With Thanksgiving over and the holiday season very much upon us, there is one thing that becomes hard to avoid: Christmas music. It’s in just about every store you walk into, on the radio, and sprinkled into commercials. Personally, I love classic Christmas carols. I thought I would be doomed to year after year of listening to only choral arrangements while decrying any of the pop-ier songs. Then, of course, Jingle Spells came along. Since both Harry Potter and the holiday season give me that warm glowy feeling, a wizard rock holiday album is just about the most happy-making thing I can listen to.

If you caught any of the Whomp the House tour this fall or went to a Yule Ball, you may have already heard some of the tracks from the sequel, Jingle Spells 2. Thus far, I have heard The Whomping Willows‘ ‘Let Me Be Your Christmas Tree’, Justin Finch-Fletchley and the Sugar Quills‘ ‘Christmas at the Leaky with You’, and Tonks and the Aurors‘ ‘Candle in the Window’. ‘Let Me Be Your Christmas Tree’ has been rattling around in my head since I first heard it. Its catchy chorus and jump-able beat are exactly what you have come to expect from The Whomping Willows. ‘Christmas at the Leaky with You’ is much more of a classically croonable song, and I’m already anticipating complaints from the neighbors when I learn the words and start singing it loudly. ‘Candle in the Window’ blew me away with its haunting melody and lyrics. It’s a wrock song that every Muggle can relate to, too. Well, except for the part where their significant other is a werewolf.

Jingle Spells 2 is the seventh Get a Clue event, The Leaky Cauldron‘s annual fundraiser for Book Aid International. Last year they raised over $35,000 with their first album. This year, they also teamed up with the HP Alliance to donate all the money from the orders on December 3rd for STANDfast.

Melissa Anelli, webmistress of The Leaky Cauldron, originally had the idea in October of 2006, but it was too late to get everything done for Christmastime that year. “So, I waited patiently and as soon as the touring and events of the release of Deathly Hallows was over, I sent out an invite to 15 bands for our then-unnamed charity holiday album. They all accepted, they all submitted fabulous songs.” Past years have had different ways to raise money (stickers, t-shirts, etc.), but don’t expect the idea of the wizard rock holiday album to disappear any time soon. Three major factors will ensure that this continues – the large amount of money raised, Melissa’s love of wizard rock, and Melissa’s “undying love for holiday music.” Apparently, it’s the only thing she listens to from November first until Christmas.

You would imagine that such an undertaking is difficult. “It’s always a big rush, to get every song in and mastered, to get everyone’s information and permission, to keep the schedule going”, but “we’ve had such invaluable support from the wizard rock and general Harry Potter community that we have absolutely no cause to complain.”

As an added bonus, Jingle Spells seems to be more accessible to people who aren’t yet wrock fans. Melissa told me, “I frequently hear, ‘I didn’t like/get wizard rock until I bought Jingle Spells and now I’m a huge fan!’ That’s the best thing to hear, for us, because even for a Harry Potter fan the idea of music themed around the books takes a second to get used to.” Also included in her answers was a bit of an enigma for us to work out. “The placement of the Harry and the Potters‘ song on this year’s album has a bit of trivia/homage associated with it, so I’ll leave that for your readers to puzzle out”.

As a final thought, she said, “we love this album and all the people who work on making it. Every time I see an order come in, I think about how more people who need books will get them, and how the HP Alliance will be able to grow and change thanks to the interest and devotion of Harry Potter fans. It’s wonderful to see that giving has not gone the way of the economy, and it’s even better to give people something as awesome as Jingle Spells 2 in return.” Agreed.

The first shipment of hard copies will go out sometime over the weekend, but Amazon and iTunes already have the album available for download.