indiana united states key people emerson spartz owner emerson spartz 1 website www.mugglenet.com alexa rank 20 000 approx . as of august 2011 update 2 registration optional available in english u.s. launched october 1999 3 incorporated in 2007 mugglenet is a harry potter fansite founded by emerson spartz . the site is composed of news editorials and synopses of the harry potter books and films an encyclopedia of the books an irc network in which the fans of harry potter can discuss predictions and share thoughts a discussion forum and media such as screenshots theatrical trailers and book covers . there is also a fan fiction section a weekly caption contest and other occasional contests and polls . on august 9 2005 it launched a podcast dubbed mugglecast as well as its own line of clothing toy wands and other merchandise . in 2006 mugglenet released a best selling reference book on harry potter and the deathly hallows the final book in the series . as of 2008 mugglenet is owned by spartz inc. an indiana corporation registered by emerson spartz in 2007 . 1 on may 29 2010 mugglenet 2.0 an updated version of the site went live . 4 on april 1 2014 mugglenet 3.0 was launched to the public . 5 contents 1 founder 2 author and corporate relations 3 podcasts 3.1 mugglenet academia 3.2 alohomora 3.3 mugglecast 3.4 mugglenet fan fiction s audiofictions 4 features 4.1 mugglenet interactive 4.2 mugglespace 4.3 mugglenet fan fiction 5 published works 6 convention 7 in popular culture 8 see also 9 references 10 external links founder edit main article emerson spartz emerson spartz serves as the founder owner and webmaster of mugglenet . he founded the site at the age of twelve a month after reading harry potter and the sorcerer s stone . he has also founded websites such as omg facts givesmehope and lovegivesmehope through his company spartz media . 6 author and corporate relations edit mugglenet benefits from friendly relations with j.k. rowling the author of the harry potter books and the producers of the films . she has praised mugglenet on her website and has awarded it her fan site award . 7 rowling recounts on her website that she occasionally visits the site and sometimes reads the comments left by visitors although never comments herself . the author also stated that she visited the site s chat room and was snubbed when she anonymously joined in a conversation about harry potter theories . 8 in july 2005 rowling invited spartz and melissa anelli of the leaky cauldron to edinburgh scotland for an interview at her home on the release of harry potter and the half blood prince . 9 a transcript of the interview was posted on mugglenet . 10 most recently j.k. rowling mentioned mugglenet through the interactive harry potter website pottermore in september 2013 saying how proud she was to own the key to la porte indiana hometown of mugglenet founder emerson spartz . 11 warner bros. the producers of the harry potter movies regularly sent mugglenet stills taken from the upcoming movies before they were released . the studio also provided mugglenet staff with advance views of the new official website designs as well as included staff in a video conference to discuss the harry potter theme park at universal orlando . podcasts edit mugglenet academia edit mugglenet academia is a podcast that is hosted and produced by mugglenet managing editor keith hawk and the hogwarts professor john granger . each podcast is referred to as a lesson since the show revolves around a particular aspect of literature found within the harry potter book series by author j.k. rowling . the idea for the show was presented to the staff of mugglenet by co host john granger to revive the potter pundit section that was originally held on several episodes of pottercast the leaky cauldron website s podcast . however in the mugglenet academia version the entire show is dedicated to one theoretical discussion topic versus just a segment . each show features a special guest speaker usually a professor or other specialist . a professional linguist a judge and an author have also appeared as special guests of the show and future shows will continue to add to the variety of topics and lessons learned . each show also features a student guest which is typically an undergraduate or graduate student or recent graduate who excels in the field of each particular lesson . the first lesson was released in april 2012 and the show has quickly climbed to be the second highest educational podcast on itunes . 12 an ios and amazon mobile app are also available which provide access to all of the normal lessons as well as periodic bonus material typically in the format of an interview of a college or university professor who teaches a particular harry potter themed course at their school . alohomora edit founded in april 2012 alohomora aims to rekindle the excitement of when the harry potter series was new fresh and unknown . 13 their slogan open the dumbledore refers to the nature of the podcast which is to open doors and thoughts that had previously been locked or untouched . 14 it focuses on the original text of the books and takes segments or passages and analyzes them to a depth that has never been done before . the initiative includes not only forums visitor essays quibbles and thousands of daily debates but also a podcast . the six lead hosts caleb graves michael harle kristen keys kat miller rosie morris and eric scull release shows every week to a global audience of tens of thousands . 15 a highlight of the show is that almost every episode the hosts are joined by a fan guest occasionally a leading fandom guest such as ameer idreis 16 lev grossman 17 steve vander ark 18 or warwick davis . 19 the podcast itself includes in depth analysis of chapters from the harry potter series often paired with analysis of material from j.k. rowling s pottermore a reading and discussion of listener comments and various special features created by the hosts . once a book of the series is finished the podcast hosts celebrate with a live show and global viewing of the corresponding warner brothers film adaptation . 20 since its launch alohomora has grown to include a store at which various merchandise can be purchased most directly related to theories spawned on the podcast as well as an iphone and android app that includes extra content directly from the hosts . 21 mugglecast edit mugglecast launched in august 2005 when podcasts were still up and coming . 22 inspired by the passion within the harry potter community mugglenet staff members andrew sims ben schoen and kevin steck created a short podcast to discuss some of the recent harry potter news and the just released harry potter and the half blood prince . the reception from mugglenet s audience was great so the team expanded the shows with a wealth of new co hosts and content . mugglecast recorded what it announced would be its final regular episode on august 26 2013 . 23 however on december 27 2014 it was announced that they would be returning to regular episodes . 24 mugglenet fan fiction s audiofictions edit mugglenet fan fiction s audiofictions ran for nearly six years with a total of 200 episodes january 3 2009 25 december 28 2014 26 . it was originally founded by mugglenet fan fiction mnff staff member rosie morris known by her mnff username roxy black . the podcast s goal was to bring harry potter fan fiction to fans around the globe in a new way with recorded readings by the audiofictions readers known as mermuggles a portmanteau of merpeople and muggle in reference to the podcast s operations being centered in the mugglenet fan fiction beta board s black lake thread . the original team led by rosie consisted of clare mansfield equinox chick jessie lights kiley mugglenet staff member michael harle known by his mnff username lupinpatronus nixemus who composed the show s original music schmerg the impaler weasleykitty and nixemus . other mermuggles who joined the show later include coolh5000 eratosthenese faerie dust finest firewhisky sajomn and type n shadow . the podcast strove to ensure that as its slogan states the magic lives beyond the books . the show s readers brought to life the stories written by harry potter fans and posted to mugglenet fan fiction with original character based interstitials to interlock the fictions . the show invited listeners to participate in creating its content by nominating fictions and participating in contests . audiofictions experienced a low key revision in early 2010 with nixemus stepping into the role of project manager . nixemus also created and filled the new host role and brought the show closer to its current format . in late 2010 michael was promoted to project manager and host adding new mermuggle readers 27 apollonious chadadada17 and thegreatom to the lineup . michael also created the editor role 28 for audiofictions bringing granger7 pinkdude64 and stevenrankin onto the team . under michael s direction and following a lengthy absence and revision audiofictions was quietly relaunched in 2011 with a new format and release schedule . this format was again modified before the show s major relaunch in 2012 . 29 features edit mugglenet interactive edit mugglenet interactive type non profit organization website interactive.mugglenet.com registration required available in english u.s. launched july 1 2003 mugglenet interactive often shortened to mni is a website spin off of mugglenet . it is an online forum where users can interact with each other in a hogwarts styled setting . in addition to the general chat areas the site is known for its diverse offerings including the roleplaying area the blog style chamber of secrets the high speed trivia games of the quidditch pitch and the professor led classes taught in a socratic method . semiannual house cup competitions encourage house unity and often allow members to compete for honors in contests with essays graphics or other media . the mni community also celebrates many holidays as well as the shared birthday of harry potter and j.k. rowling with a ball in the otherwise closed great hall . many site secrets are hidden throughout mni s pages and are often sought for their galleon rewards but speaking of them on site is forbidden . the many distinct components of the site contribute to the diverse community that it attracts . the site was originally formed from a personality quiz made in 2000 which was later adapted for the fuller version of the site as a sorting hat . over the years sections such as a diagon alley shopping area a dueling game flourish and blotts fan fiction library quizzes quidditch and other subsections outside of the forum structure were incorporated into the site . the staff hierarchy was originally modeled after the faculty structure at hogwarts with a headmaster headmistress as the main site administrator overseeing moderating prefects and class leading professors but over time non canon positions such as programmers artists and quiz masters have been added in addition to other harry potter themed appointments . due to lack of server space and low traffic volumes the site is scheduled to be shut down august 1 2016 after 13 years of operation . mugglespace edit launched during the christmas holidays of 2008 mugglespace was a fan based social network designed to provide a live online community for harry potter fans all over the world . 30 the site contained a number of features including a live group and private chat monitored and participated in frequently by site moderators ; blogs where users could share their personal creations and comment on the works of others such as novels poems fan fiction