Potter-possessed muggles overwhelm Amazon

SEATTLE: With the release of "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," the young wizard has once again shattered records at Amazon.com.

As of midnight, July 15, more than 1.5 million copies of the book had been ordered on Amazon's retail Web sites worldwide, and more than 919,000 copies ordered on Amazon.com, making the book the company's largest new product release ever.

"We'd like to thank our customers around the world for making 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince' Amazon's largest, most successful new product release ever," said Greg Greeley, vice president of Amazon's North American media business.