Muggle Guide

Harry Potter Info and Voting Site

I recently ran across a new Harry Potter fan site that let's you vote on your favoriate books, movies and characters.  Their Voting widgets let you spread the votes to other sites, so go ahead and vote and let us know what you think!

Click through to see the plexo

New Harry Potter Movie Date and Final Book Predictions!

MSNBC Reports, that the movie date has been moved up from July 13th, 2007 to July 11th, 2007!  Also in their article the ask readers to make predictions on what will happen in the final book, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows".  They ask readers to respond to the following questions:

• Who will die? Rowling has promised (threatened?) two major deaths in this last book.
• Will Harry be one of the Deaths?
• Where do Snape's loyalties lie?
• What exactly happened with Dumbledore?
• Is the mysterious RAB really Regulus Black?

The comments in the article are worth a read, some provide more questions than predictions, here are some of my favoriates

Is Harry one of Voldemort's Horcruxs?

"Wouldn't it be crazy if some how Harry's scar was a kind of Horcrux? (Refresh my memory if only inanimate objects can be a horcrux.)" and another commentor answers... "Quoted from the HP Lexicon: The term "Horcrux" is used to refer to any object in which a person has concealed a part of his or her soul. The object need not be inanimate; according to Dumbledore, a living creature can be used as a Horcrux, although it is risky to do so since the Horcrux in such a case is something that can move and think for itself, independently of the implanted fragment of soul. "

"I believe that Harry will be the 7th horcrux and will kill himself inorder to save Hogwarts from Lord Voldamort. "

"I think it's pretty obvious to think Harry's the last Horocrux and will have to sacrifice himself to off Voldemorte (the two deaths)"

"It's obvious that Harry is the final horcrux. Voldemort can create a horcrux by splitting off part of his soul after the commission of a murder. So, since Harry has some of Voldemort's powers, he must be an accidental horcrux that happened when his parents were killed."

"Harry is a Squib. That's right, you read that correctly, I think Harry has no magic of his own whatsoever. I believe firmly that all of his power comes from the scar, which is Voldemort's final Horcrux. This explains why Harry has the ultra rare Parseltongue ability, why his wand is identical to Voldemort's and explains why the hat offered him a choice of houses rather than picking one...because he confused the hat. It explains some of Dumbledore's more obscure comments such as his comment about scars being useful. In order for Voldemort to be defeated therefore, this final Horcrux must be broken."

"I think that if Harry is Lord Voldemort's horcrux, then LV had already used it. Think about it, no one was trying to kill HP in the first few books. When LV was reborn in the grave yard he used HP blood to complete the spell. That's when LV tried to kill Harry and avoid the prophency."

"The idea that Harry is the last Horcrux and must sacrifice himself actually makes alot of sense. If you remember the Prophecy's exact words were, "Neither can live while the other survives" and therefore making that theory a very good one"

Is Dumbledore Dead?

"Dumbledore isn't really dead; he has his own horcrux(es) to 'revive' him "

"As for Dumbledore having his own Horcruxes....while I agree with you, and am clinging to the hope that Dumbledore IS alive. I don't think it's because of Horcruxes. If memory serves, creating a Horcrux means giving up a part of your soul, or dividing it into 2 (or more, as the case may be) pieces, which Dumbledore specifically advises Harry is not a wise move."

"No, a Horocrux requires 1. an especially violent murder and 2. for the wizard to carve away part of their soul. I don't think Dumbledore would have done that."

"Rowling has said that Dumbledore is dead, however she did not mention whether or not he will help Harry via his portrait on the wall in the headmaster's office, and if there is a photo of him in grimuald place then that would support my theory of him helping harry thru his portraits."

"The only good thing about Dumbledore dying is that he will definitely live on in his portraits. Dumbledore does not have a horcrux. Besides the fact that JK said that whoever dies stays dead, horcruxes are evil dark magic. Does anyone really think that Dumbledore would willingly give up part of his soul?"

Snape's Loyalties?

"I predict we will discover that Dumbledore and Snape had an Unbreakable Vow; Snape had to do whatever it took to maintain his cover as a Death Eater. Snape will turn out to be good... "

"I think that snape is working under Dumbledore's orders, that he told him about the unbreakable vow he was forced to take to protect Draco."

"Snape is "good." A total git, but in terms of the Order vs Voldemort, he's definitely on the good side. When Snape stood over Dumbledore and Dumbledore said "Please," I thought it was pretty obvious that he was asking Snape to fulfill his part of the deal. As if Dumbledore would plead for his life! Snape killing Dumbledore is absolutely the best way for Snape the spy to bind Voldemort to him even tighter than he already is. By sacrificing himself, Dumbledore not only made Snape into the Order's best ally (and Voldemort's worst enemy), but he also saved Draco from being a murderer or being murdered. "

"I think that Snape had an unbreakable vow with Dumbledore never to betray him, which is why Dumbledore had such seemingly blind trust in Snape no matter what any one else says. "

What do you think?  I would love to hear your theories...

Muggles to be able to Visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando at Universal Studios

Muggle fans of Harry Potter will be excited to know that Universal Studios has announced that they will be building a Harry Potter Theme Park in Orlando!  Universal plans to open the park in 2009!

According to the Today Show:

"Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. and Universal Orlando Resort plan to open The Wizarding World of Harry Potter within Universal's Islands of Adventure theme park in 2009, Tom Williams, chairman and CEO of Universal Parks and Resorts, announced Thursday on TODAY.  The “theme park within a theme park” is the first fully immersive Harry Potter-themed environment based on the bestselling books by J.K. Rowling and the blockbuster feature films."

According to the Press Release:

J.K. Rowling, says "The plans I've seen look incredibly exciting, and I don't think fans
of the books or films will be disappointed."

Expected to open in late 2009, the new environment will feature
immersive rides and interactive attractions, as well as experiential shops and restaurants that will enable guests to sample fare from the wizarding world's best known establishments. Also debuting will be a state-of-the-art attraction that will bring the magic, characters and stories of Harry Potter to life in an exciting way that guests have never before experienced.

The Academy Award-winning production designer Stuart Craig, who has worked to bring the world of Harry Potter to life in all of the feature films to date, leads the creative design for the area to ensure it remains faithful to the look and feel of the films.

"Our primary goal is to make sure this experience is an authentic extension of Harry Potter's world as it is portrayed in the books and films," said Craig. "I am very excited to be working closely with the
Universal Orlando team to bring the area to life."

Universal has setup a website with some FAQs and more information.  Visit www.universalorlando.com/harrypotter for more details.

Although the press release didn't mention anything specific about what rides and areas might be there, here are some of our common sense speculations as to what you might find there:

• Weasley's Wizard Weezes Joke Shop
• Gringotts Bank Roller Coaster Ride
• The Forbiden Forest Ride
• Hogwarts Express Ride
• Azkaban Ride
• Ministry of Magic Restaurant
• Quiddich Field / Ride
• Hogwarts Castle Ride (Maybe even a Hogwarts Hotel)
• Shriking Shack Ride
• Diagon Alley Shops
• Knockturn Alley Shops
• Hogsmead Shops
• Olivanders Wand Shop

Any other interesting ideas of what you might expect to see?

More Resources / References:

• The Today Show - Harry Potter theme park set to open
• The Disney Blog - Harry Potter goes to Universal
• Orlando Sentinel - Harry Potter to come to Universal Orlando
• Geeks of Doom - Harry Potter Attraction at Universal Studios?

Harry Potter and the Marauder's Map Lego Game

Here is the Harry Potter and the Marauder's Map game from Lego, enjoy and don't forget to post your scores in the comments!

The Harry Potter Crystal Ball Game

This one takes some very good observation skills, remember to post your scores in the coments section below!

Harry Potter Casting Spells Game

How good are you at waving the wand?  Give it a try and post your scores in the comments, honor system applies, no cheating.  I got 7 on my first attempt, so I clearly need some work at it.

Harry Potter on Myspace?

It looks like the publisher of the Harry Potter books plans on creating a section on MySpace according to Steve O'Hear over at ZDNet.

We noticed that there is a site: http://www.myspace.com/harrypotter but that this doesn't appear to be the official site.  We highly doubt they would have that ugly Adsense block at the top...

Harry Potter Book 7 Release on July 21 May have Company

According to the Wall Street Journal, Barnes & Noble is predicting an uptick in sales in the quarter that “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” is released.  The company's CEO, Stephen Riggio says "Don't forget about the political books!"  Barnes & Noble expects two books about Hillary Clinton — “A Woman In Charge” by Carl Bernstein and “Her Way” by Jeff Gerth and Don Van Natta to also lift sales. “We expect of course many more titles by and about the candidates for the presidential election season to be coming over the next year or fifteen months.”  says Riggio

So will these muggle presidential books beat Harry Potter?  Don't count on it...  Here at the MugglGuide, we expect this latest edition of Harry Potter to be the largest selling book in History!

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Movie Trailer

Here is a trailer for the Order of the Phoenix which comes out on 7/13/07:

Lord Waldemart Forces Local Diagon Alley Shops out of Business

This create muggle video is funny, and shows what might happen to Diagon Alley when Lord Wal-de-Mart comes to town!