Your Harry Potter addiction

[Kristin]

Just how addicted to Harry Potter are you?
How did you first get into the books? Was it before or after GoF?
Have you passed on your addiction to anyone else?

*sigh* I know we had a similar thread once upon a time ... stupid server monkeys!

Anyhow... I'm interested to know everybody's HP addiction tales.

It started for me in Fall 1999. I'd heard of these kids books, so I decided to buy a copy of Sorceror's Stone for my little sister (then 15). And I bought a copy for myself, too. :)

Before I'd even read the book, I was telling my fiance's (now husband) uncle about this book I had bought for my sister. He got all excited and said, "Oh, so you don't know what a muggle is! Just wait, you're going to love these books." Turns out he had been a fan for a long time... read SS and wanted to read CoS, but it wasn't available in the U.S., so he had to order the British edition. :cool:

I fell in love with the books. So I bought GoF at midnight three years ago. :D

[ChianaWeasley]

Chiana stands up

hello, my names Chiana, and I have an addiction to Harry Potter!

I have all the books, a few copies in some cases!

and Im the envy of all my friends because I have a Harry Potter beach towel :D

I have spread on my problem to numerous others, by accident of course ;), and they seem to be getting on fine!

group replies: welcome Chiana!

;) :) :D :p

[Kristin]

Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention that I do have copies in both hardback and paperback. And when I bought the paperback set the cashier said, "Doing a bit of catch-up reading?" And I snorted in derision and said, "Um, no. I've already read them all. I just wanted to have the paperbacks." :rolleyes: :D

Then my husband half-jokingly said to me, "You'll have to get the British editions next." And I started drooling ... :o :)

You know you're a Harry Potter addict when...

[Pengi]

The details of how I got into Harry Potter are a little fuzzy, but here goes...

Well, I think I first got PS as a birthday present some years ago, but forgot about it and didn't read it. Some time later we got CoS, and my dad started reading it out to me and my brother. :D That's when I started enjoying it (I remember gasping at "Ron Weasley was outside Harry's window" and begging my dad to read more :)). I can't remember the details of how I got PoA, but it must have been pretty soon after it was released, because I remember being horrified that my friend wasn't allowed to get it until the paperback version came out. Then I read her the Quiddich Final chapter, because it was my favourite. :D

[Mirdan]

i actually didn't want to read Harry Potter! :o

the first time i heard about the books was back in high school in my British lit class. our teacher gave out a list of books that we can choose from to write an extra credit book report on. i didn't really have any interest in HP, with all the craze over it, but our teacher and some other students highly recommended the book (it was the Philisopher's/Sorcerer's Stone). but lazy me, i went ahead and chose T.H. White's The Once and Future King because i've already read the book :rolleyes:

but i started reading all of the books after my high school graduation. a friend of mine invited me to go to London with her for the summer, so i thought i'd bring along some good books to read on the airplane. i took the American versions of the first two books, but i didn't start reading them until one day when it was raining, and my friend didn't feel well enough to explore London. i remember that day very well...i was in my friend's uncle's sitting room munching on a few bars of Cadbury's milk chocolate bars with a glass of ice cold milk on the side table next to me...but anyways, i finished the books before the day was over. so the next day i dragged my friend to the Borders on Oxford Street and bought the box set of the British version of the four books. i still have the receipt -- £48 :eek:

i think i starved for the rest of that trip. didn't really expect to spend that much on one item, with a tight budget and all. but i don't regret it...good times, those were :cool:

alright, alright...i admit it. after i've absorbed all four books i shamelessly dragged my friend across London to King's Cross. and yes, i even took a picture in front of the station :o :D

[Pippin]

Hello, my name is Pippin and I´m not actually addicted to Harry Potter.

I´m addicted to Snape. :D




I discovered the books three years ago when GoF came out, although that wasn´t the reason - I and my boyfriend were going on a holiday to Scotland and a friend suggested the HP books when we were exchanging recommendations for "light holiday reading". We got HP PS at home to read on the journey, then CoS in a bookshop in Edinburgh the minute we´d arrived, then PoA two days later before we went off into the more remote parts of the country, just in case we wanted more... and then GoF in a small dusty "everything you need" village shop in a very remote place at the northernmost tip of the Isle of Skye.


It rained a lot during those holidays but we couldn´t care less. :)




Mirdan, I don´t BELIEVE they don´t make more out of every (almost every ;)) London tourist wanting to see Kings Cross now. On the other hand, maybe that´s the point about the whole wizarding world: As a muggle, you just don´t see it. :D

[Fleurdelacour]

It's not just tourists who want to see Kings Cross, I only saw it for the first time last week, yes, got photo done too :D Nothing to be ashamed of, even the Japanese tourists were getting their picture by Platform 9 3/4s!

Well... My story.

I was told about the books in 1999 by my friend Monica, she was saying how cool these books were, and I didn't believe her, and carried on reading my Jacqueline Wilson books. Then in 2000, my Lord of the Rings fanatic friend Altair was reading Harry Potter in French, and it kinda looked interesting, but I was refusing to be dragged in to the whole Harry Potter Phemonena.

But, I was watching Newsround, and Bloomsbury had published the cover of GoF, and I was thinking "Ooh, what's Harry doing now?"

I then thought, well, these books must be good if everyone is talking about it...

GoF was published, and the hype was just, at it's peak! (nothing like this year of course) and I finally gave in.Mymum bought all four books for me, and luckily enough my GoF was a first edition!

I read PS sitting on a wicker chair in the garden, I read CoS, and PoA in classes (I was in my second year, we did no school work!) and finally read GoF on my way on holiday to Guernsey, and read about Cedric dying whilst on the ferry... I just read all the books over and over. I particulary remember reading about Rita Skeeter interviewing Harry for the first time, in the car on our way to the world's smallest chapel :) and that summer, I spent all my time reading in cafes in Covent Garden, over and over again. The best summe of my life! and in August 2000, I found this site, and kinda lurked for about a month before actually posting.

I also then was directed to Mena Baine's fan fiction. It was Harry/Hermione, but it was written so well, (that was before I had even thought about ships btw!!) and she'd drawn pictures to go with her series, so I started to write my own fan fiction, and draw my own fan art.

That's when I became really obsessed and addicted. We just discussed numbly for months upon months, and it was so fun! It still is so fun! We waited for three years, we got it...

And my addiction is now worse then ever... I've gone into mourning for christ's sake! OVER A FICTIONAL CHARACTER!

I've made..... about three people addicted to Harry Potter, my friend Nikki, Aimee, and my cousin Erica... I think, Aimee and Erica both live in Ireland and I only speak to Erica on msn.... Well they better be addicted!!

[wilecoyote]

Hi, my name is wile and well........i'm a potter addict. OK it's out, my friends make fun of me because i'm over 40 and told them i couldn't go to a camp out on june 21 for the most obvious of reasons. I've tried to explain that they unlike Tricks are not just for kids.

Anyway i too got caught up in the GoF mayhem that summer before it came out so long ago. I was always an avid reader, but in the past several years i've found less time or desire to sit down and read, so i love audio books. When i heard about the series i was curious so when i saw the SS audio book, i bought. That was all it took i had to get the other two after that and than was forced to wait along with the rest of world for GoF. Fortunately i had the muggle informer with all the speculations and wild ideas going around as a fix. I preordered GoF and when it arrived around noon, i did something i have only done once before. I read practically nonstop. I only stopped when i couldn't stay awake any longer. It took two days. Then i bought the audio book. Now i have almost warn out my tapes.

I got my mom to read them by telling her about the bible thumpers that got all upset about the magic. And she really enjoyed them. I'm not sure though whether whe will be willing to read 870 pages though, she thought GoF was too long. I also got one of the women i work with to listen to the tapes. She listened to them while riding in her car and said one night she had to ride around the block twice in order to finish the tape.:D

[Cedric]

I don't really remember the exact time and date when I first started reading the books.... I think I have a bad concept of time or something...

Anyway... The first time I heard about the books was on a show (really good show, wish it was still on) called Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher (this was when the show was still on ABC late at night). They were talking about the article in "Time" or "People", don't remember which. The article was probably the very first dealings with religious folks not liking the books. I'd thought about, in a very, very small way, getting or asking for the books for that Christmas. But it pretty much went in one ear and out the other, see I'm not usually very excited about getting a book. There have only been two books (well, series') that I've wanted to get. For my birthday, about a month later (I'd say that year, but my birthday is at the beginning of that next year), I got the first three books from my grandparents, who, I guess, had read them already. This was about a year or two before GoF came out, and I was pretty excited about that.

I've never been, and still am not, very addicted. It's a good book, sure, but I'm not the type of person who buys all the merch. People in my family, since then, have gotten me Potter stuff (a soundtrack from the first movie, a little figure of Harry, a sticker book) for holidays, though I never asked for them, which is kinda weird.

I like video games, but hate the Potter games. They just suck so bad. I'll wait for the quidditch game, that might be kinda cool.

-Cedric

[ChianaWeasley]

When someone asks you what your favorite sport is, does anyone answer quiidditch? Cuz I do!!!:D

[Kristin]

Cedric -- You don't have to be into all the merchandising to be addicted. :)

For those of you who don't read our front page news, shame on you! I mean, for those of you who don't read the MI front page, there's a little item there about a Harry Potter fan who burned her house down.

A 21-year-old woman burned her house down when she tried to make a "potion" by cooking water, oil, alcohol and toothpaste. :eek: :LOL: So, um, that's taking HP addiction WAY TOO FAR. My advice to insane HP fans: Don't do that! :p

[Moxie]

I can stop any time I want; I just don't want to. ;) :D

[Cedric]

I know Kristin, I read that, pretty funny :D

The thing is, the people who buy the merch truely are the peak of addiction. Anyone who would stoop that low has got some serious addiction problems. I'm simply a humble fan:)

I just wanna know why that person couldn't find some more clever ingredients :D

-Cedric

[Mirdan]

Originally posted by Kristin
For those of you who don't read our front page news, shame on you! I mean, for those of you who don't read the MI front page, there's a little item there about a Harry Potter fan who burned her house down.

A 21-year-old woman burned her house down when she tried to make a "potion" by cooking water, oil, alcohol and toothpaste. :eek: :LOL: So, um, that's taking HP addiction WAY TOO FAR. My advice to insane HP fans: Don't do that! :p
ah, that woman beat me to it...but just out of curiosity, what exactly was she trying to make?!

ok ok! i'll go ahead and read the article for myself! :p

[legolass]

I can proudly credit myself for starting my whole family on Harry Potter!! :D

TSS came out really late in the Philippines, about six months after it first came out in the UK and the US. At that time, no one really knew about Harry Potter yet over here (this was in early 2000, I think!). I like finding new material to read :) and I had read an article in a foreign magazine (it could've been Time, but I can't really recall), saying people were enjoying this new book. So I went out to the bookstores and saw copies of TSS just sitting in one corner unnoticed. It is rather strange that the book took a while to catch on here. So, I bought one copy and passed it on to my family - each one of them enjoyed reading it! :D

HP fever started over here in early 2001 and everyone started reading it. By then, I'd already read the first three books and was waiting with bated breath to read GoF :)

I can't say I'm an addict yet, but I do love reading the books - I've read the whole series over for about two times already. And I plan to read them to my future children when the time comes :D

[Elfëa]

Name: Elfea
Age: 20
Addiction began: December 2001, when Philosopher's Stone came as movie.
Books: All 5 in English, two hardcover (CoS, OotP) and two hardcover in Finnish (PS, CoS).
Movies: None, but I have a soundtrack. And loads of Knight Bus photos self-taken.

I was first introduced to the world of Harry Potter by my friends who wanted to see the PS movie. I was enthralled, and next day, which was a sunday, I had to go and buy the PS book. After that I read the whole series - I had avoided it, "unconciously/consiously", as I avoid longer series of fantasy. After reading them all, in Finnish and in English, I've forced my dad read some of them and my sister (and her ex-bf). Not to mention my aunt and uncle...
I've been totally obsessed and un-obsessed with the movies and books - it goes around and comes around. :p At the moment, I'm in between.
I write Harry Potter fanfiction for fun and practise, but original fiction will always be my major.

Thank you very much of your time.

Elfea/Ellie Caro

[Lembas]

Well, I know about the "Bible thumper" backlash against Harry Potter. I am a Christian, but when I hear the words "Bible thumper", I think of people telling you that you're dooming your soul by reading the books, which is rubbish. These books in no way threaten my Christianity-it's entertainment and jolly great entertainment at that! Sorry, a little off-subject, but I don't want Christians lumped into categories like "Bible thumpers." Those people obviously have a problem with their faith if they're moved to ban books and such. Anyway, 'nuff said about that.

I don't remember if anyone got me hooked on Potter or not. I think it was just publicity about the first book. I'm always looking for something new to read and it looked really interesting. I've been hooked since TSS and haven't looked back. "Goblet of Fire" was the first hardback I bought. The others I patiently ( okay, I'm lying, impatienty! ) waited for the paperbacks on COS and POA, as funds were tight. But GOF and OOTP are happily in my hardback collection.

[Pippin]

Lembas, I´m a Christian, too, and I love these books! Of course they don´t propagate the Christian faith but they don´t have to! They teach us values that are perfectly compatible with the Christian faith, like love, friendship, courage, justice, loyalty...

I met a young woman not long ago (at a Christian event) who got really mad at me for saying I liked these books and they didn´t put my soul in peril. "How do you know?", she said. "How do you?" I asked. "Have you even read them?" Of course she hadn´t. :rolleyes:

Heck, even the Vatican has issued a statement that they see no reason to comment on these books in any way - which means the Pope probably has OotP on his bedside table. :D



But I realise this is OT - back to obsessions!


You can´t tell whether someone is obsessed by looking at what merchandise they´ve bought! Lots of fans, including me, are perfectly happy with the book and what´s going on in their minds when they read.

Interesting thing is, I read an article the other day that HP merchandise has been selling very, very badly ever since the movie came out, and we´re a country with a great culutre of Pottermania. :D They speculated why - because it´s expensive, or because it´s ugly (admit it , the "official" movie artwork IS the ugliest merchandise you´ve ever seen :rolleyes: )? They come to the conclusion that this usually doesn´t stop kids from wanting merchandise. The kids are just happy with the books, that´s all. :)

[Amberion]

I had not even heard of the harry potter books until the original Muggle Informer was made by Aram back in the old Imladris days

The main reason is that the books are always in the childrens book section of the book store, and usually only inhabit the fantasy/sf sections

[wilecoyote]

Ok now i think trying to make a potion is has crossed that thin line between addiction and just plan stupid. I mean 21 years old?:trout:

[KillerBunny]

I read PS, CoS and PoA in the fall of 1999, when I was 10. I was completely obsessed right away... my friend and I wrote about a thousand fan-fics about it, and were planning to marry Fred and George (I had Fred and she had George:D ). I was in line at midnight to get GoF, and suffered for three years before finally getting to read OotP.

Here's an example of how much I wanted to read Order: my cousins were staying at our house when it came out, and while my dad was taking me home from a play rehearsal we stopped at Best Buy, there was a huge stack of the books... I immediately started hyperventilating, so he took pity on me and bought it... I read the first chapter in the car but once we got home he said he was going to hide it, and I would get it back the next day, after my cousins left. Of course, one of my cousins really wanted to read it as well, so we spent about an hour searching for it all over the house... finally, I got the bright idea to look in the car for it! So, I snuck into my parents' room (they were upstairs watching TV so they had no idea any of this was going on), stole their car keys, got into the car, and sure enough, under the driver's seat was Book 5! So I got out, accidentally set off the car alarm, turned it off after a moment of severe panic, ran into my room, and my cousin and I took turns reading it until 3 AM. And the next morning we snuck it back into the car! One of my cousins couldn't keep her mouth shut :mad:, so we ended up admitting it to my parents, and they thought it was funny... hah! Then, after my cousins left, I was so eager to get the book that I set the car alarm off AGAIN by unlocking the door from the outside through the window, and it took about 5 minutes to turn the bloody thing off because my mom had to run in and get the keys... lol. I have problems with our car. But I finally got it, read it non-stop all day, and finished it the next morning.

And if you actually read that whole thing, you should win a medal or something. Sorry... I have a tendency to babble:p

I've "recruited" my mom and one of my friends. So hip hip hooray for me.

Oh, and I might add that I loathe both movies. :D

[Terry]

A collegue at work passed his on to me. I said, "OK, I'll read the first chapter....". Whoopsie! Hooked like a fish.

I just enjoy good prose. Am I hooked? Suppose so. Does using a vacation day to read OotP count?

[Kristin]

I read all your post, KillerBunny. :) That's a great story!

Strange how we can get worked up over things. When I went to get OotP, at first it looked like they had messed up my reservation ... and I was ready to commit murder! I was like, "What do you mean, I don't have a reserved copy?!?!" It all got straightened out, so then I felt much better.

[KillerBunny]

Well, Kristin, it looks like you win a medal:D

Goodness, I don't blame you for getting upset... I was ready to commit murder as well when I found out I couldn't go to the lovely Harry Potter gathering at Barnes and Noble... I had been planning on dressing up and everything! :mad: Oh well, I suppose I can pin my hopes on the release of the next two books...

[ChianaWeasley]

I got angry once at my car, only because the antennae was retractable. Therefore I couldnt get a snitch to put on the top of it. Dumb Toyota Camry ::grumpy pout::

And the other day this guy I know got a HP bumper sticker, it was given to him :eek:

how lucky can you get?

[Marchwarden]

I don't go in for the merchandise: no HP keychains, collectible figurines, paperweights etc..

However, as far as immersion in the books, the films, the fora and the fanfic, I'm a self-confessed addict. A Harry Pothead.

[ChianaWeasley]

I agree, all the merchandise sold AFTER the movies....shakes head sadly well very tacky and inaccurate. BUT, the merchandise sold when it was just the first three books in stores. Thats when I bought figurines and such, which for me were nearly impossible to find. But now its all 'hey look at me being a HP fan crowd!'. When really if you give them a trivia test they fail miserably :D I dont know about anyone else her, heh, but I like to show ppl that I've been a fan since the beginning:D
;)

Im an addict and Im proud of it!
:p

[Lembas]

The only Potter merchandise I got ( other than the movies ) was a nice little book mark that had the Harry Potter logo on it and attached to it was a simple little flat pewter owl, much like the logo at the top of this page, to mark your book page. Very nice. Now if I could only find it beneath the pile of rubble that dominates my home! :D

[Marchwarden]

alwaysOriginally posted by ChianaWeasley
I agree, all the merchandise sold AFTER the movies....shakes head sadly well very tacky and inaccurate. BUT, the merchandise sold when it was just the first three books in stores. Thats when I bought figurines and such, which for me were nearly impossible to find. But now its all 'hey look at me being a HP fan crowd!'. When really if you give them a trivia test they fail miserably :D I dont know about anyone else her, heh, but I like to show ppl that I've been a fan since the beginning:D
;)

So, I suppose you've always been a Tornado supporter?;)

[Pippin]

I like making my own merchandise for my obsessions... in the case of HP, I´ve had a t-shirt with the Hogwarts crest and motto printed for me. From afar, it looks sort of classy, like a university logo. Closer up, it makes people grin. :D

I´ve always meant to knit a Gryffindor scarf, too. Maybe I´ll get round to it this year.

[mallorniphredil]

Well, I'm a strict HP book addict. I don't care about the movies or the merchandise, but I've read and re-read the whole series countless times already. It got to the point where I tend to immediately jump in and correct someone on his/her HP facts! :D

Like others, I bought SS because of the craze and hype, and also because of curiousity. Well, I LOVED it! Bought CoS and PoA in their hardback editions in excitement, scanned newspapers for the release date of GoF, dragged my parents to a bookstore early morning, and reserved OOTP as soon as the bookstore announced that it was accepting reservations. :D

[ChianaWeasley]

Dont you just love it when someone tries to faux their HP knowledge. For example...cracks knuckles

At the ren faire there was a stand where you could buy wands. Along with the wooden stick you could purchase a peice of magic to insert into the bottom. Well I wasn't very convinced by this. I would have be amused if it were Called Ollivander's but it wasn't.

I must admitt he knew his woods for each persons wand.

BUT, sin above all SIN. He tried to correct me and Avada on our HP knowledge. BIG MISTAKE!!!! I asked the gentleman if they sold hagrid's wand. He informer me no, Hagrid doesnt have a wand. Then we said, well sell pink umbrella's with Hagrid wand inside it. He replied. Hagrid doesnt have a wand its just a pink umbrella. :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

Hagrid DOES infact have his wand still, though snapped, he still uses it. Concealed inside of his pink umbrella. Now just because he had forgotten to make Hagrid wands, does not me he had to demean our HP well awareness.

Shame shame mr. Ren man!

[Lord Schaudt]

I started reading the books in 1999

bought book one, read it got one for Hanukah, reread it, bought book 2 read it (about a three day span cuz i started reading book one when we were lighting candles on the first night, and read book two on the next Saturday or sunday before during and after the celebrations)

Then i waite like a month for book three read it in a day, got home got my book and read it.

book four i got it and read it all night till i finished and the same with five




i made my own want, does three things!
1. shoots out sparks

2. lights up

3. catchs things on fire, at short range, often my pants, or itself however

[Kristin]

:rotfl: over your wand.

I'd ask how you made it, but I don't think we want people catching themselves on fire. :eek:

One of these days, I'm going to buy an Alivan's wand. I'm becoming more obsessed with HP than I used to be. :o :)

[Lord Schaudt]

its simple

1. get a piece of wood, soft wood by preference, or metal or anything

2. cut the insides out(this takes a while)

3. install features, if you want sparkles you can use either sparklers, or take a spark maker from some late 1980 toy guns

4. for the lighter thing you, take a butane lighter. strip it apart and rewire it so that the nozzle is on the end of the wand, the fuel tank (a small one works best) is either painted or veneered to look like wood and atttached somewhere on the wand, or as the end or put inside of it, but this makes i bulky

the buttton to ignite it works best if its overlaid witha thin piece of wood and owrked into the outside but this does tend to make it randomly light if you put it in your pants...

[Moxie]

Originally posted by Lord Schaudt
...this does tend to make it randomly light if you put it in your pants...

Better wizards than you have lost buttocks doing that, you know. ;)

[Lord Schaudt]

Yeah i almost lost mine!

thank god for flame retardent fabrics!

thats all i could think of, what if i lose my rear!! will i be one of those better wizards or will the be better?!!!

[stridersghirl]

I hadnt read anything for about 5 years, neither did most of my friends, then one day i was sitting at lunch and one of my friends took a book out, and i was like what's that.

Harry Potter

I had heard of it cause my wee brother who would have been about 8 at the time had the first one and i had to buy him the goblet of fire for his christmas.

So i was like is that not a childrens book ?

Buts its amazing.

So i went home and started reading the 1st one, and thought aye this is good. I then moved onto the chamber of secrets and that is what got me absolutely hooked, i just loved the book so much it was just brilliant, the excitement at the end was fantastic.

I think i must have read them all 4 of them in a month maybe less, i was up everynight till at least 1 in the morning even though i had exams the next day i had to get up for. I actually got my best ever mark though so the magic rubbed onto me for a while.

I was gutted after id finished the goblet that was them over for a while. But for the next few months all i could talk about was Harry Potter. Then it calmed down a bit, then the OOTP came out and the madess is back again.

[Lord Schaudt]

Yeah i like how after every book relaese everyone suddenlyt is hp crazy, i don't look as weird then :)

[Athelas]

I first heard of HP from some relatives right after the 2nd book had come out in England (they had gotten the books from an English relative) and I felt all superior--oh, I'm not going to fall for that 'popular' series.

It wasn't until 6 girlfriends and I from college (university) went away for a weekend to celebrate our 40th birthdays that my friend Suze (WONDERFUL woman) gave us all a present of one of the books. She gave me TS/PS since my children were so young she figured I hadn't ready any yet ( BRILLIANT woman). I hadn't brought anything to read while pumping during the weekend, so I started it and was hooked.

As soon as I got home I got on Amazon and ordered COS and POA. I had Amazon deliver GOF and OOTP to my little Cape cottage, pacing in anticipation each time.

I have read the first 2 to my 7-year-old daughter (I don't know when I'll be able to read POA with her!?) and we discuss the differences between movie and book and why--a very good intro to LOTR someday. My husband is only tolerant--I'm waiting until my son is old enough to be read these and then will MAKE him read them to him; I know he'll be hooked then!