More Lumos Pictures and Morning Report

Wow ... busy and dangerous morning here at the Marriott in Vegas ... first thing I get here this morning, still groggy, and I get attacked by a Dementor in the hallways and have to kick his butt practically all by myself to save this girl. And Harry was even nearby, but apparently he was too engrossed in Hogwart's a History (yeah, right) to lend a hand. Luna was nearby with her lion hat but she said she and her said hat and friends only specialize in support at Quidditch games. After that I just narrowly slipped by Draco and Lucius and a gang of Slytherins, but you can sort of see Lucius sitting there smiling evilly at me, I know just ready to whip that wand out of that cane and hex me ... but, like I said, I escaped ... Well, that is I escaped from the frying pan into the fire ... right into the clutches of Ritah Skeeter, who thought it was terribly interesting that I kicked a Dementor's cold, scaly posterior all by me onesy but started focusing immediately on how I got my start as a complete wild nutter up in the hills (in the early Arthurian material.) My case was definitely not helped by the fact that this guy, a vendor at the conference, who looks like he might even be crazier than me, if that's possible, was the only one who lent a hand in any way with said demented beastie. I skillfully got Ritah focused on said nutty vendor and proceeded to actually accomplish one of my stated missions for today ... a pic of Red Hen. Sorry for the darkness, it was from a distance with the zoom ... she was giving an interview to some podcast (probably Mugglenet) and just as that was ending there was a mad queue for a talk in the nearest marquis, so I didn't get to talk to her or get my pic with her, but the day is not done yet... Her name is Joyce Odell. Anyway ... there was a mix up with the ticket John gave me ... it was the red ticket that was for today's luncheon and he gave me the blue one ... oh, well ... hearing him and talking yesterday with him was the real bonus (but the meal would have been nice and I would have liked to hear the stuff on education models at Hogwarts.) This morning I heard a talk on Snape as a Byronic (as in Lord Byron) gothic hero and the different literary types that contribute to him, which I'll do a spot more on later, and a talk on the whole not mentioning Voldy's name and Judaic medieval magic practices of fear of names and invocational magic (which kind of connects with Granger's stuff on it in Looking for God in Harry Potter, but with an interesting twist on Voldy ... more on that later, too.) Good lineup this afternoon for me: - A Shining Silver Thread: Memory and Identity in Harry Potter - The Slytherin Question - Harry Potter and the Problem of Evil: An Ancient Riddle Revisited (I'm drooling over that one ... the guy's bio sounds like he is an old-school powerhouse - Rev. Francis Bridger.) - On Hobbits and Wizards: Comparing the Magical Realms of Middle-Earth And with that, I'm off to class!