Day 4, 29/7 (Friday)
Today was going to be a very exciting day! We had changed the timing of our trip from our original plans (end of the summer) to the beginning when we found out that there was an amazing conference on that, actually, I had always wanted to go to but had never though I could. And it was in my summer break, and in Orlando. LeakyCon is the Harry Potter conference which is run by Mischief, a company set up by the founder of the PotterCast podcast (which started in 2005). I have been a listener of the podcast since 2005, literally the founding year and both Bro and I are Hufflepuffs and HUGE HP fans. So we had to go!
We did have a little bit more of a sleep in in the morning and missed hotel breakfast but we were glad for the rest later in the day (we had a long one!) We headed over by Uber and got to the conference centre around half 10 to check in. We had general passes which covered all 3 days and got our lanyards and a badge to indicate how comfortable with interaction we were (green circle like we had for happy to chat, hug, whatever, yellow triangle for happy to chat, and red for 'leave me alone'). We made it right on time to the main stage for the welcome. Once the chair came onto stage and spoke, I realised it was Melissa Anelli, the founder or it all and PotterCast host and I got actually quite emotional and teary over the fact that I had actually managed to make it! Also in the welcome address were Chris Rankin (who played Percy Weasley in the films), and content creators Cherry Wallis and Chanel Williams. It was short but really hyped us up for the days ahead.
***IF YOU HAPPEN TO BE READING THIS AND YOU DO NOT WANT ANY HP SPOILERS, PLEASE DON'T READ THIS.***
Our first panel we chose (there were about 8 rooms with panels and meetups at any given time, plus the main stage) was called 'Harry Potter and Head Injuries'. It was hosted by an expert on trauma and detailed the 17 (!) probable traumatic brain injuries that Harry would have suffered throughout his 7 years at Hogwarts:
- Philosopher's Stone = 1 (at the end of the battle with Quirrell)
- Chamber of Secrets = 3 (from the Whomping Willow, and twice in the Chamber itself)
- Prisoner of Azkaban = 2 (at the Quidditch match, and from Sirius knocking him over)
- Goblet of Fire = 0 (seems surprising given the Triwizard Tournament was that year, but I guess?!)
- Order of the Phoenix = 3 (banging his head on the underside of the window sill, getting punched in the head by Dudley less than an hour later, during his occlumency lessons)
- Half-Blood Prince = 4 (hit by Goyle's trunk on the train, taking a bludger to the back of the head, taking a bludger to the face)
- Deathly Hallows = 3 (in the motorbike crash, Remus, in the explosion that kills Fred)
It also detailed the ongoing effects of these traumas and how they may have manifested, beginning in Harry's 3rd year as impulsivity and irritability, becoming more long term effects by his 5th year such as making his head pains worse, more irritability and apathy towards others. It was interesting to hear this from someone who was an expert and it was something I'd never considered past 'Harry does seem to get hurt alot!)
After that panel it was lunch time. We ate all our lunches from the food places set up for the con, as we didn't have the time to Uber anywhere else in the hour or so break (couldn't be wasting any precious HP time!). On this day I got orange chicken from the Chinese stand. After that we headed over to the Hufflepuff meetup. It was an awesome part of the day, as we had some lovely introductions and discussions of the Hufflepuff qualities and how they apply to us and affect how other people see us. We talked about how kindness and loyalty are underrated qualities, which houses we pair best with (many of us are paired either romantically or friendship wise with Slytherins, which makes a lot of sense and also applies to me!). I worked up the courage to introduce myself which was scary but everyone was super nice. We also discussed bravery as being a secondary Hufflepuff quality, as it takes bravery to be loyal and kind above other things even when that may be hard. We also learned during this panel about the ribbons. Many con-goers buy packs of ribbons (maybe to match their costumes or of crossovers or favourite quotes) and give, trade and share them over the weekend. We collected about a dozen each over the weekend to stick to our passes, and if I ever get the opportunity to attend another LeakyCon I would love to bring my own!
Then we headed over to the main stage for a love recording of the Potterless podcast. We hadn't listened to it before but it's a podcast hosted by a guy who is reading HP for the very first time as a 20-something and discussing it with others who are already fans. A cool concept. The live podcast was a little bit different, as he had Chris Rankin (Percy Weasley) and Chanel Williams (who is known for her spot on McGonagall impressions) on to discuss what they would do if the roles were reversed. It turns out that Percy would be a lot like McGonagall, but McGonagall is much cooler than Percy! It's very funny because Chris clearly understands the reason people don't like Percy so much and leans into it, which only makes it funnier! I've added the podcast to my feed and am slowly catching up on the episodes now.
Our final panel for the day was 'The Role of Books in the Harry Potter Universe', which again I'd never really considered. We were reminded that what happens when the trio need to find out something is that they go to the library, whereas the bad characters go to interrogate actual people. It was summed up as the good guys read, but the bad guys talk - and that you could then judge the motivation of a character based on their actions in relation to books.
We stayed at the conference centre for dinner - but we weren't super hungry after a big lunch so we split a cheese pizza. We then had about an hour to kill before the evening show, but given we were about half an hour by Uber away from our hotel, we didn't want to leave. We just found some quiet comfy chairs to relax in, and there were others doing the same, before we headed back to the main stage for 7pm. Half the chairs had been cleared away and it was time for the WROCK SHOW! Wizard Rock is the amazing genre of music which is written about, or usually from the perspective of, someone from the Wizarding World. There were 4 bands that played - all of which were new to me. The first was 'How Airplanes Fly' (real name Avery Marshall), who played a lovely acoustic set including the brilliant song 'Forget the Girl' which I loved. Then we got into the harder rock with Hawthorn and Holly, who were clearly well known by the crowd. It was at this point that we got up into the dance area and boogied along - ignoring our self-consciousness (there weren't many people dancing at that stage). They had some good songs, but after that was Lauren Fairweather, who was amazing. She sang some HP songs and some of her newer songs, which were about other fandoms, but were really good and performed really well. The final set was my favourite though. Tonks and the Aurors (HUFFLEPUFFS REPRESENT!). She was incredible! Performed beautifully, had great songs which we could catch up really quick so that we could join in with ('Harry Potter's Alive', 'Yes All Witches' and '1991 (Charlie Weasley)' were real favourites! Bro and I partied hard joined in the singing and had a really great dance. It was an incredible night.
Towards the end of it, I realised that Melissa was quite close to us, talking and hanging out with other Michief staff and some of the guests. I got really nervous but with some pep talking from the Bro I gathered up the courage to say hi and thank her for... well, everything. I missed my chance the first time but as the show was wrapping up and people started leaving I was able to introduce myself. I thanked her for all the years and tries to explain how important PotterCast was to me in my teenage years and how much it meant to me to be here, and I think I butchered it, but I was able to say that I was a listening since the beginning on myspace and she seemed amused by that! She actually thanked me for sticking with the podcast still (which of course I will!) and she was super super sweet. I also got a photo (and photos of us chatting too, thanks Bro!) and then I walked away shaking and had a little cry. It was one of the most special moments in my life, I think.
And then we headed back to the hotel and collapsed into bed, ready for Day 2!
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