Relive the Magic of LeakyCon Dallas With Our Exclusive Weekend Recap!

Aug 12, 2019

Posted by: Dawn Johnson

Conventions, Events, Exclusives, Fan Events, Fandom, Fans, Felton, Fun, HP Cast, Leaky, LeakyCon, News, PotterCast, Tavare, Wizard Rock

This weekend LeakyCon celebrated its Tenth Anniversary with a three-day event in Dallas, Texas featuring the best Potter-themed programming and special guests, including first-timer Tom Felton!

Relive the magic through Leaky’s full recap of each day’s events. Let us know which part of our coverage you enjoyed the most and, if you were lucky enough to attend in person, let us know what brought you to LeakyCon–and what will keep you coming back in years to come!

Day One: Friday, Aug. 9

We arrived at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas, Texas ready for an exciting day of merch, cosplay, panels and Mainstage magic. Harry Potter fan and Leaky reporter for the weekend Scarlett Ojeda was armed with her wand and a press pass, prepared for unexpected duels and a day packed with Potter programming!

Ojeda took us on a tour of floor, locating the common rooms designated for House meetups before joining the opening festivities.

Gameshow host James Payton kicked off the LeakyCon Party Game Hour with a round of Harry Potter Who Am I? followed by a Gryffindor-Slytherin duel. (We told you wands would come in handy!)

Ojeda also attended the “Hogwarts Night School for Late-Blooming Witches and Wizards” panel–though we highly doubt she needed the extra training!

Then she returned to the Leaky Marketplace to scope out all the best merch and cosplay.

(By the way, in case you weren’t sure, the cauldron’s still got a hole in it — and that’s the way we like it!)

Though we could spend the whole day in the Marketplace, we did want to hit the panels as well, so Ojeda stopped by “LeakyCon By Fans for Fans: Fan-Inspired Creators” panel first.

Next up, Mr. James Payton, our very own Frank Longbottom! We loved his sense of humor throughout the weekend – he was constantly having us in fits of laughter!

And finally, it wouldn’t be LeakyCon without a WIZARD WROCK Extravaganza. We couldn’t wait for all our favorites to take the stage–Lauren Fairfax, Draco and the Malfoys, Tonks and the Aurors and Harry and the Potters made it a magical night. To see artists continuing to create original material from the books and bring joy to fans in their own ways is truly magical, and to have LeakyCon provide a place for that magic is unbelievably wonderful:

It was a magical first day at LeakyCon Dallas with incredible coverage from Scarlett Ojeda, and we couldn’t wait for Day Two! The night wrapped in traditional LeakyCon style – with an crowd solemnly singing the chorus to ‘When The Lights Go Out’ by The Whomping Willows / Matt Maggiacomo. We get chills every time!

Day Two: Saturday, Aug. 10

Day Two dawned bright and early at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center, and host James Payton was ready to go–with or without coffee. (Though who’s to say what magical concoctions he imbibed to elicit such an early energy boost!)

Leaky reporter Scarlett Ojeda was onsite again, this time donning some incredible cosplay of her own. Look no further for the Queen of Gryffindor! 

Ojeda no doubt employed some serious magical prowess to maneuver the Marketplace in that dress, but she did it, spying more fantastic merch and discovering the Quidditch workshop.  

Our very own Leaky artist, Sydney Dean (@sydsketch) was in the Marketplace for the very first time, selling prints and polaroids of her Harry Potter art, including her Draco pieces celebrating Tom Felton’s first LeakyCon appearance. We’re so grateful to have her on the Leaky team, as she’s brought us so many fantastic creations, and we’re glad and utterly unsurprised that you all love her work as much as we do!

Then we headed to a very special edition of LeakyCon Feud hosted by The Leaky Cauldron innkeeper Jim Tavare. (This may be our new favorite game show!)

This entertaining morning opener really piqued our Potter pride, but we were still counting down the minutes to the Student panel with host Melissa Anelli and Hogwarts alums Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy), Scarlet Byrne (Pansy Parkinson), Afshan Azhad (Padma Patil), Georgina Leonidas (Katie Bell) and Tiana Benjamin (Angelina Johnson). 

This was an amazing panel, and we only held it together after the ending because we knew the “Making Magic Behind the Scenes” panel with James Payton was coming up! Did you know Payton served as a stand-in for Dan Fogler on the set of Fantastic Beasts?!

Wand Choreographer Paul Harris also participated in the panel, sharing inside information about Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, giving dueling lessons and more!

Ojeda also made it to the “To Be or Not to Be Canon” panel, where we’re sure some strong opinions were aired!

And if you feared that Tom Felton caught an immediate Portkey back to the UK, you’ll be glad to hear he not only hung around The Leaky Cauldron, but also conjured up an acoustic guitar for a full-on concert. (We don’t know about you, but we’re ready for an album!)

With spirits at their height after Felton’s inspired performance, Ojeda caught up to fans celebrating the day’s end. And while Snape would normally look down upon that sort of frivolity, in this case, he highly approved.

 

In fact, we hear Snape and a few other infamous characters even attended the LeakyCon Ball–there’s truly no better way to close out Day Two and ring in the last and final day of this epic convention! 

 

 

Day Three: Sunday, Aug. 11

Day Two at LeakyCon Dallas ended with a ball and a bang but, tired or no, fans were ready for all that Day Three had to offer! 

And make no mistake, it might have been the last day, but it was packed with Potter programming. But first, a huge surprise. Mischief Management and Harry and the Potters made history at the convention this year! After years of failed attempts to get a Snitchwiches panel, the DeGeorges learned – in true LeakyCon style – that they’ll be getting a panel at LeakyCon Boston in October! The outdid themselves in Dallas with their Snitchwiches FLY-THRU booth, so they’ve definitely earned a panel of educational delicious delights! https://twitter.com/Snitchwiches/status/1160340827006279686?s=20 While Leaky reporter Scarlett Ojeda was preparing to host her own panel, “The Unofficial Ron Weasley Fan Club,” Tom Felton was preparing to take the Mainstage for his own special guest panel!

 

Always the good sport, Felton fielded a variety of wide-ranging questions, from throwbacks to his time on set to his impressions of Dallas, Cursed Child, Dancing with the Stars, ships and more!

He revealed his empathy for Draco Malfoy and his secret hope that he might, one day, get the chance to play him on stage. (Wands crossed, Potter fans!) 

 

We are also wholeheartedly on board with pitching a Harry Potter-themed Dancing With Stars. Felton may be lobbying for Matthew Lewis to join, but we’d wager that with Felton’s evident musical gifts, he’s got a fairly good sense of rhythm himself. 

Closing out the panel, Felton made sure to praise J.K. Rowling for her role in inspiring a generation of children to read and the fandom for supporting him and the films which defined his childhood. 

 

It sounds like Felton had a blast in Dallas, so here’s hoping he makes it back to LeakyCon very soon! 

We could have spent the entire day with Tom, but there were more LeakyCon games to play–so play we did!

With LeakyCon winding down, attendees were reminded to donate to the HP Alliance, say their goodbyes to the MAGICAL special guests, revisit the Marketplace to take advantage of last-minute markdowns and lineup for the Kids Cosplay Contest.

And if you’ve never caught a Cosplay Contest, you, Potter fans, are missing out–check out the results below!

While the kids were clearly natural cosplayers, the adults went all out as well. (Did someone brew up a batch of Polyjuice Potion?)

Speaking of Paul Harris, if you thought you’d learned all you needed to know about wand choreography and dueling on Day Two, you’d be mistaken. Before everyone headed back to their respective Muggle towns, Harris sat down for one last in-depth discussion of his movement philosophy and experiences on the Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts’ films.

Finally, LeakyCon Dallas bowed out in the most perfect way possible–with a live broadcast of Pottercast and an epic show of support for the HP Alliance. It was a poignant reminder of where the fandom community began and where it’s going, and if we’ve learned anything from making it through another LeakyCon, it’s that this is a journey we’re happy to be taking together.

 

And finally, enjoy this hilarious story from Melissa on one of many ‘mischiefs managed’ over the weekend (click to see the full thread):

Thank you for following us on through another LeakyCon! It’s always a pleasure to cover these events and meet new and old fans and attendees alike! We can’t thank the Mischief Management LeakyCon team enough for the incredible work they put into these conventions, the special guests for being so open to this experience, and to the attendees, vendors and speakers for making these conventions such a delightful place to be!

We’d also especially like to thank our reporter Scarlett, for her hard work and dedication, we’ve loved having her on the Leaky team and it was delightful seeing the heart she puts into being at LeakyCon, she’s a real hero for helping us cover this in full cosplay.

We’ll see you at LeakyCon Boston in October, for 10 years of LeakyCon, and a very special ’19 Years Later’ panel with The Leaky Cauldron team!





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