Getting Into Harry Potter

Post by **Artemis Lunar** » Fri Sep 03, 2004 2:38 am

I first got into Harry Potter a few months before the fourth book came out. I kept hearing whispers about the series. How it was just as popular with adults as it was with kids. This tidbit caught my attention.

Then one day, while at my favorite bookstore, I saw the first book on a shelf. Remembering what I had heard, I decided to buy it and give it a try. I was hooked before the first chapter was through. It didn't take me long to finish it, and then I rushed back to the store to buy the next two books. I've never regretted it for a moment. /happy.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="^_^" border="0" alt="happy.gif" />

Artemis Lunar (Gryffindor, ar513, USA)

Post by **Athene Cavendish** » Sat Sep 04, 2004 2:03 pm

Would you believe that it was because of a class project that actually made me a Harry Potter fan?

Well, at first, I have lots of friends who read Harry Potter...but it just didn't interest me...I didn't even watched the first movie because I simply didn't like it. I mean, who would be interested in a young boy, which mind you, in the cover of the books looks really skinny and unattractive, and his life? I even had this weird thought that he just dreamt of going to this Magic School...never really thought it was real for him...

And then, when I took my literature subject, my professor required us to read The Prisoner of Azkaban just to be able to teach us the difference of the literature during the old times and the literature of today...

To make the story short, I immensely enjoyed the third book, which by the way, only borrowed from a friend at that time because I was so sure it would not interest me for me to buy a copy for myself...and after that third book, I read the whole series already...and bought a copy of all the books for myself...

And now...as the obesession grows, I am now in this HOL just to be able to indulge myself to study at Hogwarts...

[/SIZE] /biggrin.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":D" border="0" alt="biggrin.gif" />

Post by **Parvati Delacour** » Sat Sep 04, 2004 7:51 pm

I'm not exactly sure when I officially got into Harry Potter, but it did take quite a long time for it to happen. The story really starts back when I was in Elementary School. My mother would volunteer for book fairs and would sometimes get a free book for her time spent helping the school. One particular bookfair she brought home a paperback book entitled "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone". Neither I nor my siblings took any interest in it so it sat on the shelf in our 'library' for quite some time.

A few years later (I believe I was about 12 or so) I was looking for something to read one night. My mother had suggested this new Harry Potter book many times before and so I finally decided to pick it up and try it out. I settled down and began to read chapter one. I thought it was the most boring thing in the world. I put the book back in its place on the shelf where I found it.

Not long after I believe, my father began to read this Harry Potter book to my two younger siblings. They had gotten passed chapter one and was taken into the world of this young boy. They highly recommended that I give the book another shot and I did. It's basically history from then on and I've been in love with the books since.

Parvati Delacour (Hufflepuff, Third Year, pa360, USA)

Post by **Pandora May** » Sun Sep 05, 2004 6:03 am

I was living in England with my husband when the first movie came out. Harry Potter and the Philospher's stone. I have to be honest, I hadnt really noticed the books much at all and wasnt involved in the madness that is Harry Potter until i saw the movie. Then when I saw Chamber of Secrets after moving back to the United States, I became more and more interested in the whole story. The details left out of the movies, what happens in the later books etc.

My husband and I kept talking about eventually reading the books, but just never got around to buying them. It wasnt until the 5th book, Order of the Phoenix, came out that we finally bought the first 4 books. It was reading reviews and seeing online friends talk about how wonderful the 5th book was. I read so many posts on message boards about how great Order of the Phoenix was and how they cant wait for the 6th book to come out. My husband started reading them first and I read them after he was done.

I read the first 4 books in just a few days, I couldnt put them down! Not only are they amazing stories, but they're so well written. Then we got the 5th book out at the library and read it. For weeks all my husband and I would talk about was what we think will happen in the next 2 books. Im actually reading them again starting at the first one. I know a lot of people have read them all countless times, but Im somebody who has never read a book more than once until now.

I have a 7 year old and 3 year old that absolutely love the movies. My 7 year old is now reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. I know when I was that age, I never read any books that "big". I love how Rowling has created such a phenomenon with her talent and imagination. The Harry Potter books and movies will be entertaining people for many generations. Often compared to the Wizard of Oz, I think they surpass the "future classic" standards.

So I basically have all my online friends to thank for talking so much about these books, otherwise I might have just stuck to catching the movies when they come out. Now my husband and I love talking about which actors could play certain characters and whatnot. The Harry Potter books have opened up a whole exciting and fantastical new chapter in my life.

Pandora May (Hufflepuff pa514 USA) /rolleyes.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":rolleyes:" border="0" alt="rolleyes.gif" />

Price Putnam · Post by **Price Putnam** » Sun Sep 05, 2004 7:24 pm

Alright, so, I first got into Harry Potter by accident, and since then I've been grateful that I slipped into J.K. Rowling's books. The story goes:

I had always heard about Harry Potter from other people and how awesome it was, so me being the cool, nonchalant guy I completely ignored the Harry Potter buzz and acted like I had much more important stuff to do. Even my friends kept trying to foist HP on me, asking me to read this "one really awesome book" since I was such an avid reader. Every time I completely rejected them, practically yelling to the world how I had so many other books that I was reading and I would NEVER read Harry Potter b/c it was so popular, and I'm so "indie". Yeah, right, whatever.

So, one fateful, summer day when I was home I was really bored and I had to use the restroom. So, I went into the upstairs bathroom and saw a book lying on the sink...Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Needless to say I was skeptical that it had just happened to be there, but apparently my sister was trying to start reading the books as well. So, there was nothing else to do but to snatch the book, sprint to my bedroom, lock the door, and secretly read the Sorcerer's Stone in its entirety. I had liked the book so much I read it all in something like 3 hours, but I wouldn't admit to anyone else that I liked it.

For the next few months after I got back to college I checked out the rest of the books from the library, devouring each consecutive book within a few days. I was saddened after I read book five(which is my favorite)b/c I was still interested, but I couldn't ask around or other people would know my "terrible secret". Luckily one of my new friends (Schi Violet) mentioned this site and it piqued my interest, and now I'm here RPG'ing and rubbing elbows with all sorts of HP afficionados and I'm also quite proud of my fandom. Now most of my friends can't get me to shut up about my crackpot theories about Sirius etc. So, that's how it all happened.

Doverai Hitoya · Post by **Doverai Hitoya** » Wed Sep 08, 2004 1:57 am

Harry Potter was published... September 1st, in 1999. I recieved the book from my mother for Christmas.

I remember we were watching the Rosie O'Donnell talk show, and Rosie held up the first Harry Potter book. I took one look at that cover and made a crucial mistake: I judged it.

My mom says "That looks like something you'd be interested in!"

I shot her this evil look before continuing to sketch my latest anime-attempt. "Yeah, sure." I muttered, thinking about how stupid it was that she thought _I_, a _Mature_ ten-year-old would be interested in something so juvenile.

I didn't give it another thought until I got the book for Christmas. Making a face, I thanked my mom enthusiastically and set it aside, fully intending to chuck it out my window or something handy like that.

I also recieved the Left Behind: Kids series from my Grandmother (I read the adult series, but she thought the kids series would be fun) so I sat and read all 18 books in one day. I'm sorta an avid reader. That complete, I realized to my horror that I have absolutely NOTHING to read.

With an expression of disgust evident on my face, I leaned down and picked up the Harry Potter book from where I'd tossed it under the Christmas tree, and flipped it open.

Three words in I was already curious. Two pages in, I was hooked. I read the entire book in an hour and a half, and then I reread it. And...wonder of wonders...I read it again.

And then I set it down, and launched into several Harry Potter RPs online - they weren't very advanced then, sadly. I found other fans and babbled about Muggles and Rock Trolls, and even managed to find a pretty cool Harry Potter RP that was 'the bomb' for that era.

When the second book came out, I was forced to wait for quite a while to check it out, the same with the third - but I fought tooth and nail for them. Finally, my mother got nice and BOUGHT me the fourth book. I read that one at least four times before setting it down for a few weeks. Again the flames of my passion lit and I was forced to research the bejezzus out of EVERYTHING in that book. That objective complete, I read as many articles on J.K. Rowling as I could. To the point where I seemed to be an obsessive fan.

My mother didn't even argue when I asked for the fifth book, even though it cost a pretty penny - Harry Potter books are the only one that I request that she buy for me so she just gives up in that aspect. I sat and read that one in an hour and sobbed until I was wheezing with the whole Sirius-problem.

So there's my story. I've been a Harry Potter obsessive for about...five years. Or so. Almost six, actually - I'll be Sixteen ten days before Christmas and I'd just turned ten when I decided that the books were childish.

Heck, I was reading college-level literature by then, I had a reason. ^-^

But now...you should have seen me jump down this radio-guy's throat on the Christian Station for dissing on the Magickal elements of the book. My grandma looked a little worried.

Okay...sorry...I'll stop rambling now.

~~~~~~~~
Doverai Hitoya ( Gryffindor, do500, USA [Someday I'll be able to put 'Ireland' or 'Japan' there. Someday...])

~~~~~~~~

Post by **Thomas Stone** » Thu Sep 09, 2004 11:17 pm

I started reading the books because my sister said she liked them and I needed something to read for school so I decided to read the first book and I liked it so much I decided to read the second and wait for the others to come out
Thomas Stone(Ravenclaw,th502,USA)

Post by **Leviosa LaPar** » Sun Sep 12, 2004 8:29 pm

The first time I heard about Harry Potter was when i visited family in England and heard my younger cousin raving about these books. However, i didnt take much notice of her ramblings and neglected to get a copy of The Philosophers Stone. The next time I saw the books I was in South Africa. Now, I'm addicted to books, so I wasn't about to pass up this opportunity. By the time I had got round to this there were three HP books out. I bought them, read them, and got hooked!
Only within the last year or so, have I began to look on the Interent for Harry Potter related sites. I found many sites but none fufilled what i was searching for. I wanted more than just information and pictures...I wanted to be involved.
It was totally by chance that I came across HOL about three weeks ago. I found the website and saw to my total delight that the summer signups were in a few days. I saved the site to my favourites and it was the beginning of an obsession!
My only regret is that I did not find this place sooner, as I have now graduated from High School and am about to spend a year in the bush in South Africa, training in ranger guiding!! Therefore, real life is going to get in the way of HOL. However, at every opportunity I get, I will be logged on and active.
Leviosa LaPar (Slytherin, le514, Ghana)

Post by **Ginevra Malfoy** » Mon Sep 13, 2004 6:33 pm

I got into HP after the 4th book had been published, when I realised that I had to find out why all my friends were reading about small wizard (we were 16 at the time). So, the next time I went on holiday with a friend I stole HP and the Philosopher's Stone off her and started reading it - I'd finished it within 5 hours and was wishing I could get back home to buy the second books. When we did get back I rushed to buy the second, third and fourth books and discovered that they just kept on getting better. Incidentally, round about chapter 5 of Goblet of Fire I found a little notice on a site called hpgalleries advertising a new RPG called HOL, and signed up immediately. I've been in and out of HOL a few times since then, but remain a fan of the HP books. When I found out that my boyfriend of two years had been cheating on me I got out Order of the Phoenix and started reading. Now whenever I feel down I dip into my HP.
(Slytherin, gi500, England)

Fri Sep 24, 2004 6:25 am

Camilla Jane Prescott, ca524, Gryffindor, Brazil

My father bought me HP and the PhilosopherÃ‚Â´s Stone when the movies werenÃ‚Â´t out yet. Everything that itÃ‚Â´s about magic he would give me because he knows IÃ‚Â´m interested on this particular subject.

I have to admit that I did not like it at the beggining. The first chapter is interesting but the following ones are rather dull and I was going to a harsh period when i wasnÃ‚Â´t able to concentrate on anything and stoped doing what IÃ‚Â´ve always loved the most: read and write.

But then, half a year later WB was announcing the Harry Potter Movies and the little wizard fever was out again, even stronger. I decided to give it another chance. And thatÃ‚Â´s when I went through the firsts chapter of PS and fell in love with the boy-who-lived. I just couldnÃ‚Â´t stop myself from reading and wanting more and more.

Since then Harry began to have a very special meaning in my life. His world reminded me of a world I had created and that iÃ‚Â´ve abandoned. When I had my crises, he was my only company and my only distraction. In some way he gave me the strength to go back to my own books and to get through some bad periods of my life.

And I love him for that.

Post by **Rhianna Lestrange** » Fri Sep 24, 2004 8:48 am

I have to admit that I got into Harry Potter by accident! /smile.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile.gif" />

I went into town for a job interview, and had got so bored on the train journey in (as I'd forgotten my CD player) that I knew I had to do something for the way back. So I popped into WH Smith and started browsing the books. I'd heard something about Harry Potter on the news before as 'the next big thing' (I think Prisoner of Azkaban had just come out in paperback), so I figured I may as well pick the first one up. I was amazed at how there was finally a book aimed at younger readers that wasn't patronising or too simply written (I now know there are lots of them - I just hadn't discovered them at the time!).

Then when I got back into the office (of my job at the time) one of the managers noticed my copy of Philosopher's Stone and started talking to me about it. Apparently he'd discovered it whilst reading to his grandchildren. He then lent me the 2nd and 3rd, and I was hooked!

Oh - and best still - I got the job! /biggrin.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":D" border="0" alt="biggrin.gif" />

Nepenthe Snowfrost · Post by **Nepenthe Snowfrost** » Fri Sep 24, 2004 9:46 am

"Who the heck is Harry Potter?" she asked, scowling.

Until about a month before the first film came out, I had no clue. Somehow, I hadn't heard a peep about any of it. But just before the film released, I began to hear more and more about Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling this and J.K. Rowling that. I was soooo sick of hearing about it and figured people were saying they 'loved it' just to ride the wave, or else it was some fad. I mean, why else wouldn't I have heard until now, right? The media was becoming even more relentless and so were some of my friends and one of my sisters.

Them: "But it's PERFECT for you. It has magic, witches, wizards...everything!"
Me: "Cool. Sounds great. But I DON'T CARE. Get away from me! I'm not reading the thing just because everybody else is!" (I dislike being told what to do though in some cases I could stand to listen /smile.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile.gif" />)

But they kept coming at me, and soon I reached a point where I even began to HATE Harry Potter and nobody was ever changing my mind. I absolutely refused to have anything to do with it and NO I was not seeing the movie, thank you very much. Until...

One fateful day at a movie theater the trailer for Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone lit up the screen and I didn't stand a chance. I was absolutely spellbound. Wizard school? Moving staircases? Danger and Adventure? Alan Rickman? Broom sports??? I had to see this movie. All my carefully protected loathing suddenly vanished like thin morning mist. Immediately I arranged a Harry Potter movie party (say that five times fast) for opening night and dragged 10 people along to the show.

I can't tell you how much I loved that movie. Sitting there slackjawed, absorbing every moment, it was everything you'd ever dreamed of as a kid. I must have felt much as Harry did the first time he was introduced to that wizarding world. So wonderfully developed and brimming with everything a wizarding world could need, characters with depth and children with intelligence, secrets and mysteries everywhere. What's not to love? And Slytherin! Slytherin! Though afterward I was temporarily brainwashed into Ravenclaw, I knew during the movie Slytherin was my house and home. (And major bonus - all your Snape are belong to us! bwahahaaa!)

After the movie and our pre-planned dinner at the pizza place (I wanted sooo badly to cancel that part so I could escape to the store) I drove break-neck to the bookshop and hunted down the first volume. I was finished by morning and lay there in bed staring at the ceiling, my mind glowing as I realized I had reclaimed the "magical me" of my childhood and integrated it with the "magical me" of now. The masquerade had ended. I would no longer be counted among the muggles.

I turn 28 years old this very day, and will dress up in costume (as a student and general wizard folk) for all future book and film releases even though this means I will be going alone. The world of Harry Potter is deeply a part of me, and has helped keep my mind distracted through very dark times these past few years. I wish I'd learned of Harrys world sooner, but as I continually remind myself: Better late than never!

My sincerest thanks and love to J.K. Rowling for this wonderful gift.

Nepenthe Snowfrost (Slytherin, ne501, USA)

Sabashii Khushrenada · Thu Sep 30, 2004 9:37 pm

I have to admit, when I first heard the name "Harry Potter", I was a little bit more than skeptic. I knew the stories were written for children, and frankly I thought the writer herself a pompous [censored by McNish]. *hugs McNish* ^^;;

Like most people, I saw the first movie with family, and was okay with it, but not obsessed. It took a few years, and a lot of goading from both my lover and my sister before I even picked up the Third book to read.

I had tried to read the first novel, but the simplicity of the early style bored me to tears. However PoA... I couldn't put down. I'm pretty sure I even slept with the book a time or two. I especially loved the dark relationship between Sirius/Lupin, but Snape is my above all favorite character. /happy.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="^_^" border="0" alt="happy.gif" />

Since that time, I haven't read any of the other books, except skimming through the last one. But I have seen all the movies, even made the Third Year Uniform, and I love the characters very much. Hopefully there will come a time when I can choke back my feelings from trying to read the first book and wade through all of them.

Until then, I can definantly say the series has a wonderful atmosphere which drags people right in. I wanted to attend Hogwarts, and low and behold, here I am! XD

And now to become Proffesor Snape's TA... ^_~

Sabashii Khushrenada ( Slytherin, sa505, USA )

Post by **Platy Brooks** » Sat Oct 02, 2004 1:43 am

I actually kind of accidentally got into Harry Potter stuff. A friend had been talking non-stop about wanting to read the books, but couldn't afford to buy them (they were only available in hardback at the time, and the library never had them). I had just joined some book club, and the first four books you get were free except for shipping, and the first 4 Harry Potter books happened to be on the list to choose from.

I finished the first book, and thought it was alright, and figured since I had the first four I might as well read them all. So I started reading the second book, but got side-tracked and never finished it. About a six or seven months later I was bored with nothing to do, I think I might have been on spring break or something, and I remember the books. So, I picked up the first one again since it had been such a long time since I had read it. I finished that one in about a day, and then I finished reading all five of them that week. Since then I've re-read them a few times (very busy with RL university and full-time job, so not much reading time now). Every night when I go to bed I read a chapter of which ever book I'm on. I'm on Order of the Phoenix right now and have a few chapters left.

I've become quite an avid HP fan since that time, mainly because I started reading fan fiction over the summer. I found some really great fan fiction and started searching the internet for more. Getting sucked into the world of fan fiction made me become even more enthralled and branched out looking for more, and that's when I found HOL.

All in all, I've submersed myself in it at times. I write fan fiction, I have a website, I'm in HOL, I love it. It's so great, it's such a great escape from reality and all that goes along with it.

Platy Brooks (Slytherin, pl500, USA)

Post by **Evelyn Night** » Fri Oct 08, 2004 4:34 am

My sister and I received the first book for christmas one year, and our mother claimed that we had asked for it when neither of us remembered doing that. We had both heard about it vaguely and didn't really get into it the first read through. And we have both grown into the habit of not reading things that mom buys us or suggests to us are good books. We are weird like that.

About a year later I picked it up and decided to read it. It sounded interesting and it had been growing in popularity. I loved it and by the time I had finished it we owned the first 3 so I read those as well.

Now every time a new one comes out I reread the others first because I never quite remember all the details. I love the books so much and recommend them any chance I get to people that either haven't read them or haven't heard of them.

I look forward to the next book to coming out. I will probably reread the books at least once before then because I've been itching to read them again. Soooo good!

Signed: Evelyn Night (Hufflepuff, ev500, USA)

Post by **Astra Holt** » Mon Oct 11, 2004 10:02 pm

Ok, first of all, I totally blame my sister. (*grins*Maybe I should send her some flowers!) My sister is an avid reader, as am I. Occasionally, she will recommend a book to me, and , by way of encouragement, she will tell me how far to read before I can make the decision to continue or stop. you know how it is, some books take quite a while to get going, and you drop them before the good stuff even starts! I had to try "The Hobbit" three times before I was able to get into it. My sister has a good record with me--5 hits and only one "miss" where I got to the "make or break" point and just didn't care what happened to ANYone! well, anyway, she asked me if my kids had tried the Harry Potter books. My younger son had tried it but found it boring (after about 3 pages--he has no discernible attention span) and I wasn't particularly intrigued enough to pick it up myself. she said, "Ignore the hype, just read it for what it is...If you don't care what happens to Harry by the time he gets to school, put it down; you won't enjoy the rest." Well, 4 books and about 3 days later *giggles*, I told her she had provided another hit and I was ready for the next installment. She said that Goblet of Fire was (at that time it had recently come out) the last book available, watch for #5 sometime in a year or so. I almost throttled her! What to do while I'm waiting? Well, I got my husband hooked on Harry, I hooked up with a lot of new online and RL friends who are part of the magical world as well, and I started creating wands, boxes and other HP crafts.
I really should send my sister those flowers!
-Astra Holt (Ravenclaw/as513/USA)

Daryn Maxwell · Post by **Daryn Maxwell** » Tue Oct 12, 2004 10:26 pm

I didn't intend to get into Harry Potter. Honestly, I'd deliberately avoided it-- I figured, "It's just a rush. Just like Star Wars, and Babysitter's Club, it's just the new in thing, and it's probably not that great. After all, I wasn't into Star Wars, or Star Trek, or Friends, or The Matrix (good movie, but not an obsession), so I won't be affected by Harry Potter."

How wrong I was. Now, I'm usually often wearing a Draco Malfoy necklace, a Slytherin wristband, and a Quidditch watch to accessorize one of several HP shirts, my Hogwarts jacket, and wearing one of my five HP bags. So what got me into HP? Actually, I can't remember. By ninth grade, I was hooked, but in seventh grade, I didn't want anything to do with it. Sometime during eighth grade, a rather down point in my life, I fell in love with Harry Potter. I finally made myself look at it, and all I can recall is that with the first page, I was hooked. Fanfiction came immediately after, and the beautiful fiction that was out at the time only helped to firmly fix me into the fandom. I developed an immediate attachment to fandom Draco; although his description was lovely in the books, he was simply portrayed to be too two-dimensional of a character. But it was exactly this flat lack of detail that allowed him to be such a flexible, interesting and fascinating character in fandom, one that could be shaped in a multitude of ways. He quickly turned out to be one of the most versatile of stock characters, ranging anywhere from being secretly abused and angsty to being a pure, intelligent jerk, and any beautiful range in between. My personal predilection rested with the clever, witty prince, a sarcastic, cynical prat who is very much in love with having control but has a personality and a brain.

Developing this obsession was healthy for me, I believe. At the same time I was discovering JKR's wonderful world of magic, I was getting into my other lasting obsession-- anime. Between the two of them, I followed branches to other areas that would become my passions: the Japanese language, foreign music, cosplaying, doujinshi, fanfiction, fanart, Latin, magic, Quidditch and mythology.

But I love Harry Potter all the more for another, far more intimate reason. I came across a work of fanfiction entitled "Chatroom Anonymity", which had ranked over 700 comments on FanFiction.net before being unfairly deleted. In said fic, Draco had stumbled across AIM from his aunt's computer (although rejected from her family, this aunt lived similar to a Muggle, and a strong, vivacious personality kept Draco curious enough to remain in touch with her). His screenname on AIM was BrokenDragon85. I adopted this screenname as my own for everything-- yahoo/geocities, hotmail, AIM, various forums, LiveJournal, DeadJournal, and so on. (NOTE to anyone/everyone: I don't use those names anymore, so trying to contact me is going to be a waste of time. ^^;) The most important of these turned out to be LiveJournal.

Kiler was exploring LJ users one day when she came across my screenname. Pleased by the sound of it, she followed the link to my journal. She left a comment on an entry, and I read it and commented in hers. The next time we communicated was over AIM, and as if it were fate (despite that I don't believe in destiny), we were immediately hooked. Our friendship has never wavered, keeping us constantly growing closer.

In conclusion to this somewhat lengthy piece, I'm endlessly grateful for Harry Potter. Dramatic as it may seem, it was through this work of art that I've found passions that have helped shape my life and find me the one person who means more to me than anyone else ever has or, I imagine, ever will. If JKR hadn't taken pen to paper and created this story, I doubt Kiler and I ever would have found each other. Neither of our depressions would be cured, and we'd probably both be as bitter and lonely as we had before finding each other.

Daryn Maxwell ( Slytherin, da506, USA)

Kilar Kinzag · Post by **Kilar Kinzag** » Tue Oct 12, 2004 10:32 pm

My best friend, Daryn Maxwell, got me into HP. She had gotten a screenname from an HP fanfic, and I liked the sound of it before I had ever read anything Harry Potter related. I messaged her because of it, and we started talking more and more, and she finally convinced me to read a fanfic- Irresistible Poison by Rhysenn. I fell in love with it even though I didn't even know who Ron was until partway through, and kept having to ask her for details.

Anyway, I loved it enough to actually read the books, finally, after she spent a few months or something trying to coerce me and convince me to. I hadn't wanted to get into HP, but I'm glad I did! Without Harry Potter and fanfiction, I'd never have met her, and now we've known each other for a few years and I love her muchly. My lifemate, she is. Read her reply for more detail, hers is much prettier. /laugh.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":lol:" border="0" alt="laugh.gif" />

Signed: Kilar Kinzag ( Ravenclaw, ki504, USA )

Post by **Stephanie Biediger** » Mon Oct 18, 2004 10:24 pm

How did I get into Harry Potter? This is a very odd story for me. It all started when I was at my Grandmother's house and I was bored. I love to read, and my grandmother does also. She handed me the first book in the series and told me that I would enjoy reading this series because she had. I started to read the first chapter, but then I got kinda of annoyed because I didn't think that it was interesting. Some people might say that I was hoplessly lost to the Harry Potter books and that I might never read them and enjoy them.

Then for Christmas my grandmother gave me the first and third copy of the series. I was kind of disappointed, but I didn't say anything. So I placed my books on my bookshelf and didn't think twice about them.

It was probably another month before I picked them up. I was bored, I had already read all the books on my bookshelf, and I needed something new to read. Then I realized that I hadn't read the HP books, so I picked up the first one and started reading. After I got past the first chapter I became hooked. Just to brag a little I have read all five books more than ten times. I have read all of them so many times I lost count. But I owe my obsession to Harry Potter and his magical world to my grandmother who didn't give up on me? Destined to not read them like some people thought, you wish!!!! I am never goning to give up reading these books. I am hopelessly addicted to them. Funny isn't it?

Post by **Maren Sangster** » Sat Oct 23, 2004 9:38 am

How did I get into Harry Potter? I was over my 12 yr old cousin's house during the summer holidays (she lives interstate so i usually stay over a few days.) And I saw her reading the POA, and since it was a rainy day I decided that I should give the first HP book a go. I've been hooked ever since. /cool.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="B)" border="0" alt="cool.gif" />