I think cheap means crap pretty much everywhere, could you do the 8 HP themed dishes while still looking at producing healthy stuff for each movie? There's a whole series in eating well for less (with a family, training, or physical activity in mind).

Yeah, I think I may have to combine the two concepts.  Off the top of my head:

Philosophers Stone:  Slow Poached Egg over Nitrate Free Bacon Dashi
Chamber of Secrets: Stuffed Red Peppers, 4 different fillings
Prisoner of Azkaban: Smoked OxTail under Cauliflower Parsnip Mash (See the mash is imprisoning the.....)
Goblet of Fire:  Hand made Tsukemen Ramen in a spicy Shoyu Broth
Order of Phoenix: ?
Half Blood Prince: ?
Deathly Hallows 1: ?
Deathly Hallows 2: Pizza.  I'm done.

Actually, Prisoner of Azkaban should just be a Beef Wellington.  And While I'm at it, Ill find an excuse to remake the Oxtail Shepherds Pie.

If you have a tea in a yellowy tinge you could totally call it Felix Felicis and get away with it.

Not like anyone's gonna be well rested enough to tell the difference anyway.

I don't want to go too far on food tangent guys.  That's a value added feature.  Main attraction is the telethon itself.

I like the idea of the cooking segments, that could be really cool.

How about something to get the 'outsider HP fans' on board early? Maybe put the word out that you're looking for short pieces to camera about 'What Harry Potter Means To You?' and then cut it in with some nice inspirational music.

Pumpkin spiced lattes!

ALL NIGHT LONG

I intend to beat my LOTR record and remain on mic for all 8 films. Place your bets now for how long I actually last.

I am down with this, with the proviso that bathroom breaks don't count against my total.

^Very nice.

Not sure about pricing down in Cali, but spaghetti can be put together fairly cheaply and in large quantity.  Also, do different meats or things like that to change the spicing.