9 Days Until Halloween & A Poll

The Harry Potter Fest 2010 at Lenoir-Rhyne University is coming up next week, and as promised, I'm back with a schedule of events.

For my lecture on Monday, and the quidditch match and wizard rock concert on Friday, I will be dressed as a Ravenclaw student, as you can see. I'm also considering this my Halloween costume for the year.




There are various events every day on campus for the students, including film viewings, costume contests, and special wizarding menus in the school cafeteria. These events below, however, are the ones I'm free to disclose to the off-campus Muggle world:

Monday, Oct. 25
My presentation: "Who's Afraid of J.K. Rowling? Harry Potter's 'Appropriate' Readership"
9:20am, Belk Centrum

Thursday, Oct. 28
John Granger 's presentation: "An Evening with John Granger"
7pm, Belk Centrum

Friday, Oct. 29
Presentation with John Granger and me: "Who's Saying What About Harry Potter and Why?"
9:20am, Bear's Lair

Quidditch Match
3pm, Russell House Lawn

Wizard Rock Concert
with The Blibbering Humdingers and Gred and Forge
6:30pm, Russell House Lawn

The new book Harry Potter Smart Talk is also available now. Believe it or not, this is relevant to Halloween. Two of the chapters are transcriptions of my guest appearance on last year's Halloween episodes of the Potter Pundits discussing Harry Potter as Gothic literature.


As for my costume, here's another view, with a closeup of my beloved prop. This raises a question: are you dressing up this year? If so, what as? And what's your favorite costume of all time?

View Poll: Halloween Costumes

Pictures are welcome in the comments section, too!


And now back to our regularly scheduled countdown…

Text of the Day: I hope you enjoy "Lady Button-Eyes" by Eugene Field (1850-1895).

When the busy day is done,
And my weary little one
Rocketh gently to and fro;
When the night winds softly blow,
And the crickets in the glen
Chirp and chirp and chirp again;
When upon the haunted green
Fairies dance around their queen—
Then from yonder misty skies
Cometh Lady Button-Eyes.

Through the murk and mist and gloam
To our quiet, cozy home,
Where to singing, sweet and low,
Rocks a cradle to and fro;
Where the clock's dull monotone
Telleth of the day that's done;
Where the moonbeams hover o'er
Playthings sleeping on the floor—
Where my weary wee one lies
Cometh Lady Button-Eyes.

Cometh like a fleeting ghost
From some distant eerie coast;
Never footfall can you hear
As that spirit fareth near—
Never whisper, never word
From that shadow-queen is heard.
In ethereal raiment dight,
From the realm of fay and sprite
In the depth of yonder skies
Cometh Lady Button-Eyes.

Layeth she her hands upon
My dear weary little one,
And those white hands overspread
Like a veil the curly head,
Seem to fondle and caress
Every little silken tress;
Then she smooths the eyelids down
Over those two eyes of brown—
In such soothing, tender wise
Cometh Lady Button-Eyes.

Dearest, feel upon your brow
That caressing magic now;
For the crickets in the glen
Chirp and chirp and chirp again,
While upon the haunted green
Fairies dance around their queen,
And the moonbeams hover o'er
Playthings sleeping on the floor—
Hush, my sweet! from yonder skies
Cometh Lady Button-Eyes!