Not much longer now...

Friends, we are just hours away from the release of the Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince movie trailer. As a treat, USA Today provided fans with an exclusive look inside the trailer and released two new photos from the film, as seen here.

The first, and perhaps the most intriguing released photo to date, is one of young Voldemort. The Dark Lord is played by Ralph Fiennes, who appeared in Goblet of Fire and Order of the Phoenix, will not be appearing in the 6th film. His 11-year-old incarnation, on the other hand, will. He is played by 10 year-old Hero Fiennes-Tiffin, the actor’s nephew. I must say, from the picture, the young Voldemort possess the same intensity as the Dark Lord he grows up to be.

Director David Yates says that the fact Hero is related to Ralph Fiennes wasn’t the primary reason for casting him: “It was an advantage that he looked very similar to Ralph. Of course that was useful. But primarily I went for Hero because of this wonderful haunted quality that seemed to bring Tom Riddle alive on-screen for us…Even at a very young age, Tom Riddle shows tendencies toward cruelty and maliciousness. And it's a very unsettling thing to see."

The scene in this photo is quite obvious – it must be when Dumbledore arrives at the orphanage to meet Tom for the first time. As seen in the back ground, Dumbledore appears quite younger than we know him to be in Harry Potter’s time.

The second photo released provides a glimpse into the part of the film I am looking most forward to: the journey into the cave. As we all know, Dumbledore and Harry have gone into the cave in search of one of Voldemort’s Horcruxes. The cave is filled with dark magic and they are attacked by Inferi – that is when Dumbledore creates a firestorm to fend them. Of the scene, Yates says, “It's almost a biblical image. He's a bit like Charlton Heston when he parts the Red Sea.”

Indeed!

So, there was a quick fix to get you through the day...the trailer will be released tonight at 8:00pm CST. As stated by one of our other friends in the Potter fandom, "Get ready everyone. The surge of Half Blood Prince media is about to begin!"

Until then, keep twiddling those dials! Keep each other safe, keep faith…good day!