Getting Into Harry Potter

[Prof. Willow Laffengraff]

I know I wrote this at the beginning of HOL, but where it went I have no idea. Since there is no record of it, I'll write it again.

Christmas vacation, 2000. My son had read all of the books and had been hounding me for months to read them. I've never been much of a fantasy fan; I normally prefer nonfiction or adventure books. During the holidays though, he forced me to start reading. It wasn't long before I was blown away by J.K.R.'s imagination. A Sorting Hat? Whoa! And just when I thought I had it figured out, the story would twist a different direction. Sometimes I would just gasp at the brilliance.

I was hooked. Bad. I devoured the next two books before the holidays were over. Each time I finished a book I was just thrilled to know there was another one waiting to be read. I was obsessed to the point I could hardly put GoF down. I would even read it while stopped at red lights. One morning on my way to work I happened to glance over at the car next to me and it was another teacher, just shaking his head. LOL When we got to school he had to know what I was so engrossed in. Since then, I've read the books over and over again (still not good enough for quidditch though-ugh). /smile.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile.gif" />

[Rames]

added everything up to this point now /smile.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile.gif" />

(I need to set me markers or I might add something twice *g*)

Love reading all your stories!

[Prof. Paddy O'Brien]

QUOTE   I know I wrote this at the beginning of HOL, but where it went I have no idea. Since there is no record of it, I'll write it again.[/quote]

Exactly what happend to mine submission in the beginning of HOL, so many, many years ago.

*feels old now*

[Prof. Lalaith Lomion]

I have to thank one of my friend and my sister if I get into Harry Potter.

I began to interest in Harry Potter world about 3/4 years ago when I saw the first Harry Potter film. Before seen the film I knew nothing about Harry Potter. I’ve only heard that it was quite successful, but it didn’t tickled my curiosity. Then a friend of mine asked me if I would like to go to the cinema with him to see “Harry Potter and the Philosopher stoneâ€Â￾. I love cinema, so I accepted. It was a saturday night and I went to see the film with this friend (by the way he's in Hol too, and I knew Hol from him [Thank you Parme ^__^] ) and I liked it very much. I knew that the film was taken from a book and I have decided to read it, but then I changed idea and I forgot about it.

Then I found out that my sister wanted to buy "Harry Potter and the chamber of secrets" book because she wanted to make a present to her boyfriend for the 14th February: in fact her boyfriend had already the first book and he liked it very much, and so she thought that gave him the second book would have been a good idea. She bought the book, and the day after she discovered that her boyfriend's parents have already bought the second book for him. She tried to go to the bookshop and change it, but it wasn't possible, so she returned home with the book. She can't throw the book in the garbage, don't you think? And books are make to be read. So she read it and then I read it too and we totally felt in love with Harry Potter world. I began to interest in all that can be related with Harry Potter. We bought the third, and then the forth…and yes, we bought also the first! And the fifth of course! And I don’t know how I will be able to wait for the sixth and the last…..I don’t want to think about it!!!!

So it has been a very lucky thing if my sister's boyfriend's parents had bought him the book. If they didn't I probably won't be so drowned in Harry Potter world and I probably won’t be a member of Hol now.
/biggrin.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":D" border="0" alt="biggrin.gif" />

Lalaith Lomion (Slytherin, la412, Italy)

[Ilona Littrell]

How did I get into Harry Potter?
Well....
Not the most interesting story but...
I have to admit I wasn't one of those who went crazy about it when the HP books came out. I've always loved to read, well...not really, it started when I was nine-ten years old and got my hands on Lord of the rings, but when it came to the HP I was rather like ...childish books..nah.. funny thing is I was only about 13-14 when I read my first HP book... /dry.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="<_<" border="0" alt="dry.gif" />
I was always making fun of one of my best friends who was pretty much into the books, but then one day I couldn't find anything to read... (Book addict...)
I had read all my books so many times I was starting to know them by heart, LOTR included, and since I'm really picky, I couldn't find anything interesting at the library either.
we were sitting in his room, and I complained about this to him, and apparently he got tired and he went over to his bookshelf and threw me his HP book.
I was like no, I don't wanna read this...
And he told me to read it anyway, and if I didn't like it at least I could talk about that instead of complaining all the time... /rolleyes.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":rolleyes:" border="0" alt="rolleyes.gif" />
And I read it. I was surprised as I liked it very much, but I didn't like...run and bought the other books (there were 4 at that time,) but then on a trip to a small city 4hours of boat from where I live, I had to wait two hours for the boat to arrive, pluss I had four hours to spend on the trip. I was in a book store and had 100kr (norwegian money) to spare, and I saw they had the HP on english for only 99kr. So I bought one of them...
And the next time I was there I bought another one, and the next time too....before I knew it, I was a devoted HP fan...
My friend bugs me with it all the time.
I used about two and a half week on each of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd book, and about a month perhaps on the 4th. But when I got my hands the 5th I used three days on reading it... and I was desperate to have someone to talk about it to, but I had to wait three weeks for my friend to finish it.... /dry.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="<_<" border="0" alt="dry.gif" />

Ilona Littrell (Gryffindor, il400, Norway)

[Hari O'Duibhleargain]

I have *always* been an avid reader. I don't remember a time when I couldn't read and wasn't reading something or other. I'd go to the library every week and get many books. As I got older, though, I had more problems finding books, so I'd ask the children's librarian if there were any books she recommended. She said I would probably like the Harry Potter books. At the time, though, I thought they were bad. My mom knew about them, and had done some research, and she wasn't sure how okay they were, especially since I was only eight at the time. So, I didn't think the HP books were good. Not from the devil, as some people think, but not very good either. So, I didn't read them, and I didn't look at them.

Then, one day about two years ago, I was watching a video, and it had the trailer for the first HP movie. And the trailer didn't look bad, it looked very interesting. So on a whim, I asked my mom if I could read the first Harry Potter book. She said yes, explaining that when the first book had come out I was younger, so she wasn't so sure about it, but if I wanted to read them now, I could. (Little did she know how many "problems" HP would cause, albeit indirectly...)

So, I checked out the first book from the library. I read the whole thing in an afternoon, and wished I'd checked out the second book so that I could read it too. I was then allowed to watch the first movie, which I thought was cool. My dad made me write a paper about the differences between the two, which I did (it wasn't very good though *g*). The next week I checked out the second and third books, and read the second one that afternoon and the third the next day. The week after that I got the fourth, which took me an afternoon, an evening, and the next morning to finish.

Soon, I found out about fanfic, and I read much fanfic. One day I somehow stumbled across the Leaky Cauldron, which had a link to HOL, which I eventually clicked on, and eventually figured out the registration process enough to register....And the rest is history.

When book five came out, my dad took my three oldest siblings and myself to the party at the local Barnes and Noble. That morning we had gotten up at five am to be on a local news show, for "Harry Potter Day". We got the book at 12:37 am (I think), and then we went home and slept. When I woke up, I started reading the book, only taking breaks when absolutely necessary. I finished it that evening. I loved it, of course, as I had all the others. And now I can't wait for the sixth book! I think my dad bought the CoS movie when it came out on DVD, or we borrowed it from someone. Either way, it's sitting with our other DVDs now.

Hari Granger (an381, Ravenclaw, USA)

[Chloe Fairchilde]

I got into Harry Potter about 4 or 5 years ago, in my senior year of high school. I'd started to hear about the hype, and was curious about it, but not curious enough to sign up on the waiting list at the library. Then I saw a friend reading Socerer's Stone before Chem class, and asked if I could borrow it. I read it in a weekend, and asked for the next, but she said it was her brother's favorite, and he wouldn't lend it out.

Some time later I saw a copy of Chamber of Secrets in the library and picked it up. It turned out that it wasn't a library book, someone had left it there, and the guy at the library told us to keep it.

I've never been one for buying books, so I decided I'd just wait for the hype to die down and then check out the third at the library. Well the fourth came out, and the hype didn't die down. I still didn't buy the third or fourth, but waited instead until I had a long flight to where I was going for Christmas and needed something to read on the plane. So I bought them both and decided I'd read the third on the way there and the fourth on the way back. Yeah right. I'd finished them both inside of a week, no mean feat considering I was on Christmas vacation in a house full of aunts, uncles, and cousins. I've been hooked ever since. I got into fanfic and HP sites, and was waiting at midnight when the OotP came out.

Chloe Fairchilde (ch370, Ravenclaw, US)

[Ella Dowling]

How did I get into Harry Potter? Well, I was 5 or 6 at the time, I believe (1997, right? Seems like just yesterday...) Well, I'd heard naught but good comments and reviews, and my mum bought it for me. Our family started out by having my mum read it out loud to us every night (what? I was only 6! And I liked having my mommy read to me...). Sometimes the family took turns reading a chapter, but we were all entranced in the novel, and sometimes we stayed up until 9 because of a cliffhanger...hey, that's pretty late for a 6 year old, right? /happy.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="^_^" border="0" alt="happy.gif" />

Well, when the second one came out the next year, I was 7, and I read it alone. Our family had drifted out of the tradition of reading every night, and I was going through it really fast, as if I was a dog eating a steak or something. My mum still hasn't read it, or any others besides the first one, but that's okay.

I went through book 3 really fast as well, and Harry Potter was the new "thing" in school. Everyone claimed that they liked it and knew more about it then the next student.

Book 4 I could not put down; I was too hooked. I read for two days straight without food or sleep. Yes, it took me two days, but I was young, don't make fun of me.. After I'd finished book 4 was about the time I got involved with other Harry Potter related things; other than reading them, I mean. By this I mean, the internet, book discussions at book stores, articles in magazines and newspapers, and of course movies and websites.

Then of course, the fifth book came out and i managed it in a matter of hours.

In conclusion, I must say that I've always been a fervent and passionate avid reader, and Harry Potter was quite a challenge at the young age, though when I got my brother into it, he was in the first grade; even younger then I was when I started reading. Everyone was all "Wow, that's really amazing" and then others thought that he was faking reading it. That bothered me beyond anything. Sure, he didn't understand some of it, but still... anyways, I think I'm really droning on now and getting off topic, so Ta ta all /biggrin.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":D" border="0" alt="biggrin.gif" />

Forever,

-~Ella Dowling, el378, Ravenclaw

[Amanda Taylor]

It all started with me making a fool out of myself. I was one of those anti-Harry Potter persons out there. I hated it. Totally despised it. As you may already know, I'm a LOTR fan, and I thought nothing in this world was better than it. I knew nothing about Harry Potter, just that he was a wizard with a scar in his forhead. One day, at school, a trivia game was been played. It included 5 representants from each class, and of course, I joined at the moment I knew about it. The topics included many things, such as sports, literature, mythology, politics, etc. I'm the kind of person that likes to know about everything. When I listen about a topic, I research about it until I have full knowledge. Well, at the trivia, I chose the "literature" category. As you may have already guessed, the question was about Harry Potter. I remember it perfectly. "What is the name of Harry Potters' bossy and intelligent female friend?"
I couldn't answer it, so I had to come up with the answer. None of the other 4 of my trivia team knew the answer, so I had to come up with a name, because if I didn't answer, a point would be taken off my team. So, I happened to manage to say the first stupid thing that came to my mind in front of the whole school. I supposed that Harry Potter being such a common English name, I thought of another common English name for a female.
"Amanda Taylor?" said I. (Moronic, I know, but it earned loads of time while chosing a name for HOL. /wink.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=";)" border="0" alt="wink.gif" />)
Because of my lack of HP knowledge, my class lost. So after school, I went and bought my first copy of PS. I read it in about an hour, and borrowed COS from my cousin. I read it overnight. The next morning during class, I read POA. It became my favourite book. Now I'm a total maniac about HP. And I'm not such a fan of LOTR, although I love it. Then I read the 4th, and joined HOL. Then I read the 5th (no, I didn't go and wait outside a book shop and to buy the book, but I had an important party I had to go to /wink.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=";)" border="0" alt="wink.gif" />) And now I'm waiting for the 6th book to come out, but I'm guessing it's going to be a long wait. I just wish there was another trivia game in school so I can prove the world, or my school, my HP insanity!!

Amanda Taylor~am419~England

[Breena Brightheart]

My sister and I are typical sisters, I think, always picking on each other whenever we get the chance. We used to work for the same company, so I'd see her at least once a day while there, dropping in whenever I didn't have anything to do. During her downtime, she usually had a collection of froo-froo magazines to keep her entertained. Not being rude or anything, but my sister is a bit of a bubble brain (yes, she very blonde), so you can imagine my surprise when I found her in her office reading a book one day.

When I saw it was Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone, I couldn't help but giggle (back then, I was still under the mistaken assumption that it was strictly a children's book). "Aw, you finally found something on your reading level. I'm so proud!" I quipped. She smirked and retorted, and soon my little remark was forgotten.

A couple of months later, I was out shopping, and saw the newly released video of the first movie on display. Being in an exceptionally good mood, I decided to buy it for my wonderful sister as a surprise, "just because" gift. But wouldn't you know it? As soon as I got home, she successfully ruined my good mood, made me mad, and hurt my feelings. All my good intentions went flying out the window. Give her a present? After that? I think not!

I decided to spend the rest of my night snuggled up on the couch, watching the movie she wouldn't be getting, and drowning my bad mood in a bowl of popcorn. Extra butter, naturally.

All it took was the first few chiming notes of that enchanting music, and I knew I was in trouble. By the time Harry got his first glimpse of Diagon Alley, I was beyond help. I'd heard the hype about Harry Potter (well, as much as anyone hears background noise), but I would never have thought it would be like that. J.K. Rowling shot straight up the creative ladder to the level of Goddess as far as I was concerned---and all because of the movie!

Needless to say, the first two books arrived on my doorstep a few days later, and were promptly devoured. By the time I finished book three shortly thereafter, I was lost forever. I even read Goblet of Fire in one sitting--took me all of 24 hours, too! No way was I going to tear myself away from it for something as insignificant as sleep!

After I finished the fourth book, I was like a madwoman. I got online and started scouring cyberspace for information, news, and of course, fansites. This eventually lead me to HOL, naturally, as well as to other sites I still frequent. I managed to keep my fascination successfully under wraps for a while, but then my brother found out somehow and told everyone he'd ever know since 3rd grade. Word quickly got back to my sister, and as karma goes, she teased me horribly about it.

But that's okay. I wouldn't trade my obsession or the friendships it has lead me to for anything... not even a bottle of black hair dye to put in her shampoo.

Breena Brightheart (Ravenclaw - br379 - USA)

[Lisa Saunders]

I wasn't really into Harry Potter because I didn't know what it was about. There was lego sets, books, movies, action figures, games, the whole lot and I was absolutly sick of it. But I thought it was just about a cheezy boy who waved a wand around. I knew nothing about any of it. Every time someone mentioned the name, I would go crazy! I told Amy, my sister, not to get into it because it would brainwash her.

One day my sister came home from school saying that she had saw a wee bit of the movie and she liked it because there was a talking hat in it. I went crazy.... yeah. A few months later we went over to one of my mum's friend's house because it was a movie night and we didn't know what we would be watching. So I went along.

When I found out we were watching 'The Philosephers Stone' I wanted to go home but just sat down anyway. I got interested in the movie because it seemed real enough not to be corny. The bit I'm refering to is when Aunt Petunia wakes up Harry under the stairs. In the end, I had thoroughly enjoyed it and couldn't wait for the next one to come out.

The next day I went and brought the first book and couldn't stop reading it. When I finished reading it I went and got the second one and so on. After the forth one I couldn't believe that I thought Harry Potter was corny. If anyone mentioned Harry Potter now, I would go crazy with HP addiction.

Lisa Saunders (li416, Ravenclaw, New Zealand)

[Sayuri Anderson]

I didn't read the Harry Potter books right from the beginning. In fact, the first time I remember really hearing about them was around the time when Goblet of Fire was published; there was so much hype and publicity, you couldn't miss it even if you were living underground on Mars with your head buried beneath a big rock.

/unsure.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":unsure:" border="0" alt="unsure.gif" />

I generally have a natural aversion to getting into anything just because everyone else is doing it, so I decided not to read them. Mainly for the very reason that everyone else was; a silly reason, in hindsight, but it worked for me at the time. I quite happily carried on not reading them until around the time the first movie was slated to come out. I saw the nifty trailers on tv and thought, 'Hey, that doesn't look so bad...!' So I tagged along to see the movie with a few friends who were keen to try and 'induct' me into the Ways of Potter anyway. And what do you know? I actually kinda liked it!

In fact, I found the whole story-concept-thing so intriguing it actually convinced me to give the first book a shot, in spite of its popularity. /rolleyes.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":rolleyes:" border="0" alt="rolleyes.gif" /> It took me all of about two days to read (alongside school and the like). By the end of the following week, I'd polished off books two and three as well. Goblet of Fire took me a little while longer, but I was thoroughly caught up to speed by the time the trailers for the second film were released.

I don't think I need to explain my...erm...enthusiasm for Order of the Phoenix? Actually, I work in a bookstore and had to SELL thousands of copies on the first day it came out. I had to furiously read it in my tea breaks because everyone was talking about 'who got killed off', and I didn't want my ending ruined! Hehehe...

As for HOL, in a vaguely similar way to the books, I found it by accident. Anyone who's known me long enough can tell you I'm into rping (role-playing), and I was looking through the search engines for a half-decent Harry Potter rpg to join. Strangely enough, HOL was one of the top results from my search. It wasn't what I was looking for, but when I loaded the site I was so impressed that I signed up anyway.

And we all know what happened after that. /biggrin.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":D" border="0" alt="biggrin.gif" />

Sayuri Anderson (Ravenclaw, sa210, England)

[Prof. Arianna Diamth]

The day I met Harry Potter was a turning point in my life. No, I did not meet a guy on the street who was named Harry Potter, but at the age of 14 I discovered a hard-back copy of the first book on the bookshelf of my 86 year old grandfather. I thought it was very unusual for my grandfather to have a copy of this book that I had heard so much about on the news. I was the only one in my family who read books in the Fantasy genre, I had thought, but I was soon proven wrong. With my grandfather’s permission I started to read the book, while spending the night at their house. I curled up on the couch, and promptly tuned out the rest of my family and read.
I finished the book at 12:03am, after having been told to turn out my light a go to sleep several times. I was awestruck by the book, and although I had turned out my light, I couldn’t fall asleep. I tried to sleep for about half an hour, before I picked up the book again, and began to re-read it.
Sadly, I was unable to take the book with me, but I didn’t forget about the books. I bothered my parents incessantly about it, but my birthday was months away. Then, I heard that my school was holding a book fair saw that the HP books were in the flyer of books that would be sold. I counted my money time after time, but I only had enough to get the first two books in hardback. I bought them on the first day of the fair, and I read them both that night. For the next two days, I pined after the next two books as I worked at the book fair every day. Until I came up with an idea. I made a deal with my parents and did about twelve times as many chores as normal to earn enough money to get the next two books.
And that’s how I met Harry Potter.


Arianna Diamth ( Gryffindor, ar408, USA )

[Cyd Rush]

I remember when the Harry Potter books came out. I really wanted to read them but being in 1st grade my parents, teacher, and everyone else thought I wouldn't understand it or I wouldn't be able to read it. I was convinced to prove them wrong.

I walked into the school library and looked for a Harry Potter book. I didn't see any except for the Prisoner of Azkaban. It looked big and fun so I borrowed it. My parents were surprised when a 1st grader brought home a book that large. I opened it up and read all night. I begged my parents to get me the first and second book. They took me to a book store and we bought them. I devoured them and became a fanatic. I waited for a year for the 4th book to come out. I remember having a "Happy Birthday Harry" party on July 31st.

I waited in line for an hour and a half to get my copy of The Goblet of Fire. I read it in a week.

I think that Harry Potter has influenced my life in many ways. I LOVE to read. My reading and writing skills are through the roof. I am considered T.A.G (Talented and Gifted) and I think that would only be because of Harry Potter. It expanded my vocabulary and sharpened my mind. Harry Potter gives me something to think and talk about. My friends and I talk about it non-stop. Harry Potter isn't just a book, it's a way of life.

(Cyd Rush, Gryffindor, 1st Year, cy480, USA)

[Azalia Greenleaf]

I remember the first time I heard of Harry Potter like it was yesterday. But when I recall my assumptions of the books, I'm rather embarrassed to admit that I thought they were about some weirdo kid who goes on a train to solve mysteries like Tin Tin. I never really liked Tin Tin.

But although they didn't appeal to me at the time (I was still in the 'Babysitter's Club' stage of my life), I decided to go on the waiting list at my school library. And indeed, a waiting list it was. I was 9 years old when I put my name on that list, and by the time it was my turn to read the apparently wonderful Philosopher's Stone, I was 12 and had moved to another part of the country.

I'm ashamed to say I forgot all about Harry Potter. After all, they were only children's books.

When I saw the trailer for Philosopher's Stone, my interest was peaked. How, how on earth, could I have missed this? You mean to say that everyone but myself already knew?? Hmph. But unfortunately, my family, being rather religious, forbade me to see the movie. So I rebelled.

And I was stunned. Suddenly I vividly recalled my silly childhood dreams and the books I filled with a never-ending story about witches and magic. This, something very similar at least, has been my dream since I was a child. Escaping to a world where magic still exists, in reality and in the heart.

Then I read the books. I read them again, and again. My Hogwarts letter arrived a little late, but I still got it, and have never looked back.



Azalia Greenleaf (Ravenclaw, az352, New Zealand).

[Astra Starr]

How did I get into Harry Potter? Well, it’s not a very interesting story... I simply got “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stoneâ€Â￾ as a present for Christmas, about three/four years ago.
I remember that at first I thought it seemed a very boring book: in the cover there were a boy and a rat in front of a chessboard, and in the back there was a phrase from the book, the one where Ron says that keeping a dragon is illegal...
I put it along with the other presents, and I forgot about it in five minutes’ time.
On Christmas afternoon, though, I began reading the book. I finished it in a few hours. It had begun. I was already Potter-addicted.
Of course I forced my mum into buying the second book, which I read at once. Then I re-read them until “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkabanâ€Â￾ came out in Italy.
I still had to read the Italian version, but as I hate the translation I began studying English, even if at that time I hated this subject.
I wanted to learn English so badly that when I went to Ireland my dad bought me “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stoneâ€Â￾ in English, and with the help of an English/Italian dictionary I was able to read it.
So basically, if I’m here to annoy you, it’s all Harry Potter’s fault, because without it I would’ve never learnt English.

Astra Starr (Gryffindor, as485, Italy)

[Hecate Crow]

I am usually not a reader. Harry Potter are the longest English books I have ever read besides textbooks. The first time I heard about Harry Potter was from the news. It was saying about how eagerly the children were, waiting for the realease of the Goblet of Fire. I paid little attention of that at that time, only a little curious why they were so fond of a dictionary-like book with no illustrations in it. I was getting more interested in it when I saw my 7 years old cousin was so into the book. (I never read such a thick book when I was in her age, not even a book in my native language.)

The Christmas in 2002 was the first time I really get into Harry Potter. At that time, the second movie was already on screen for a month. After my exams, I rented the first movie from the video store. I chose a version with subtitle in my own language, so that I could understand it for sure. I heard from my friend that although it is a children fiction, the vocabularies in it are not so easy. However, the time I finished the first movie, I was planning to watch the second one in cinema the next day. Of course, there was no subtitle for the version shown in cinema (since I am in Canada and the offical language in Canada is English), but I was so desparate to see what will happen next that I did not care about that anymore. After the movie, I borrowed all the four books from my cousin and finished them during the Christmas. I am a slow reader. It took me a lot of time to finish all the books, but I enjoyed the time. That's how I got to love the Harry Potter series.

As a result, I became one of the fans who had been waiting all the day for the delivery on the day when the Order of Phoenix was released.

Hecate Crow (Slytherin, he480, Canada)

[James Summers]

I think my story is a little different to most peoples. *g*.

Right back when the first HP books were making themselves into a phenomenon I refused anything to do with them. They were too popular I said, too main-stream. And for years it was that way. Even after book 4 was out I was still rejecting them.

Then a friend of mine introduced me to some LoTR fanfic. I got addicted. I was running out of *good* LoTR fanfic when another friend of mine - a huge HP fan already - suggested I try some HP fanfic. I was sceptical at first, it is true, but I was bored and allowed myself to be swayed.

I've never looked back.

The fanfic gave me a thrist for all things HP. I went out and bought all four of the books then in print - and read them *all* within 2 days. I spent hours trawling the internet for more HP stuff.... eventualy coming across Sorting Hat tests. Everyone I took put me in Slyth, so when I stumbled across HOL I thought it was just another place to confirm my house. How wrong could I have been? Sign-up's were cloased as I'd arrived in March - but I joined the forums and by the time sign-ups re-opened in July I'd come to call HOL and online home.

So from being a complete anti to being the first in line to buy Order of the Pheonix I have to thank LoTR, the persistence of a friend..... and the immortal H/D fics that I got addicted to!

James Summers (Slytherin, ja410, England)

[Lindsay Schaller]

Lindsay Schaller ( Ravenclaw, li413, USA )

Let's see... getting into Harry Potter. When it first came out, I loathed the Harry Potter books with every bit of my soul. I don't know why. I thought it was a dumb book, about a stupid boy and his dumb little journey through magic land.

Ok now that my book bashing is over, I'd like to say that I no longer think that (thank GOODNESS). I seriously thought all of this, back in 6th grade. So one day, maybe in the summer of 7th grade, I bought a book, wanting to read it so I could scoff at it and then possibly write about it in my Ujournal (that is my pre-livejournal times). I read the book in maybe 6 hours, hooked. I tend to be a fast reader, but really, I was hooked. So I denied the whole thing, I denied that I was hooked. I did not want to be a hypocrit, going against what I had been preaching (spelling?) for so long. I liked to live by the "practice what you preach" motto, and this certainly was not a good thing to be happening. How could I possibly LIKE a book about a stupid boy who is legendary, but not in real life? Why can't I accept it!!!

So maybe a year later, and my ties with my 7th grade friends broken by a new schedule and new friendship circles, I finally bought the other 3 books. It took me a day to read the second one, and I was hooked without regret. That is how I got into Harry Potter.

The End /biggrin.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":D" border="0" alt="biggrin.gif" />

[Cornelia J. Black]

I always loved reading, and I usually keep at least three books on my desk, so I've got something to read. Two years ago in summer I was going abroad with my family and I decided to bring with me just a book, a very huge one. The evening before leaving I decided to start reading the book. This was a huge mistake, because it was a detective book, and a very good one. I was so curious that I finished it to find out who was the murderer, and I was left without books. I panicked, because it was Sunday and all the shops were closed, and I never find interesting books in the airports. So I asked my best friend if I could borrow one of her books. She's very jealous of her books, so I thought she would refuse to give away one of her precious books for two long weeks, but she told me she could lend me the Harry Potter serie. She said I could keep it how long I wanted, because she had the English version. I objected that I didn't need four books, but she replied that they were so interesting that I would finish them in a few days' time. Of course she was right...

Cornelia J. Black (Gryffindor, co481, Italy)