CONjuration isn’t Leaky, and that’s a good thing.

From the emotional turmoil of the last LeakyCon in 2024 to the trials and tribulations of its successor, EnchantiCon, we’ve gone through a lot in the last couple of years. These woes are only exacerbated by the continuing scarcity of in-person Harry Potter spaces, so I’m not the only one putting my hopes on the shoulders of the Duluth, Georgia fantasy convention.

It’s not fair to expect CONjuration to heal my wounded heart, let alone become a new home for dozens of LeakyCon’s final refugees.

Still, I couldn’t help but board my third round-trip flight in five weeks hoping that this fantasy convention would have the magic spark I was looking for.

The best part?

It does.

Billed as a “3-day Magical Extravaganza,” CONjuration boasts fan-driven panels and game shows, live music, a reptile expo, game room, and a broom-flying experience. Best of all, Harry Potter is still front and center.

Unlike Harry Potter conventions that came before, CONjuration didn’t start during the height of Pottermania, but in 2014, when founders Chris and Angela wanted to give the Atlanta region its first dedicated Harry Potter convention.

The for-profit con comes with plenty of experience. Chris and Angela’s decades of experience attending and staffing fan conventions from outside the HP con circuit show; CONjuration’s volunteer staff include longtime veterans of the mammoth Dragon Con.

For those worried about financially contributing to J.K. Rowling’s wallet, CONjuration accepts no official Harry Potter merchandise of any kind, and they refute J.K. Rowling’s avowed bigotry against the transgender community on their website.

In Memoriam

But first let us recognize what we’ve lost.

There’s no getting around that CONjuration belongs to a separate lineage than Leakycon. With Leaky’s death, we’ve lost the last remnant of a specific early 2000s convention culture.

Pour one out for what we’ve lost: Nimbus. Terminus. Phoenix Rising. MISTI-Con. Wrockstock. Lumos. LeakyCon. It’s okay mourn the lineage that began with the Harry Potter symposiums all the way in 2003.

But as the wise god of thunder once said verbatim: LeakyCon isn’t a place, it’s a people. And it’s time to find a new home.

Don’t be put off by a different con culture. Many of our people are already at CONjuration! You may even see some long-lost familiar faces.

Nearly everything we’re looking for—a sense of community, a wide variety of Harry Potter content, a growing amount of wizard rock—can be found at CONjuration, just in a slightly different package. It’s a package I like better.

By the end, LeakyCon’s attendees largely fell into the 20s-40s age range, but CONjuration’s attendees range from the very young to the “it would be rude to ask their age, actually, so don’t.”

One of the most unfortunate effects of the Harry Potter fandom’s explosive popularity during the Internet’s own explosive early days is a disconnect between the HP fandom and our fan predecessors, who certainly didn’t stop being fans just because we came around.

At CONjuration, we’re finally sharing a space with a significant number of fans of all ages. These perspectives are essential not just for community, but for developing the toolset to continue an in-person fan culture without needlessly reinventing the wheel.

There’s plenty more to say about the panels, the music, the atmosphere, and the ball.

What matters most is that CONjuration wants us.

Harry Potter and all.

A Peck of Owls

152 panelists. 275+ panels, programs, performances, and activities. 325+ hours of programming.

Merlin wept.

Instead of chasing trending fantasy content, CONjuration’s dozens of Harry Potter panels were paired with joyous explorations of works by other fantasy authors like Tolkien, Mercedes Lackey, Tamora Pierce, and Terry Pratchett’s Discworld.

CONjuration’s family-friendly focus brights an onslaught of activity-based paneling. I only attended a fraction of these events and still made it to Harry Potter-themed bingo, Harry Potter Family Feud, and Harry Potter Four Corners Trivia.

Disney, Broadway, and Baldur’s Gate 3 are just a few of the other fandoms that get the game show treatment, so multifandom attendees have tons to look forward to.

Deep dive-oriented fans have options, too. I attended Goblet of Fire: 20 Years Later, a retrospective on the 4th film, while a friend booked it to a discussion of the once-popular theory, “Draco Malfoy is a Werewolf.”

There are so many options that I’m going to have nightmares about forgetting something important, so here are a few more: crafting! Mead-tasting! Knot tying! Teatime! Tabletop RPGs! LARPing! TV show discussions! Movie watching! Sorting characters from every fandom you can imagine – and then some – into Hogwarts houses!

There may be no consuite, my beloved free meal-providing staple of sci-fi fantasy conventions, but there’s the Jittery Wizard, where you can stop by for free coffee or tea all weekend. The ball lasts until 2 a.m.; so does play in the tabletop game room.

A late-night burlesque show exemplifies that family-friendly doesn’t mean families only. And like the Yule Ball, panels continue until the early hours of the night.

My one concern is that any “controversial” panels were sent away to a panel room located on the hotel’s top floor. Like all the panel rooms, this one had its own theming and name: the Dark Tower.

I can live with the strange implication that anything difficult must be kept out of sight, out of mind – but the only panel that even fit any sort of controversial description was the “Religion in Science Fiction and Fantasy,” a panel that would be par for the course at any other sci-fi fantasy con, but here is described as being a “very interesting, carefully monitored discussion.”

As an academically minded fan who loves exploring our favorite books and their fandoms through real-life lenses, I would be saddened to find nearly everything that I’m looking for in a space except what matters most: a place for like-minded fans to share their joy in all aspects of fandom—including the joy of learning.

I would be especially heartbroken if the lack of queer paneling is because it’s not wanted at CONjuration, rather than just not being submitted. I don’t have any idea if it is, so I paradoxically must hope it hasn’t been in the past, and that good panels with queer themes will be welcomed with open arms rather than being treated as though we are controversial simply for being ourselves.

The Sorting Hat’s New Song

CONjuration’s musical acts consist of both traditional wizard rockers and area filkers with Harry Potter music in their repertoire. This mesh of fan cultures makes it a wonderful, welcoming place for fantasy fan musicians to get to know each other, as well as introduce their music to each other’s audiences.

Because there’s no fear that expressing any interest in another fandom will be seen as a lack of interest in Harry Potter—and thus be used as a justification for icing out wizard rockers—it feels safe to engage with fandoms as we please.

One of the highlights of my weekend technically started with a mistake: the double booking of Toucan Dubh with Hawthorn & Holly’s second performances up in The Bard’s Nook, a room reserved for more intimate musical sets. Brian Ross joined the group to play a mix of magical songs from across the performers’ repertoire.

Unfortunately, one of my top picks of the weekend, Marc Gunn’s Irish Songs for Cat Lovers, was a casualty of some, shall we say, overimbibing into the small hours of the morning.

I hope to catch it next year, but we’ll see; I heard a rumor that he specifically asks Irish Songs for Cat Lovers to be scheduled on Sunday mornings to get reprobates like me up and going for the day—and it sure didn’t work last time!

In the Hog’s Head

CONjuration is hosted at the Sonesta at Gwinnett Place in Duluth, Georgia. The hotel is about 30 to 40 minutes from the airport; depending on the time of day, a solo Uber ride will cost about $60-$80 dollars depending on the time of day. Plan ahead, and you can cut that cost by carpooling with a friend, which I did.  

It may feel like a big expense, but the difference can be made up for in con badge prices alone. Where other cons cost over $200 for Friday through Sunday, CONjuration’s early bird pricing is just $45 for the whole weekend. At the door tickets are only $70; kids 10 and under are free. 

For $400 dollars—less than twice the price of two full-price LeakyCon 2024 tickets—you can buy an eternal membership to CONjuration and never have to pay again. 

The Sonesta at Gwinnett Place is what it sounds like: a nice, not particularly fancy, pet-friendly convention hotel. However, CONjuration’s staff decorates the hallways and panel rooms with fervor, and that commitment to theme creates a friendlier and more welcoming atmosphere than any destination venue’s marbled entranceway ever could. 

If a stunning, one-of-a-kind location is what you’re looking for, it isn’t that, but I’ve never needed or even wanted a premier venue (and certainly not the costs they come with) to share fan joy with my community.  

Foodwise, bring a few snacks or sneak off to a local grocery store if you can, although there are still options for those without cars. The hotel marketplace offers some marked-up breakfast and snack items. For $13.95, guests can eat breakfast at The Grapevine until 10 a.m. and enjoy dinner and a drink at the ArtBar after 5 p.m.  

As a late riser, I never caught The Grapevine, but that missing lunch hour hit different on Saturday when a friend and I found ourselves starving around 4 o’clock. We darted across the street to check out Georgia Diner and found ourselves with a nice alternative to the hotel’s menu options.  

Returning to Georgia Diner for a Sunday post-con dinner with a gaggle of new friends, I immediately recognized the hallmarks of a new tradition – or, more accurately, an old tradition that I’m proud to join. 

Will and Won’t

If you’re a Harry Potter convention attendee wondering if you should go to CONjuration, I have an answer for you:

YES! 

You’ve probably put up with a lot more for a lot less.  

When I emailed ahead with a few questions, Chris and Angela didn’t know me from Grawp, but that didn’t matter: they welcomed me home before I’d stepped foot into the Sonesta. 

Oh, and the lobby?  

It’s friendly, as quiet as any usual hotel lobby, and full of plush seating.

And it’s open 24 hours a day.

What matters most is that CONjuration wants us.
Harry Potter and all.