MISTI-Con 2013 is proud to announce a new partnership with MuggleNet to create programming at this immersive Harry Potter fan experience taking place in May 2013. MISTI-Con's main focus centers on the talent, art and achievements of the members of the fandom itself, highlighting the fantastic participatory nature of the fan community.

In this exclusive partnership, MuggleNet will also provide selected programming, including a live podcast with MuggleNet's Alohomora! for the conference. Unlike most other fan conventions, The Margate will provide MISTI-Con with exclusive use of their hotel. All the rooms, conference halls and common areas will be for MISTI-Con's use and more importantly, all hotel guests will be MISTI-Con attendees. This means extensive decoration of the grounds, hotel suites, and even pool area, to highlight further the complete experience of this conference environment.

To help get the project off the ground, Potter fans can support MISTI-Con through their Kickstarter page, with some fantastic rewards including early registration packages. Other rewards include t-shirts, custom lapel pins, a complete signed set of the Strangely Beautiful Saga by Leanna Renee Hieber (along with other signed books and limited eidtion ARCs), original artwork, custom songs written by wizard rock artists, and more. Early bird registration is available now through the project's page at $150 right here.

MISTI-Con is also proud to announce a shortlist of of special events planned for the convention including:

• The Opening Gala Spectacular featuring The Zero Hour Collective, a performance troupe from Chicago.
• A special performance by Charlie Ross (of One Man Star Wars and One Man Lord of the Rings fame).
• A Wizard Rock Nightclub Show Staring: Diagon Alley, Undesirable #1, The Blibbering Humdingers, Lily and James and more!
• The Ministry Masquerade Ball.

Be sure to check out MISTI-Con at www.misti-con.org and follow them on Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr. They can be reached at info@misti-con.org.

A new article from Reuters reporting a drastic increase in ebook sales due to the recent release of the Potter series and boost in overall profits for parent company Bloomsbury, also mentioned something that may be of interest to Potter fans:

Bloomsbury, the publisher of the "Harry Potter" series by author JK Rowling, also said it was counting on a new Rowling three-book box set tied into the Potter series, and a non-fiction account of spies in World War II to support sales in the coming year.

While we do not know what this "three-book set" is referring to, we are certainly intriqued by this news article.

What do you think this means? Let us know in the comments below.

J.K. Rowling recently updated her website to let people know that there are currently no plans to release an enccyclopedia in book form, and that for the time being all new Potter information will appear on Pottermore.

Updated May 2012

I have been enjoying sharing information about Harry's world on Pottermore for free, and don’t have any firm plans to publish it in book form.

This update comes in stark contrast to her previous statement that was released when Rowling announced The Casual Vacancy and relaunched her site back in April.

For a long time I have been promising an encyclopaedia of Harry's world, and I have started work on this now – some of it forms the new content in Pottermore. It is likely to be a time-consuming job, but when finished I shall donate all royalties to charity..

The above statement has since been removed from her site.

This week's fan video comes to us from Marcela V., who has compiled a collection of Harry Potter fan art featuring scenes from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and arranged it (set to music) into a fourteen minute video! With art coming from many sources on the Internet, this montage shows how talented Potter fans are at art, and it is enjoyable to see so many classic moments from the book brought to life in this new, creative way.

While MuggleNet's own Fan Art section is currently under construction, the team over at Alohomora! is accepting and displaying fan art they receive as they guide Harry Potter fans world-wide through a global re-read of the series. The art received for Book 1 so far has been excellent, and you can look forward to upcoming Featured Fan Art on our main page.

If you have an idea for a great fandom video that we could feature, please e-mail eric@staff.mugglenet.com. Thanks to Marcela V. for sending this video in, and taking the time to gather so much art!

MuggleNet fan and frequent visitor of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park, Hilary Klein, has sent in fantastic images of some new merchandise that is available for purchase.

Check it out:

• Gryffindor Tank Top
• Slytherin Tank Top
• Hufflepuff Tank Top
• Ravenclaw Tank Top
• House Beanie Hats
• House Gloves
• House Pillows
• Ministry of Magic T-shirt

All of these items are available for purchase at The Universal Store as well as at Universal Studios outlets.

Thanks to Hilary for the information and tips!