Our first Harry Potter event was a midnight showing of the new "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince" movie release with 600 or so HP fans. We started with a line party while waiting to get into the theater. Some fans (but not as many as I expected) were in costume, including 3 of our family members. I did not dress up (although I did wear a HP t-shirt), but Sarah was dressed as a Hogwart's student, Emily as Luna Lovegood, and Larry as the venerable wizard, Professor and Headmaster Albus Dumbledore. Larry was the most popular guy around; his photo is probably floating around on the web somewhere because so many people took his picture. Emily's Luna costume got her attention, as well. The movie was followed by a live podcast that we HAD to attend, putting us to bed at 4:30 am. It's been a lot of years since I operated on so little sleep the next day, but I was to learn that it's the norm at these things..
Larry and Emily joined us the next night for Wrock around the Rock, a cruise around Alcatraz while listening to four Wizard Rock (Wrock) bands play. Sarah is a huge Wrock fan, so we were familiar with the bands performing, including our favorite, "Ministry of Magic". (As it turned out, they and some of the other Wrock musicians were staying on our floor at the hotel! Sarah was quite amused!) As Emily was too young to attend the rest of the weekend's events, she and Larry took off to do some exploring on their own (more on that later), while Sarah and I stayed for the convention.
This was my first "fandom" convention, and let me say, these people are serious about Harry Potter. I was expecting mostly teenage girls, and there were plenty, but there were also adults of every age, race, and sexual persuasion. Most were women, some were teachers and librarians, at least 5 were in wheelchairs - and all were rabid fans. Remember the costumes I mentioned before? Every day there were more. Some people had a different costume for each day of the con, some got into their same elaborate makeup and costuming each day. There were witches and wizards roaming about the halls in groups. Going up and down the elevators with other non-con guests of the hotel was a hoot. I loved watching their faces! It was so commonplace, that after the first day, I stopped noticing. I made sure to wear an HP t-shirt of some sort daily, so I didn't appear to be a total Muggle, and I'm glad I did - I would have felt odd otherwise. I did dress up as Professor Trelawney (the divination teacher) for the Wizard's ball one night but that was it for me.
Sarah and I attended the Welcoming and Leaving Feasts and the HP Alliance Plenary Session together, we visited the Craft Faire and Vendor rooms together, and I stayed at the Ball for a little while (long enough to have a butterbeer or two), but mostly we went our separate ways, meeting up for meals and to go to bed. She stayed up late for the music and the PJ party and to hang with new friends she met there - I went to bed! During the day, she attended programming and really took the con seriously, studiously choosing her sessions each day, and discussing what she'd learned at her presentations and workshops. I soon found that my time was best spent volunteering, so signed up to work some shifts on a couple of days in the Common Room and at the Meet and Greet table. I did attend a session for parents of HP fans and another for teachers on using HP in the classroom, but I was really there for Sarah. It was a great mother-daughter bonding opportunity for us.
Did you know that Sarah designed the CD art a year or so ago for a Wrock musician's latest release? We got to meet her in person, and that was pretty exciting. You can see Sarah's art on "Accio Hot Guy" by the Butterbeer Experience below. We also got to see Lena (from the BE) perform her original Wrock opera "The Fountain of Fair Fortune" live one night, and that was fun, too. She is a talented young lady.
Sarah was really psyched by the whole experience, and leaving was a let-down for her. Now that she knows what it's like, she can save up again for another one, or move on from here. I know what I'll do next time. Leave her at the con, and go tour the city on my own!
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