So, it’s no secret that I harbour a obsession for a certain Death Eater. I wrote a blog post all about it last year which you can read here..
Back in March I was tagged in a story on Instagram that Jason Issacs would be a guest at the London Film and Comic con in July. This was my chance, to finally meet the man who brought Lucius to life on the big screen! I ordered my tickets and a photo opportunity with him as well as seats at a paid talk he was putting on. I couldn’t have been more happier.
The months went by and unfortunately Jason’s paid talk was cancelled in favour of a free talk instead on the Saturday which was the day I wasn’t going having secured tickets for Sunday.
Fast forward to 28th July. My (muggle) husband and I got up early to catch the 7:20am train. I heard that there was major disruption on the District line on the London Underground so I was trying to find an alternative route to get to the con venue at Olympia.
Dressed as a Hufflepuff student with my replica of Lucius Mafoy’s cane/wand. Affectionately called Bob.
Once we made it to London Victoria we caught another train to Clapham Junction and from there we got the Overground train to Olympia. By now we were joined by other con attendees and I was getting very nervous and excited!
From the train station we had to walk all the way around the building before we got to security and bag check. The security guard was wary about my Cane but he was given the all clear!
Once we were inside the con, I messaged my fellow Potterhead Magizoologyclass that I had arrived and she told me that Jason was upstairs doing signing. I decided to go up there straight away and see what the queue was like.
I have never done what I was about to do before. I have never paid for an autograph and I was highly nervous. I even lost my slip of paper to show I had paid at one point but it had fallen underneath someone else’s bag and I gave them a big hug for finding it for me.
And then, the moment I was waiting for. I was in front of Jason and the first thing he said was; “Oh Wow, you look great!” As he shook my hand and part of me died.
I wish I had recorded the following conversation to listen back to it but I was very conscious of the security guards standing behind Jason. I told him how happy I was to meet him and I showed him Bob and told him about him. Jason laughed (that laugh) and asked if I was a closet Slytherin.
I then asked him about the photo I had picked for him to sign as it was a photo that wasn’t in the movies. He said it was his favourite scene he filmed for the franchise but it got deleted! He said everyone laughed at it during previews but seeing as the director wanted the movie (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix) to be more serious and dark it got cut! I am so so desperate to see that deleted scene!
My signed photo!
I said thank you for the picture and he shook my hand again and before I left I told him that I would be having my photo with him and he said, “Oh great, I look forward to it!”
I walked away from his table with the biggest grin on my face and when I saw my husband I started telling him what happened and I started to cry! The emotion of it all completely swept me away and I cried into his shoulder. I had waited so so long to meet him and he was so nice.
At that moment Magizoologyclass arrived and saw me as a big blubbering mess and I dried my tears quickly. I posed for a photo with my autograph for Instagram and then two ladies came up to me asking if I was the Hufflepuff Head girl and it turns out they were from the Jason Isaacs fan club on Twitter called #Teambasement. It was so lovely to meet them and they gave me some team basement badges to wear.
After that we had some time before my photoshoot so we had a look around at the con and the merch stalls. So much to see and the people in Cosplay were awesome!
With Rodney @Kwickspellco on Instgram!
Amazing Lego Star wars display!
I also met Lucius Malfoy cosplayer @sephirayne and had a Snake cane faceoff!
At 11:45 it was time for my photoshoot with Jason. I met back up with the #teambasement ladies and let Vin of the basement borrow Bob for her photograph with Jason. The resulting photo was awesome but very naughty!
While I waited I had to calm myself down as I was very anxious yet again. The people in the queue with me were so nice and checked to see that I was okay and reminded me to breathe.
As the queue got shorter I was going through in my head how I wanted the photograph to look and I just hoped I wouldn’t ‘oversmile’ so that I looked crazy.
Then it was my turn. Jason recognised me from earlier and said “Oh hello again!” And I asked if he would hold the cane, he went to remove the wand and I said, “could you hold him (yes I referred to the cane as ‘him’) as the wand?” Jason obliged. I put my arms around his waist, his hand came across my shoulder and….
FLASH!
The photo was taken. I unhanded Jason, he gave me back Bob and I couldn’t help the huge smile as I thanked him.
I waited for my photo to print, feeling even more nervous than before. Please let the photo be good!!
The lady by the printers handed me my photo and smiled saying it looked so good.
I can’t help but agree with her!
After the craziness of the photoshoot I sat down and had a bite to eat and did a quick live stream to my Instagram followers to share my experience with them. Once I had calmed down and my husband had come to collect me as he had wondered off during the wait for the photoshoot, we went to see what else the con had to offer.
Needless to say my feet were aching by 4pm. I had also wanted to see the Tom Felton talk but as I was with my husband who is not a Harry Potter fan I decided just to spend time with him instead.
On the train home we were both very tired but had enjoyed the day. It was definitely a highlight of the year for me.
Diary of a Hufflepuff Head Girl 