The Numbers
- MuggleNet news posts: 1,080
- MuggleNet page views: 21,598,722
- MuggleNet seen in: 216 countries
The Stellar Seven
These were our seven most popular news stories for the year.
- Daniel Radcliffe accused Academy Award voters of snobbery following the Potter films nominations snub.
- Pottermore opened to the public.
- Rowling confirmed work on Harry Potter encyclopedia; royalties will go to charity.
- Alohomora! was launched – come read the Harry Potter books with fans from all over the world!
- J.K. Rowling changed her mind and said that she “has no firm plans” to publish a Harry Potter encyclopedia.
- Cover art for The Casual Vacancy was released by Little, Brown and Company along with the official page count, at 512 pages.
- Dame Maggie Smith spoke to The Star about her experience on the Harry Potter films and her battle with cancer.
The Stories
January 1 – Warner Bros. campaigned for Academy members to nominate Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 in a number of Oscar categories, including Best Picture and Best Director.
January 3 – Warner Bros. released "For Your Consideration" videos as further proof of their campaign for Oscar nominations.
January 4 – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 was nominated for Best Fantasy Film at the Art Directors Guild Awards.
January 6 – Harry Potter: The Quest released a "goodbye" video from the cast and crew as they look back over ten years on set of the Harry Potter films.
January 6 – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 received a Golden Tomato award for being named best reviewed film of the year on RottenTomatoes.com.
January 9 – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 received five nominations by the Visual Effects Society.
January 11 – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 won big at the 2012 People's Choice Awards, taking away four awards, including Favorite Movie and Favorite Ensemble Movie Cast.
January 12 – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 won Best Makeup and Best Sound at the Critics' Choice Awards.
January 13 – David Heyman and Daniel Radcliffe accepted the award for Special Achievement in Filmmaking at the National Board of Review Gala.
January 24 – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 received just three nominations at the Academy Awards despite Warner Bros.'s campaign to gain greater recognition... and won none of them.
January 30 – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 won Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture at the 18th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards.
February 6 – A Chicago theater company produced a Potter-parody stage show entitled Chester and the Unbearable Burden, Parts I and II.
February 7 – Daniel Radcliffe accused Academy Award voters of snobbery following the Potter films nominations snub.
February 8 – Bonnie Wright and Oliver Phelps collected Blockbuster of the Year and People's Choice Award trophies for the final Potter installment at the Evening Standard British Film Awards.
February 15 – Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, representing the entire Potter series, made #6 on Scholastic's list of 100 Great Books for Children.
February 18 – Tom Felton attended MegaCon 2012 held at the Orange County Convention Hall.
February 23 – J.K. Rowling announced that she is writing a new book for adults, which will be released in the upcoming year.
February 25 – David Heyman was presented with the Motion Picture Showmanship Award by Gary Oldman at the International Cinematographers Guild 49th annual Publicists Awards.
February 26 – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 came away empty-handed from the 2012 Academy Awards.
February 28 – The Woman in Black, starring Daniel Radcliffe, became the most successful horror film in British cinema history.
March 3 – Hermione Granger was ranked second on a list for the most powerful female character in literature in FlavorWire as part of Women's History Month.
March 8 – Pottermore announced that it will open to the public in April.
March 13 – King's Cross station gave Platform 9 3/4 a permanent home in the newly renovated Western Departures Concourse.
March 26 – Deathly Hallows – Part 2 won Best Film at the Jameson Empire Awards; Matthew Lewis, Evanna Lynch, David Yates, and Bonnie Wright were on hand to accept the prize.
March 27 – Potter e-books became available for the first time with the opening of the Pottermore Shop.
March 31 – The stars turned out for the Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter press event, ahead of the studio's official opening.
April 5 – Pottermore CEO reported more than $1.59 million worth of Potter e-books sold in first three days.
April 5 – James and Oliver Phelps attended Emerald City Comicon.
April 12 – Title, release date, and website were revealed for The Casual Vacancy.
April 13 – Rowling confirmed work on Harry Potter encyclopedia; royalties will go to charity.
April 14 – Pottermore opened to the public.
April 18 – Alohomora! was launched – come read the Harry Potter books with fans from all over the world!
April 29 – MuggleNet launched new podcast: MuggleNet Academia.
May 2 – The Battle of Hogwarts documentary film by Nicholas Acosta was released.
May 9 – J.K. Rowling received Freeman of the City of London honor.
May 9 – The Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park was announced to arrive in Japan in 2014.
May 16 – A Harry Potter conference at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland was announced to host over 60 scholars.
May 22 – J.K. Rowling changed her mind and said that she "has no firm plans" to publish a Harry Potter encyclopedia.
May 25 – Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment announced Harry Potter for Kinect on Xbox 360.
May 29 – Harry Potter nominated as Best Hero at the MTV Movie Awards.
June 3 – Harry Potter won the MTV Movie Awards for Best Hero and Best Cast.
June 4 – Sony announced Book of Spells.
June 12 – Daniel Radcliffe launched The Woman in Black home premiere across YouTube and Facebook.
June 16 – Kenneth Branagh received royal honors from Queen Elizabeth II.
June 18 – It was announced that there would be a Harry Potter panel at San Diego's Comic-Con this July.
June 19 – Daniel Radcliffe made an appearance in a new music video by Slow Club.
June 28 – It was announced that Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson would be among stars with recorded video messages at the 2012 London Olympics.
July 5 – Slytherin House took the inaugural Pottermore House Cup, with 74,290,864 points, and was later awarded with "further congratulations."
July 5 – The Harry Potter Wizard's Collection DVD set was revealed to include a full-color 24" x 36" map of Hogwarts grounds printed on fabric.
July 5 – The creators of Wonderbook: Book of Spells discussed J.K. Rowling's role in Wonderbook and its relationship to Pottermore.
July 6 – Pottermore announced that members of Slytherin House would gain early access to explore the first few chapters of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
July 8 – The 2012 Muggle Quidditch Games in Cutteslowe Park in Oxford, UK began, and the schedule of matches was released.
July 10 – Pottermore opened the first four chapters of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets to Slytherin House one day before the public opening.
July 12 – Quidditch World Cup VI was announced to be held in Kissimmee, Florida, from April 13-14, 2013.
July 13 – LeakyCon announced their official programming, including MuggleCast seventh anniversary celebrations.
July 14 – Daniel Radcliffe was announced to star in the film adaptation of Joe Hill's book Horns as Ig Perrish. Emma Watson was announced to be shooting Noah on Long Island, New York.
July 14 – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 and Part 2 were listed by Amazon Germany to be released on October 19, but there was no confirmation from Warner Bros.
July 15 – Rupert Grint commented on The Casual Vacancy, saying that he is "quite intrigued."
July 16 – Two videos from the Harry Potter Wizard's Collection were released, featuring a map of the Hogwarts grounds as well as part of a discussion between J.K. Rowling and Steve Kloves, where they share what they miss most about writing the Harry Potter series. In separate interviews, Rupert Grint discusses his upcoming projects, including CBGB, and Bonnie Wright speaks about her directorial debut, Separate We Come, Separate We Go. A first look at Daniel Radcliffe in A Young Doctor's Notebook was also released.
July 16 – Team StarKid announced a staged reading of A Very Potter 3D: A Very Potter Senior Year at LeakyCon 2012.
July 23 – Daniel Radcliffe was listed as #14 on Vulture.com's 100 Most Valuable Movie Stars Today.
July 25 – Rupert Grint ran with the Olympic torch for the London 2012 Summer Games.
July 27 – The Colonial Theatre in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, announced a Harry Potter movie marathon from August 4-5, with MuggleNet's Keith Hawk in attendance.
July 27 – J.K. Rowling made an appearance at the 2012 Summer Olympic Opening Ceremonies, reading a passage from Peter Pan. The ceremonies also included a giant Voldemort.
August 3 – J.K. Rowling announced that she will be at the Southbank Centre in London for the release of The Casual Vacancy, along with an interview and book signing.
August 7 – A behind-the-scenes video from the Harry Potter Wizard's Collection, "Expanding Beyond the Page," was released, featuring the start-to-finish process of creating digital scenes.
August 8 – An NPR poll awarded Harry Potter with the honor of being the best-ever teen fiction book.
August 13 – The Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park began to offer new merchandise available for purchase such as Hermione's Yule Ball dress and Lord Voldemort's robes.
August 14 – The replica of Isle of Wonder that J.K. Rowling read from during the Olympic Opening Ceremonies was put up for auction.
August 15 – A video from the Harry Potter Wizard's Collection that looks at how the Quidditch scenes were created in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets was released.
August 17 – Emma Watson was featured on the cover of T: The New York Times Style Magazine, in which she spoke about sharpening her American accent. She also talked in an article with the New York Times about her shooting Beauty and the Beast with Guillermo Del Toro.
August 17 – James and Oliver Phelps announced that they will be attending MegaCon 2013.
August 21 – A video from the Harry Potter Wizard's Collection featuring the making of Rubeus Hagrid was released.
August 22 – J.K. Rowling announced her only public appearance in the US at New York's Jazz at Lincoln Center on October 16, which included an interview and book signing.
August 23 – An article from USA Today revealed that J.K. Rowling will make television appearances on ABC's Nightline, World News, and Good Morning America and Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, as well as two print interviews, including one with USA Today.
August 27 – J.K. Rowling announced an interview with Jennifer Bryne during a primetime special on Australian TV called J.K. Rowling: Life After Potter on September 27.
August 27 – A clip was released on MTV News' Fall Movie Preview from The Perks of Being a Wallflower, starring Emma Watson.
August 28 – A video from the Harry Potter Wizard's Collection that highlights an extended version of the interview featured on the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 Blu-ray/DVD was released.
August 28 – It was announced that Harry Potter: The Exhibition will be returning to Discovery Times Square in New York during the holiday season.
August 30 – Harry Potter Film Wizardry was revealed to be revamped to include all eight films along with many more extras and will be available on October 23 as Harry Potter Film Wizardry Revised and Expanded.
August 30 – Warner Bros. Studio Tour London opened the set of the iconic bridge, which was blown up by Neville and Seamus in the films, for the public to walk across.
September 5 – Yet another video from the Harry Potter Wizard's Collection was released, featuring a clip from the one-on-one conversation between J.K. Rowling and Steve Kloves.
September 6 – A video was released from Emma Watson's appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman. Emma revealed that she will be attending the MTV Video Music Awards.
September 6 – J.K. Rowling added the Lennox Book Festival in Haddington East Lothian (Scotland) to her Casual Vacancy tour.
September 7 – Dame Maggie Smith spoke to The Star about her experience on the Harry Potter films and her battle with cancer.
September 10 – Emma Watson appeared on the red carpet at the Toronto Film Festival for The Perks of Being a Wallflower.
September 10 – Harry Potter Wizard's Collection was released in the UK, and four new behind-the-scenes clips were made available.
September 10 – Amazon UK released a new, limited-edition boxed set, costing about $880. Only 3,000 of these sets are available.
September 10 – Emma Watson spoke with Ryan Seacrest about The Perks of Being a Wallflower on his radio show.
September 12 – Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment released a free downloadable demo of Harry Potter for Kinect on Xbox LIVE.
September 14 – Daniel Radcliffe spoke with Canada's CTV eTalk about filming The F Word and being in the "friend zone."
September 14 – Emma Watson appeared on LIVE with Kelly and Michael and The Late Show with Jimmy Fallon as part of the Perks of Being a Wallflower promotional tour.
September 14 – J.K. Rowling's first US network TV interview was announced to be with ABC's Cynthia McFadden in Scotland.
September 18 – Pottermore opened up Chapters 5 to 11 of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
September 20 – A video clip was released from J.K. Rowling's interview with Jennifer Byrne from Australia's ABC television.
September 21 – The Guardian released both a print and video interview with J.K. Rowling, which gave more insight into the plot of The Casual Vacancy.
September 23 – The New Yorker released a profile and interview with J.K. Rowling, providing readers with more information on themes and characters in The Casual Vacancy.
September 25 – USA Today interviewed J.K. Rowling, discussing topics from the Olympics to The Casual Vacancy's potential for film adaptation.
September 26 – J.K. Rowling was interviewed on Good Morning America, where she revealed personal information relating to The Casual Vacancy.
September 26 – J.K. Rowling alluded to the possibility of more Potter books in interviews with both MTV News and BBC News.
September 26 – J.K. Rowling read a passage from The Casual Vacancy on BBC's The Culture Show.
September 27 – The Casual Vacancy was released in English.
September 27 – The Ultimate Editions of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 and Part 2 went on sale at select Target stores.
September 27 – J.K. Rowling's publishers released a newsletter that shed light on why J.K. Rowling chose to write The Casual Vacancy.
September 27 – A video was released of Emma Watson on the red carpet at the London premiere of The Perks of Being a Wallflower, including comments on The Casual Vacancy.
September 27 – J.K. Rowling attended a live-streamed event from the Southbank Centre, where she read a passage from The Casual Vacancy. She also gave an interview, answering questions from the audience and signing copies of the book.
September 28 – A full transcript of J.K. Rowling's interview at the Southbank Centre was released. It included talk about religion, the theme of death, and swearing in The Casual Vacancy.
September 29 – MuggleNet released its video interview roundup for The Casual Vacancy.
October 7 – J.K. Rowling revealed that her next book will be for children during an appearance at the Cheltenham Lit Festival.
October 8 – Emma Watson and Daniel Radcliffe won BBC Radio 1 Teen Heroes Awards.
October 9 – Harry Potter for Kinect was released.
October 10 – Tom Felton and Chris Columbus attended New York Comic Con.
October 15 – The release of PocketWarwick was announced.
October 17 – J.K. Rowling signed copies of The Casual Vacancy for fans at the highly-anticipated New York event; MuggleNet provided coverage and hosted a pre-event get-together.
October 21 – A Harry Potter-themed cruise named Wizards at Sea was announced as set to launch in July 2013.
October 22 – The online Harry Potter Shop had its grand opening.
October 26 – Warner Bros. Studio Tour London hosted a special event called "Secrets Behind the Dark Arts"; it ran from October 27 to November 4.
October 30 – Pottermore released the final Chamber of Secrets chapters.
October 30 – Harry Potter: The Exhibition returned to New York City for the holidays.
November 5 – Warner Bros. gave a UK dance school the rights to perform a Harry Potter ballet.
November 7 – A limited edition of Harry Potter: Page to Screen was released, featuring eight books for $1,000.
November 10 – Kenneth Branagh was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.
November 12 – A quotation from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets was included in the 18th edition of Bartlett's Familiar Quotations.
November 12 – The Harry Potter Complete Collector's Edition 24-disc DVD set was announced to be released in Czech Republic, Hong Kong, Hungary, Korea, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Singapore, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, and the Gulf States.
November 13 – J.K. Rowling was short-listed for UK Author of the Year.
November 13 – Wonderbook: Book of Spells was released in the US.
November 14 – The first look at Daniel Radcliffe in A Young Doctor's Notebook was released.
November 15 – The Perks of Being a Wallflower was nominated for Favorite Dramatic Film, Emma Watson was nominated for Favorite Dramatic Movie Actress, and the Harry Potter fandom was nominated for Favorite Movie Fan Following at the 2013 People's Choice Awards.
November 16 – Edinburgh University hit its £350 million fundraising goal for the Anne Rowling Regenerative Neurology Clinic.
November 18 – Boston University won the Northeast Regional Quidditch Championship.
November 18 – Daniel Radcliffe: Being Harry Potter documentary aired on Sky network.
November 19 – J.K. Rowling announced e-book sales from The Tales of Beedle the Bard to go to Lumos charity.
November 20 – Goodreads nominated The Casual Vacancy for Best Fiction Book of 2012.
November 21 – Gryffindor House won the second Pottermore House Cup.
November 22 – Michael Gambon received the Richard Harris Award at the British Independent Film Awards.
November 22 – A MuggleNet Special Project was revealed: the 2013 Fandom Calendar.
November 26 – A behind-the-scenes video of Evanna Lynch's Runway photoshoot was released.
November 26 – The trailer for Harry Potter Page to Screen: The Complete Filmmaking Journey was released.
November 27 – The Perks of Being a Wallflower was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature.
November 28 – J.K. Rowling was named #11 in list of Hollywood's 25 Most Powerful Authors.
December 3 – BBC announced plans to turn The Casual Vacancy into a TV series.
December 3 – Ellie Darcey-Alden and Ryan Turner participated in Christmas Festival 2012 in Leighton Buzzard.
December 3 – Rupert Grint's film The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman was announced to premiere at the Sundance Film Festival.
December 4 – The Casual Vacancy made TIME Magazine's Top Ten Fiction List.
December 6 – The first commercial for MuggleNet's 2013 Fandom Calendar was released.
December 8 – MuggleNet was invited to special "Secrets Will Be Revealed" event at Warner Bros. Studio Tour London.
December 10 – A Kaplan International Colleges study concluded that the Harry Potter films are the best way for the world to learn English.
December 10 – StarKid announced A Very Potter Senior Year script and album release.
December 10 – Helena Bonham Carter was announced to be honored at the 33rd Critics' Circle Film Awards.
December 11 – Harry Potter actors were revealed to be filming scenes for theme parks.
December 12 – Warner Bros. Studio Tour London decorated for the holidays.
December 12 – Harry Potter was nominated for Favorite Film Franchise at the 2012 Critics' Choice Awards.
December 13 – The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Hogsmeade at Universal's Islands Of Adventure served its five millionth Butterbeer.
December 14 – The Harry Potter Shop at Platform 9 3/4 opened.
December 17 – The first official image from Daniel Radcliffe's Kill Your Darlings film was released.
December 20 – J.K. Rowling released new information via Pottermore's first installment of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
December 26 – The Harry Potter series was voted into BroadwayWorld.com's Best Novels of the 20th and 21st Century list.
December 28 – The first construction images for the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Japan appeared; Hollywood's Wizarding World also began building earlier that week.