The Poster Memorabilia blog

My Foray into The Wizarding World

A latecomer Potterhead, one Trafalgar Square premiere, and a Sorcerer's Stone poster full of signatures.

By an anonymous Hollywood insider

Want to hear something iconic? I got my poster of the first Harry Potter movie, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, signed at the premiere of the very last film, Deathly Hallows: Part 2. Now, I'm sure some of you are asking: “What took you so long?” Well, here's my story.

I have to admit that I got the Harry Potter hype fairly late in the game. As I mentioned, I only started liking the movies around the time the last one was released in theaters. There's something else I have to admit: I only like the movies. I never read the books, and with everything surrounding the author these days, I never will.

I even met said author at the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 premiere in London’s Trafalgar Square in 2011, and she was very nice. So color me surprised at how polarizing a figure she's become since. It's hard to square all the headlines with the gracious woman I met that night.

Anyway, let's focus on the cast instead. I'm more certain that these actors are actually good people, and they seemed to be when I asked them to sign my Sorcerer's Stone poster. I thought they'd be annoyed having to sign such old memorabilia, but surprisingly, they were pretty chill about it.

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The three leads were incredibly friendly despite the craze around them at the time. Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint were the most popular young actors when the last Harry Potter movie premiered, and screeching fans followed them everywhere. I wasn't sure they would have the energy to sign anything, much less my poster, that night. But they did.

Despite how crazy their situation was, with fans and photographers alike screaming in their faces, they still went up to fans, took selfies, and gave autographs. I didn't even have to ask them to sign my poster. They just did it anyway, almost like they were on autopilot.

“One by one, those famous actors signed my poster before I could even ask them to.”

It was largely the same with the rest of the cast, too. One by one, those famous actors signed my poster before I could even ask them to. They've clearly been doing this sort of thing for years. And they did it so quickly that I could hardly call them celebrity encounters.

They barely looked at me, much less spoke to me, and their eyes were only on my poster as they signed it. Some flashed me a smile or two, while others thanked me as they gave back the poster. Would I have wanted something more? Of course. But I understood why they couldn't and why they were the way they were that night.

In any case, I still got a majority of the cast members to sign my poster, and got to watch the last Harry Potter movie before the rest of the world. That was more than enough for me, especially as a new Potterhead at the time. I'm honestly not sure if I'm still a Potterhead today, but I still love this autographed memorabilia.

Some things you watch. This one you keep.

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