Our names were picked in a random draw to have free copies signed by JK Rowling at her only UK appearance for 2007. We decided to dress up for the event, and made our costumes earlier that day. I was Tonks, and Jey was Lupin mid-transformation, with a furry back hump and facial scars.
The event was held at the Natural History Museum, starting with Rowling doing a reading and signing for 500 children, then signing 100 books every hour for the next five hours.
We queued outside, then presented our tickets and waited in the vast “Fossil Way” hallway, which looked quite a lot like Hogwarts. Everyone had their books and lots of people were reading them, but we decided to wait and listen to the audiobook later, so that we could share the experience.
When our turn came, we spoke to Mrs. Rowling and showed her our costumes. When she first saw us, she said, “It’s nice to see the two of you looking so well!”
We both had her sign our books to our mothers, as a surprise.
No photos were allowed once we were in the hall, but here are some official photographs by Jaime Turner, © Bloomsbury:
This was the first group of 500 who attended the reading. We were in the first group after that, so the hall was empty.
She later mentioned the encounter in an online interview:
Bloomsbury.com online chat transcript, 30 July 2007:
Casey Kunze: Who killed remus and tonks I think if I knew this, I would get some closure over the very sad, but understandable, death of two of my favorite characters
J.K. Rowling: I’m so sorry! I met a couple on launch night who had come dressed as Lupin and Tonks, and I felt dreadfully guilty as I signed their books!
J.K. Rowling: Remus was killed by Dolohov and Tonks by Bellatrix.
