The paperback edition of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was released on July 7th and is already number two on the USA Today's Best Seller List.

The top ten books are:

1. "Glenn Beck's Common Sense: The Case Against an Out-of-Control Government, Inspired by Thomas Paine" by Glenn Beck
2. "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling, art by Mary GrandPre
3. "The Time Traveler's Wife" by Audrey Niffenegger
4. "New Moon" by Stephenie Meyer
5. "Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer
6. "Eclipse" by Stephenie Meyer
7. "Breaking Dawn" by Stephenie Meyer
8. "My Sister's Keeper: A Novel" by Jodi Picoult
9. "The Shack" by William P. Young
10. "Smoke Screen: A Novel" by Sandra Brown

We at The Advance Guard would like to wish Jo Rowling a very happy (belated) birthday!

As most of you will already know, July 31st is also the birthday of Harry Potter.

The Harry Potter series has come top in a poll of the top 100 Best Beach Books Ever at National Public Radio.

1. The Harry Potter series, by J.K. Rowling
2. To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
3. The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini
4. Bridget Jones's Diary, by Helen Fielding
5. Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen
6. Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, by Rebecca Wells
7. The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald
8. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams
9. Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, by Fannie Flagg
10. The Poisonwood Bible, by Barbara Kingsolver

You may remember that we told you last week that the chair on which J.K. Rowling wrote the first two Harry Potter novels was up for auction on eBay. We can now confirm that it sold for £19,555, a third more than when it was originally auctioned.

The New York Times has published an article on how alcohol is viewed in the Harry Potter series, and especially in the latest movie, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

Alison Turner, a British expatriate who owns Signature Bites, an Internet brownie business based in Florida, said that while watching the movie with her 14-year-old stepdaughter, she did find herself briefly musing about the alcoholic properties of butterbeer. But she said their post-movie conversation focused on broken hearts and unrequited love.

“I think the alcohol angle washed over me because of the magical context of the film — this isn’t a real school, real teachers or real students — so it’s almost like the drinking isn’t real,” she said. “I wonder how many kids even know what mead is.”

Dan Radcliffe has given an interview with Attitude magazine in which he talks about his political views as well as his stance on homophobia. You can read an article on the BBC website or see the magazine scans at DanRadliffe.com.

"I rather like Nick Clegg. At the next election I will almost certainly vote Lib Dem.

"If all the people who liked them voted for them you could change politics overnight and we could have a proper three-party system," he added.
...
In the same interview, Radcliffe said that although he was not gay, he had grown up surrounded by homosexuals.

"I just loathe homophobia," he said.

"I grew up around gay people entirely. I was the only child in my class who had any experience of homosexuality or anything like that."

Bill Nighy, who has recently confirmed his role in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows as that of Rufus Scrimgeour, gave an interview with Newsbeat, in which he discusses filming his scenes.

You've also finally got yourself in a Harry Potter film…

Yes I did. I was beginning to worry. I was beginning to feel a tiny bit excluded.

I think they ran out of English actors. I was the only English actor of a certain age who wasn't in Harry Potter and now I'm in Harry Potter so I'm very happy.

I start filming next week and I've been in for costume fittings and things. I can't tell you too much about it because they do literally, I think they kill me or take my house or something if I tell you anything too much. And for good reasons, so that it all comes as a bit of a surprise.

I grew up with nearly everybody in the movies, I know all of the people in there, obviously because they're part of the English acting community and it's nice to be a part of it.

Courtesy of HP4U, new photographs from the filming of the chase scene after leaving Privet Drive have surfaced online in which you can clearly see the stunt doubles for Robbie Coltrane and Dan Radcliffe. Filming took place at the Dartford Tunnel in Kent.

David Yates, one of the directors in the Harry Potter series, recently gave an interview with Vanity Fair. Amonst other things, Yates talks about trying to please the fans, the decision to split Deathly Hallows, and what he plans on doing after Harry Potter.

One of the things we did was we added a sequence in the middle of the movie—the sequence in the reeds when death eaters try and attack Harry—and that sequence never existed in the book. In one sense it seems mad to add something to Jo’s [read: J.K. Rowling’s] world and Jo’s book.

It has now been confirmed that Nicholas Hooper will not return to compose the movie soundtrack for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

iF: After two POTTER movies, and I imagine the next two, do you hope to bring your own wealth of themes to Harry that will be as memorable as the music that started it all?

HOOPER: I have made the decision not to do the next two HARRY POTTER films. I’ll be handing the baton on to another composer. It has been a roller coaster ride, and, I feel, an enormous privilege to have the opportunity to have scored such great films and such a fantastic story.

Daniel Radcliffe turns 20 today!

We wish him all the best as he celebrates today.

A new post on the LA Times blog, special makeup designer Nick Dudman talks about the processes needed to create Fenrir Greyback.

"We had about 10 people on just that one character," Dudman said. "We can take the time to pay attention to detail." For Greyback, Dudman's team spent seven months stockpiling a supply of multi-piece silicone makeup to be applied to the actor's head and chest, with each bit of goat hair individually punched into the makeup.

There is a new article from the New York Times:

As anyone who has seen the box-office phenomenon “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” surely noticed, the movie’s main characters have grown up. And so has its audience: many of those who are streaming to theaters are in their 20s.

The generation that ignited Pottermania as preadolescent readers is approaching college graduation or entering the workplace, and they have kept alive this flame of their early adolescence.

During the filming of the Knockturn Alley scene, Access Hollywood managed to get a couple of shots:

Deleted scene
Cast interviews

Lev Grossman, a book critic, has written of his time at Azkatraz. If, like me, you did not get to go, it gives an insight into what goes on.

It's a pretty intense scene. Something like 1,000 (I'm speculating) Potterphiles in one hotel in downtown SF. You immerse yourself in it, and the whole non-Potter-related world just vanishes. I was going to say it's like being at Hogwarts, but really it's more like sticking your head in a pensieve and accessing the memories of someone who has only thought about Harry Potter ever, and nothing else.

Chris Rankin was here, who plays Percy Weasley in the movies. He is in fact a nice and regular dude, who hung out in the evenings despite the incessant squeeing from fangirls. He also did a karaoke performance of "Summer Lovin'" from Grease.

If you want to see the video of Chris Rankin singing with the conference leader, you can do so at YouTube.

Ever wanted to play Quidditch but thought you lacked certain magical qualities? Well, now you can! Two college students have come up with the "Intercollegiate Quidditch World Cup".

What resulted is called Muggle Quidditch, since, of course, all its players will be Muggles (Rowling-ese for non-magical people). There won't be any flying -- damn gravity! -- but there will be broomsticks, held between the legs while running, bludgers ("I'll teach you to try to score!" Whack!) and even a snitch (only the flying golden ball is replaced by a fast guy or gal clad in gold with a tennis ball in a sock stuck in his or her waistband).

Oh, and the two developed a 39-page "Intercollegiate Quidditch Rules and Guide-Book [sic]" with a "Forward [sic]," written by Benepe, thusly: "If you have opened this book, chances are you are least partly interested in playing Quidditch. And anyone who is at least partly interested can all too easily become as passionate about it as I am."

"Quidditch is something that makes people undeniably happy," the intro continues. "The childlike freedom that comes with playing and watching it is something unprecedented."

Check out the article at ESPN.

Harry Potter: The Exhibition will be moving to Boston, according to the Boston Globe. It will remain in Chicago until September 27th, but will move to the Museum of Science in Boston ready for opening on October 25th. Tickets can be bought online here.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince has been nominated for a Teen Choice Award.

In the category of Summer: Movie-Action Adventure, it stands up against X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Terminator Salvation, Star Trek and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.

If you are aged between 13 and 19, you can vote every day. The awards take place on Monday, August 10th.

It's not just any chair though. It is the chair in which JK Rowling wrote the first two Harry Potter novels.

Jo originally donated the chair to a charity auction, "Chair-ish a Child" back in 2002, but it is now being re-auctioned for the charity Books Abroad.

The chair has been personalised by JK Rowling and comes with a note to the "new owner of my chair", which she ends with the comment "My nostalgic side is sad to see you go but my back isn't."

Warner Bros. have developed an application for Twitter where you can send a surprise to your followers. Why not make a love potion for or an Unbreakable Vow with one of your followers? You can do so at HarryPotterTweet.com.

Jamie Waylett, who plays Vincent Crabbe in the Harry Potter series pleaded guilty to growing cannabis in his home last week. It is now reported that he was today sentenced to 120 hours community service.

Sentencing him, District Judge Timothy Workman said: "Mr Waylett, I accept that the cultivation of this cannabis was on a small scale, and this was not in any way a commercial venture on your part.

"Nevertheless you used a sophisticated growing system to do so.

"I give you credit for pleading guilty at the earliest opportunity, your co-operation with police and the fact that you are, until now, a man of good character."

Leaving the court, Waylett said: "I extend my sincere apologies to the producers, cast and crew and all at Warners and most especially to all Harry Potter fans."

Emma Watson has put all the rumours to rest regarding what university she will be attending in September.

Paste: You are off to University in the autumn.
Watson: I am—to Brown, which is an Ivy League establishment in the U.S.A. I’ve got a place there to read literature.

Emma also talks briefly about her new role as the face of Burberry and her role models in the Harry Potter world.

David Heyman, the producer of the Harry Potter movie series, has released a photograph he took of Dan Radcliffe and Rupert Grint on the day they first met.

Talking to the Los Angeles Times, Heyman reflects on the series to date, talks about the trio and even talks of his plans after the series has finished.

“One night, looking for a break, I went to the theater with Steve Kloves, the screenwriter who has written five of the six films. There sitting behind me was this boy with these big blue eyes. It was Dan Radcliffe. I remember my first impressions: He was curious and funny and so energetic. There was real generosity too, and sweetness. But at the same time he was really voracious and with hunger for knowledge of whatever kind.”

He coaxed the youngster’s parents into bringing him by for an audition. “I watched that audition tape recently — we’ll be putting it on one of the DVD releases — and I barely recognized him.”

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince took a staggering $396.7million in the first five days.

This brings the sixth installment of the Harry Potter series into second place for the highest start from a movie that opened on a Wednesday.

Emma Watson, the actress that plays Hermione Granger in the movies, turned 19 yesterday.

Emma updated her official website to say that she was looking forward to time out of her busy filming schedule to have a home cooked meal with her family to celebrate her birthday.

Emma doesn't yet know which university she will be going to in September, but will keep people updated.