBER, voter registration ends in 25 states on Monday, October 6! Registration for the states of Mississippi, Nevada, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Washington ENDS TODAY. If you are a US citizen over the age of 18 and have not yet registered to vote, please register online!

And for those of you who live in Canada, make sure you Wrock the Vote this October 14th!

Taking a break from the endless amount of Half-Blood Prince photos we've seen in the past week, a Flickr user has posted photos of a Stephen Fry/JK Rowling photoshoot. The photos were taken in May 2007 to promote the the UK Potter audiobooks, which Fry narrates.

Thanks to Snitch Seeker for the tip!

A LiveJournal user got a hold of the Half-Blood Prince 2009 Desk Calendar and scanned the photos for online viewing. There are several new pictures in this batch, and a couple we've already seen before.

Check 'em out here! Thanks to everyone who e-mailed with the tip.

A Half-Blood Prince sticker book being sold in the United Kingdom has made its way online courtesy Snitch Seeker. The book features many many new photos from Half-Blood Prince, although we've already seen some in other HBP books and trading cards.

Enjoy!

Before Notre Dame's thrilling 38-21 victory over the Purdue Boilermakers last weekend (GO IRISH!!), students played a Quidditch match where Gryffindor - members of my dorm - defeated Slytherin 170-60 and the score was broadcast several times on the jumbo-tron during the football game!

Click here to see a picture of the scoreboard (it's working now), snapped by MuggleNet reader Ken. We are hoping to make this a yearly tradition!

ACADEMIC STUDY: Hey guys, if you guys want to take a quick online survey on your love of Harry Potter, Notre Dame is doing an academic study you can be a part of! Click here - it shouldn't take more than 10 minutes!

Forbes Magazine has just published a list of the world's best paid authors, and JK Rowling comfortably holds the first spot:

J.K. Rowling, who banked a jaw-dropping $300 million over the course of the year.

Once a single mother on welfare, Rowling can now claim best-selling billionaire status thanks to her Harry Potter franchise. The adventures of the teen magician and his Hogwarts classmates took the publishing world by storm in 1998, when Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone became a bona fide hit. In the decade since, it and the six subsequent books in the series have sold 375 million-plus copies worldwide. Over on the big screen, her Potter franchise has already generated $4.5 billion at the worldwide box office--and she still has three more flicks to come.

Rounding out the top five spots are James Patterson, Stephen King, Tom Clancy, and Danielle Steel.

Spanish and Catalan language publishers, Salamandra and Empúries respectively, have announced that Beedle the Bard will be released on the same date as the English version: December 4th.

The titles are 'Los cuentos de Beedle el Bardo' (Spanish) and 'Les rondalles de Beedle el Bard' (Catalan). Good news for our Spanish visitors, si? Thanks to HarryLatino and BlogHogwarts for the tip!

Rotten Tomatoes has posted several high quality versions of photos that are appearing in a German Half-Blood Prince calendar. Use the links below to check them out, or see the whole Rotten Tomatoes gallery right here.

Draco at Slughorn's party, Filch at Slughorn's party, One of the Twins observing The Burrow attack, Studying in the library, Arthur talking to Harry, Harry holding a memory, Harry and Dumbledore: part one and part two, Hermione, Lupin, Ginny, Harry, Dumbledore, Dumbledore (2), Young Dumbledore, Draco, Ron, Slughorn