Pensieve: Sectus 2007
One of the most unique features of Sectus 2007 was its prime location in central London. To allow everyone to make the most of their stay in this historic city, the week leading up to the conference was packed with sightseeing activities, including a Medieval Banquet near the Tower of London, a cruise down the River Thames, a walking tour of London, spotting locations from the books and films, trips to the city’s museums and art, an outing to the record-breaking musical Wicked, and a train ride from King’s Cross to Alnwick Castle, the location of Hogwarts in the first two Harry Potter films.
The conference proper began on Thursday July 19th at the Camden Centre, just across the road from King’s Cross station. While almost 500 people registered, there were two and a half hours for people to mingle. Some hung out in the bar and others looked through their programmes, and several groups battled it out for the title of Most Excitable Meetup. All the while, Ministry of Magic notices cycled on the screen and the soundtrack from the recent Order of the Phoenix film filled the hall, setting the scene for a fun and celebratory opening ceremony.
On Friday, our full five streams of programming began at the University of Westminster. As this was the last day for discussing theories and predictions prior to the arrival of Deathly Hallows that night, there was a definite sense of anticipation. At midnight Sectus and Fiction Alley played host to the Deathly Hallows reading party. The atmosphere in the reading room was amazing. Everyone was concentrating on the book and there were occasional exclamations, gasps, laughter and, a few times, sobbing.
Saturday dawned bright and early – indeed, many had been up through the night – and brought with it more formal programming. The programming was then split between streams of spoilery programming for the fast readers and non-spoiler items for those who had not completed the book.
On Saturday evening, the usually dour surroundings of the University of London Union (ULU) were transformed into a winter wonderland for well-mannered frivolity at Not the Yule Ball. A chance to let off steam after the emotional intensity of Friday night, there was also the inevitable book discussion. For this purpose, a venue was selected which had two distinct bar areas, one of which was sectioned off as a Spoiler Zone. Even as the ceilidh band swung into action, several people were seen huddled in corners, noses buried in their books.
All too soon, it was time for the weekend to come to a close. Programming started a little later to allow people a little rest. The day ended with closing Ceremony and a charity auction and last but not least an epic ItchQuidd match in Regent’s Park.
For those of us who couldn’t bear for the fun to be over, Monday morning saw us clambering onto a coach and setting off for the very different scenery of Snowdonia in Wales for a week of continued Potter madness.
All the proceedings from Sectus 2007 were donated to Book Aid International. We’re quite proud to announce that we were able to donate £4,000 to charity. We’ve received the following thank you letter from Book Aid.
You can open the letter in its own window by clicking on 
.