‘HARRY POTTER HELPED ME THROUGH TRAGEDY’
A WIDOW has revealed how building one of South Wales’ largest Harry Potter collections helped her cope with the deaths of her husband, dad and grandad.
Tracey Nicol-Lewis, 43, owns more than 2,500 items of memorabilia from the franchise – including a “secret script” used by Professor Dumbledore, played by Michael Gambon, to help him remember his lines during filming of the sixth film.
But Tracey, from Cardiff, said owning such a vast amount of collectables was tinged with sadness.
She said: “I started the collection around 10 years ago. My husband used to buy me the books and, in 2005, he reserved Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. But he died before the book came out, so this was his last gift. “Previously, my grandfather and father had passed away in an 18-month period, so there were three deaths in 24 months. Harry Potter was something for me to cling to with both hands and feet.” Tracey’s husband Simon died suddenly in 2005 aged just 39. Despite being diagnosed with trapped wind when he visited doctors one morning, he died later that same day and was found to have a hole in his heart. Since then, Tracey has searched far and wide to add to her hobby which has become an “obsession” according to partner Martin Chester. “She’s hooked. There’s not a week when she’s not buying something,” he said. “We’ve got another 30 items on their way this week – including a holographic Yule Ball ticket used by the staff during filming.
“And they’re not cheap – we spent £1,500 on these 30 items alone.”
And Tracey takes her hobby even further – by travelling to Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida to attend the annual A Celebration of Harry Potter Expo every year. The three-day event gives fans a chance to meet the cast, visit Diagon Alley and go behind the scenes.
Tracey was also lucky enough to meet her idol, Jason Isaacs, who plays the evil Lucius Malfoy in the films.
Despite having more than 60 autographs from the cast, she said she’d still love to meet the Weasley twins – played by James and Oliver Phelps.
But her ultimate aim is to get author JK Rowling’s signature to add to her collection.
And Tracey also hopes to find other fanatics out there with bigger collections than her.
She said: “It’s definitely not the largest collection in the UK, but maybe it is in South Wales.
“We’d love to hear from people who have more.”