The US Potter publisher's official website has been updated with a nice Q&A with the editor of the Potter series. Arthur Levine talks about his job at Scholastic, his book selection criteria, and much more.

Thanks to Sasha for the tip!

A few days ago we told you about our upcoming live podcast in London for the midnight release of Beedle the Bard. Now, ticket reservation is open at Waterstones.com! Tickets are £5 each, which includes your copy of Beedle the Bard!

Simply enter the information requested on this page and hit 'Submit'. Waterstones will then be calling you in a few days to confirm your attendance and get your credit card information. We highly recommend viewing the terms and conditions of this event, which are at the bottom of the reservation page.

Emma Watson yesterday attended the VIP opening party for the Somerset House ice rink. The actress said she was "absolutely delighted" to be officially turning on the rink's Christmas tree lights.

"I've been coming here since I was about 13 and I absolutely love it. It's Christmassy and wonderful," she said.

Check out some photos of the actress at the event below:

- 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

UPDATE: Congrats to Liz S. and Mariya S.! They've both won tickets to Equus on Thursday night.

Our friends at Fan Trips Travel have a cool contest going on for our visitors right now: they're holding a quick sweepstakes for a pair of tickets to Thursday night's performance of Equus on Broadway!

Entering is simple: Click here and fill in your information! You'll be contacted tomorrow (Wednesday) night if you're the winner.

Good luck!

Check it out right here.

Thanks, BWO!

With the Christmas season fast approaching, the official WB Harry Potter store has lots of special offers. Among them is a terrific offer where you can save 75% off some of their Potter costumes, and free shipping on certain purchases.

Be sure to check them out! We'll keep you updated on any new offers over the coming weeks.

Yesterday we announced the semi-finalists in our Halloween Costume Contest, and today we have determined the winners! Below are the top three selections and the prizes they won:

1) Trelawney (Mattie) : she wins a Beedle the Bard Collector's Edition courtesy of Magical Tours!
2) Boggart Snape (Courtney) : she wins her choice of a Majestic or Regal School Robe from Alivan's
3) Dobby the House Elf (Tynan) : he wins his choice of any wand from The Classic Collection from Alivan's

BIG thanks to Alivan's and Magical Tours for the prizes and organizing the contest with us. We highly recommend checking out both sites; Alivan's for their excellent collection of wands, cloaks, and various other magical items, and Magical Tours for their great lineup of tours across England (don't forget about Thomas' exclusive reports from Half-Blood Prince filming locations!)

With this morning's big surprise from Warner Brothers, fans are reacting positively - and not just because of the out-of-the-blue surprise! We asked you all to tape your reactions as you watched the trailer, and the submissions so far have been great! Check out a few of them at these YouTube links:

savvypirategrl | buffyfan45 | LeaLunacy | xsaltshaker | thatsfreaky614

Additionally, MuggleCast hosted a live show via Ustream this morning 30 minutes after the trailer premiered online. That show can now be downloaded via the iTunes feed or direct download on the MuggleCast website. The show runs just over 90 minutes and is packed with fun trailer reactions from MuggleCast hosts and live callers!

DIGG this story | View screencaps | Listen to analysis

Exclusively for fan sites for the next week, Warner Brothers has just given Potter fans a great surprise: a brand new trailer for Half-Blood Prince!

Windows HD:
Large | Extra Large

Windows Standard:
Small | Medium | Large

Flash:
Small | Large

QuickTime HD:
Small | Medium | Large

QuickTime Standard:
Very Small | Small | Medium | Large

iPod: Click here

If you want to catch it on the big screen, you can see it with the upcoming film Twilight, which hits theaters on November 21st (the same day HBP was scheduled to be released prior to the delay - see the connection here?).

UPDATE: We finished recording our live MuggleCast - thanks to everyone who participated! You can now download the podcast by updating your iTunes feed or direct downloading from the MuggleCast website. If you can't get enough of MuggleCast and Half-Blood Prince, don't forget: We'll be hosting a live podcast at Azktraz 2009 in San Francisco this July! Make sure to register for Azktraz to participate in our live podcast right after the midnight release! When you do register, please put "MuggleCast" in the referral area.

Last week we kicked off our Halloween Costume Contest sponsored by Alivan's and Magical Tours. You voted, and we now have the 7 semi-finalists! The list is as follows:

1) Boggart Snape
2) Professor Sprout
3) Marietta Edgecomb
4) The Grey Lady
5) Dobby the House Elf
6) Professor Trelawney
7) Harry Potter

Congrats to the 7 finalists! Now it's up to the staff of MuggleNet and Magical Tours to determine the top three winners. Those three will be announced on Sunday.

The Harry Potter author has contributed to The Birthday Book; a special book created for Prince Charles' 60th birthday. An excerpt of Jo's contribution has been revealed by The Guardian. In it, she discusses Harry's final walk through The Forbidden Forest:

But when Harry takes his last, long walk into the heart of the Dark Forest, he is choosing to accept a burden that fell on him when still a tiny child, in spite of the fact that he never sought the role for which he has been cast, never wanted the scar with which he has been marked. As his mentor, Albus Dumbledore, has tried to make clear to Harry, he could have refused to follow the path marked out for him. In spite of the weight of opinion and expectation that singles him out as the "Chosen One", it is Harry's own will that takes him into the Forest to meet Voldemort, prepared to suffer the fate that he escaped sixteen years before.

The Birthday Book is available for order from Amazon at this link and benefits The Prince's Foundation for Children and the Arts. You can read the whole excerpt right here. Thanks to Twaleah for the tip!

Last year Harry Potter fans raised over $8,000 for civilian protection in Darfur through the Harry Potter Alliance and Standfast campaign. This year with your help we can raise even more money and help protect more civilians in Darfur.

The project works by participants giving up - or “fasting” from - one luxury item on December 3rd, and donating the money that they would have spent on this extra item to helping save and improve the lives of countless Darfuri in refugee camps.

STAND and the Genocide Intervention Network have worked tirelessly on a Civilian Protection Program on the ground in Darfur that will help families in the camps survive. Women there have to leave the safety of the camps to collect firewood so that they can feed their families, and are often attacked and raped by waiting militias. Their program ensures that as little as $3 can help one woman from having to leave the camps by funding firewood patrols and providing income-generating projects so that women can buy firewood instead of having to collect it.

The HPA is asking for your help to raise funds and organize events to raise awareness. Please join the Alliance and other organizations as we make a difference this December!

Fans may remember last summer when MuggleCast hosted a live podcast in the heart of London at Waterstone's Piccadilly.

Now, we're very excited to announce that Jamie, Matt, Elysa, Micah and I will be back at the same store for their Tales of Beedle the Bard release party! We'll be hosting a live podcast shortly before the midnight release, and Waterstone's will also play host to a variety of other entertainment throughout the night.

Tickets will cost 5 pounds for the event, which INCLUDES Beedle the Bard itself (the rest is for the live MuggleCast and other entertainment). Tickets will be available soon and we'll make another post as soon as they're ready for purchase. The event will be limited to 500 tickets, with a limit of 4 per person, so stay tuned to MuggleNet to make sure you grab your spots!

This page will stay updated with the latest details. We can't wait to see everyone there!

New photos from Half-Blood Prince have appeared online thanks to a new sticker book and Oclumencia:

- The Room of Requirement and the Vanishing Cabinet
- Ron playing Quidditch
- Ron in his Quidditch gear
- Hermione
- Dumbledore

Back in September, a New York judge ruled in favor of JK Rowling and Warner Bros. in their case against RDR Books over their proposed publication of a "Harry Potter Lexicon" book. The author and WB felt that the "Lexicon" took too much from the HP saga and gave too little in the way of legitimate commentary.

Sadly, however, RDR books has just filed a notice of appeal.

We'll keep you up-to-date on any developments. Thanks to Kat and Tristram for the tip.