One of the most anticipated films of the year, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince", had its red carpet premier Thursday night in Manhattan. NY1's Stephanie Simon filed the following report.

With witchcraft in the air, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" premiered at the Ziegfeld Theatre in Midtown. It's the sixth installment in the blockbuster Harry Potter series. And with Harry Potter back on the big screen, the teen wizard is sure to cast quite a spell on audiences worldwide.

"To me, the whole Potter series is about a loss of innocence, the arc of the story is. It's the story of someone who's gone in the world being wide-eyed and all very excited and pure and has gone on to discover as much evil exists in the world as he knew beforehand," said Actor Daniel Radcliffe, who plays the role of Harry Potter in the film.

The film's release was pushed back from the fall of 2008 to the summer of 2009. But now that it has finally arrived, only an expert in the dark arts could quell the excitement of the fans who lined up to see the stars.

"I'm so excited, I cannot wait. I've been waiting all summer, it's gonna be amazing," said one Harry Potter fan.

"I was almost crying I love them all so much. This is like my dream. Harry Potter is my childhood so to actually be here is amazing," said another Harry Potter fan.

In the latest Harry Potter film, there is trouble at the Hogwarts School, dangerous intrigue with Harry's nemesis, Voldemort, and some blossoming teen romance between Hermione and Ron.

"At the beginning of the film she realizes she likes Ron and then he gets a girlfriend and she's heartbroken, and then she does all these stupid things to try to make him jealous," said Actor Emma Watson, who plays Hermione in the film.

"Well this one is is a good one for Ron because he joins the Quidditch team, he gets a girlfriend. Previous years, Ron has had kind of the tough end of stuff but now it kind of all goes his way so it's good," said Actor Rupert Grint, who plays the character of Ron in the film.

The film is of course based on the best selling books by author JK Rowling. All five previous films have been blockbusters, but some say this one could top the elusive $1 billion mark.

While there was plenty of excitement at the premier, more is expected next Wednesday when the film officially opens in theaters.