July 24th, 2005
What's new? Death Clues Things You May Have Missed Lots of Editorials Funny Excerpts Staff Party Reports   Trivia Question What spell is used to conjure a Dark Mark? Last week's trivia: Harry's middle name? James   Calendar Nov. 15th: - GOF video game Nov. 18th: - Goblet of Fire   JK Rowling says: On Death Eaters... "They were once called something different - they were called the Knights of Walpurgis.." On the death in OOTP... "[the] death was not arbitrary. Plot-wise, Harry needs to "go on alone and to give him too much support makes his job too easy." Popular pics A new high-res picture of the trio at the Tri-Wizard Tournament campsite was released, scans from TIME magazine's special section on Potter surfaced online, Entertainment Weekly revealed a number of new Goblet of Fire pictures, and be sure to check out our pictures from the Edinburgh launch.   MN Secret We're working on a brand new site feature that will leave your ears begging us for more!   Suggestions Have an idea? E-mail us at: nlsuggest at staff dot mugglenet dot com!	Recent Headlines Half-Blood Prince released One of the most highly anticipated books of all-time was released at 12:01AM last Saturday and has been breaking sales records left and right. In general, the book has received excellent feedback. Read more in the article below! MuggleNet/TLC interview JK Rowling (spoilers) The interview went on longer than expected and was enormously successful. Read it here! Updated areas on JKRowling.com Jo posted a news item discussing the sixth book's launch at Edinburgh Castle last weekend. Also, she updated the 'Extras' section with an article detailing her interview with Emerson and Melissa, and she added some new false articles to the 'Rubbish Bin.' GobletOfFire.com debuts Warner Bros. has opened the official site for the fourth movie. TIME interviews Potter author (spoilers) JK discusses things ranging from romance in the series to how Harry got his start.   HALF-BLOOD PRINCE RELEASED On July 15th, millions of people around the world were eagerly anticipating the stroke of midnight - when the next tome in the Harry Potter series would be released. Several thousand chose to pass the time at Randhurst Mall in Mount Prospect, IL, sight of one of the largest release parties in the world. The event began at 10am on the 15th, and ended at 1am - giving fans plenty of activities to keep them occupied while counting down the hours. When midnight finally rolled around, pandemonium ensued. Fans literally ran to Border's and crowded the entrance, chanting and pushing, eagerly waiting for their turn inside. Many headed straight home to curl up with Half-Blood Prince or to get a few hours of sleep before diving in, although some went to participating hotels and enjoyed pajama reading parties. Edinburgh, Scotland was another place to be for the Potter-obsessed, whether invited there personally by JKR or just there in the hopes of catching a glimpse of her. Thousands of fans packed the esplanade and surrounding areas of Edinburgh Castle. Media coverage of the event was huge, and there were plenty of interesting sights to keep everyone entertained. The cover of the book was blown up on one side of the castle, and horse-drawn carriages provided a grand entrance for all of the lucky cub reporters. Eventually, J.K. arrived to tumultuous cheers and even stopped for a short while to sign autographs for those who had waited so patiently. At midnight, the pinnacle of the event began. Jo read from Chapter Six (Draco's Detour) and for those who weren't lucky enough to be there, the reading was broadcast live on television. As the reading came to an end, the crowd pushed and shoved in an attempt to be the first to get their books from a local bookshop. Despite attempts to avoid it completely, HBP has fallen victim to internet piracy. Less than 12 hours after it was released, it began appearing in-full on various websites. It doesn't seem to have had much of an effect however, with sales totaling a record-breaking 8.9 million in the first 24 hours alone!