Walburga Black

The first new outfit Irvin debuted at MISTI-Con 2013 was the portrait of Mrs. Black, Sirius's mother - in keeping with his dedication to cosplaying the Black family. This was the perfect outfit for Irvin - he got to scream insults at the top of his lungs for four hours straight. It was particularly fun when a Sirius and a Mrs. Figg stumbled across the portrait - apoplectic with rage, Irvin had a fit at them. Having done his research, Irvin only screamed the same insults that can be found in the canon.

Mrs. Black is Irvin's favorite costume to wear, so he brought it back for MISTI-Con 2015. Once again wearing it first thing in the morning, he made quite the impression at breakfast - whereas the returning con-goers had braced themselves for it this time, the newcomers were caught unawares. Irvin kept shrieking at people well into the afternoon, and not even Mrs. Weasley could pull the curtains shut.

Mrs. Black has become an institution at MISTI-Con, to the point where people demand to see her. At MISTI-Con 2017, from the moment Irvin set foot in the hotel, people were asking whether he'd brought Mrs. Black. Even his roommates were asked about her - "I don't know, but there's a portrait frame in our room, so probably!" When Mrs. Black finally did appear at breakfast, she received the most enthusiastic welcome she's ever gotten, as the dining room applauded after every tirade. Peeves tried a novel way of shutting her up by kissing her on the nose, and it worked momentarily. Later, some con-goers expressed dismay at missing her, but were reassured that there is a Permanent Sticking Charm on her, and she'll always be back.

Mrs. Black made her NYC debut at TGTSNBN's August Meetup in 2017, which was HP Bingo. Mrs. Black's company was requested as one of the bingo callers - a charge that Irvin took up with gusto. He made sure to yell every single number at the top of his lungs, leading to a rather tense and stressful game of Bingo. When someone finally won, much to the relief of everyone playing, Mrs. Black proceeded to yell insults at the winner. Those attendees who had not been privileged to meet Mrs. Black at MISTI-Con were astounded by Irvin's lung capacity. The night was a triumph in many ways, for Irvin won two games of bingo when other people (Umbridge, Slughorn, Gwenog Jones) were calling numbers.

Naturally, Mrs. Black returned at MISTI-Con 2019 at her usual time. Her reputation preceded her throughout the con, as people couldn't wait to hear her again! She received a refurbishment before the con - a nice new dress, a (borrowed) bigger frame, a snake necklace - but it was the same lovable Mrs. Black! As usual, the attendees of MISTI-Con were thrilled to hear (and see) Mrs. Black - she made several people jump quite a bit when she started yelling at them! She even got in a shouting match with Mrs. Weasley's Howler, as well as the usual screaming match with Sirius Black.

Two of the Puffs actors, Julie Ann Earls and Zac Moon, were at MISTI doing a Q&A, and seemed quite surprised at Mrs. Black's volume - it's a tad higher than they're used to from Irvin! The funniest part was when they took questions from the audience, and Mrs. Black had one. All attendees were told to go up to the microphone to ask their question, but Irvin asked frankly, "Do you really want me to come to the microphone?" The answer was unanimously negative.

It should be noted that either Irvin's getting older, or he overdid it a bit at MISTI-Con 2019. There's always a bit of wear and tear on his voice after some quality time as Mrs. Black, but Irvin's voice was genuinely messed up for a week after his foray into portraiture. Still, totally worth it for the crowd favorite!