2005 – Year in Review

January 10 - Franz Ferdinand reconsidered contributing a song to Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

January 17 - Rumors surfaced of a Harry Potter-themed restaurant, but they were quickly denied.

January 19 - David Yates was officially named the director for Order of the Phoenix.

January 19 - First information on the Yule Ball surfaced.

January 23 - The length of Half-Blood Prince was revealed on Barnes & Noble and Amazon websites.

January 24 - J.K. Rowling gave birth to a baby girl.

January 25 - It was announced that Mrs. Weasley would not be in the Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire movie.

January 31 - In an article on her official website, J.K. Rowling warned fans of online scams.

February 4 - The first rumors of Elizabeth Hurley being cast as Bellatrix Lestrange appeared, and cropped up several more times throughout the year, but were still debunked each time by Warner Bros.

February 11 - The number of pages in the UK edition of Half-Blood Prince were revealed.

February 17 - A visitor of the Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire set told MuggleNet that only Sirius's head would make an appearance during the fireplace scene, making Gary Oldman fans upset at his minor appearance.

February 25 - Bad weather plagued the filming of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and delayed production.

March 8 - The Half-Blood Prince book cover was released for US, UK Children, and UK Adult versions.

March 22 - Order of the Phoenix filming rumors began to stir, beginning with talk of filming in the Czech Republic.

March 30 - Half-Blood Prince promotional stand was released, revealing new artwork by Mary GrandPré.

April 3 - J.K. Rowling was noted as the 9th richest woman in the UK, with total earnings estimated to be £500 million-£65 million more than last year.

April 5 - Amazon guaranteed delivery of Half-Blood Prince to be on your doorstep on July 16.

April 10 - The running time of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was estimated at 150 minutes.

April 12 - The first details of the Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire video game were released by Electronic Arts and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.

April 12 - Half-Blood Prince security was strengthened as the release date drew near, being described as "tighter than the United Nations."

April 28 - The Half-Blood Prince audio edition in the UK was announced to be released on August 25. American editions are now set to be released in the US and Canada on July 16.

May 9 - A conspicuous grammar error on the Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire promotional poster was fixed at last, much to the relief of English-literate Harry Potter fans everywhere.

May 13 - MuggleNet webmaster Emerson Spartz announced a trip to Edinburgh to interview J.K. Rowling with Melissa Anelli from The Leaky Cauldron on July 16.

May 22 - J.K. Rowling spoke about her post-Harry Potter career.

May 24 - Bets placed on a specific character dying in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince resulted in attention from the media on a possible manuscript leak. The bets turned out to be correct.

June 3 - Two copies of Half-Blood Prince were stolen but quickly rescued.

June 4 - J.K. Rowling wins J.K. Rowling vs. Half-Blood Prince thieves.

June 5 - MuggleNet's huge Half-Blood Prince release party, Spellbound 2005, was officially announced.

June 8 - Half-Blood Prince broke pre-ordering records among online retailers.

June 9 - J.K. Rowling placed a "John Doe" injunction on Half-Blood Prince.

June 13 - Two Half-Blood Prince thieves were charged in court with possession of stolen property and possession of a stolen firearm.

June 20 - Barnes & Noble got 750,000 pre-orders for Half-Blood Prince and announced a J.K. Rowling simulcast at release.

June 21 - MuggleNet's Harry Potter encyclopedia opened, detailing every aspect there is to know about the Harry Potter series.

June 28 - A J.K. Rowling-written mini-book fetched just over $45,000 on eBay.

June 30 - The Harry Potter series was added as a resource for proper word usage in the Oxford Primary Dictionary.

July 2 - Alice Newton, daughter of the Bloomsbury Books president, told the story of how she saved Harry Potter.

July 16 - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was released internationally in English to the delight of Harry Potter fans everywhere.

July 18 - Half-Blood Prince sold a record-breaking 6.9 million copies.

July 19 - Emerson Spartz and Melissa Anelli from The Leaky Cauldron interviewed J.K. Rowling.

July 29 - J.K. Rowling was noted as the most powerful British woman.

July 30 - J.K. Rowling's family tree was published.

August 3 - The "Delusional" comment made by Emerson during the J.K. Rowling interview caused an uproar among Harry/Hermione shippers.

August 8 - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire received a PG-13 rating, surprising fans and intriguing regular moviegoers across the United States.

August 8 - MuggleNet's MuggleCast, the first major Harry Potter podcast, was released and quickly rose to #1 on the iTunes Top Podcasts list.

August 15 - An extraordinary person was found in J.K. Rowling's Scottish ancestry.

August 29 - A theory about RAB's identity gained weight among the Harry Potter online community.

September 6 - A portrait of J.K. Rowling was put on display at the National Portrait Gallery in London.

September 7 - Harry Potter special-edition iPod and first-ever digital audiobooks were released on iTunes.

September 12 - J.K. Rowling took on eBay in acting on fake signed copies of Harry Potter books.

September 28 - The French edition of Half-Blood Prince saved about 6,746 trees by using eco-friendly paper.

October 4 - Harry Potter novel sales across the world surpassed 300 million.

October 26 - A Canadian band named "The Wyrd Sisters" applied for an injunction to ban the Goblet of Fire movie in Canada.

October 28 - The Weasleys' Ford Anglia, used in Chamber of Secrets, was stolen.

November 4 - "The Wyrd Sisters" failed to have Goblet of Fire banned in Canada after several court appearances.

November 6 - The Goblet of Fire world premiere kicked off in London.

November 12 - Pictures began to appear online from the Goblet of Fire premiere in New York City.

November 18 - Goblet of Fire was released in the US and UK, receiving positive reviews from critics and fans alike.

November 19 - Goblet of Fire grossed $36 million on the opening day and $101 million during the opening weekend.

November 27 - Goblet of Fire New York City red carpet interviews with Tiana Benjamin, David Heyman, Katie Leung, Mike Newell, Daniel Radcliffe, Miranda Richardson, Tolga Safer, and Jamie Waylett were released.

November 29 - Goblet of Fire broke $400 million worldwide in ticket sales.

December 3 - J.K. Rowling told her story of living without fame in a forward she wrote for the book One City.

December 4 - After three weeks in the box office, Goblet of Fire still continued to hold the #1 spot.

December 6 - A statement by Jim Dale caused fans to falsely assume that Harry dies in the seventh book.

December 11 - J.K. Rowling was interviewed by Stephen Fry on BBC Radio 4.

December 12 - It was announced that the actress playing Luna Lovegood would be announced in January.

December 17 - J.K. Rowling was honored as the 2005 TIME for Kids Person of the Year but not TIME's Person of the Year.

December 24 - It was announced that a plaque would be placed at J.K. Rowling's former writing spot.

December 24 - J.K. Rowling's official website was updated with a new diary area and many more goodies.

December 27 - Harry Potter became the most blogged about person of 2005.

December 29 - Half-Blood Prince made USA Today's list of top books of 2005.

December 31 - The Goblet of Fire soundtrack made the top ten of 2005.