How did you start reading Harry Potter?

The story of how you began to read the beloved Harry Potter series, and when your obsession start?

Well, my obsession started when I was very young, and had only seen the first few movies, all my other knowldge came from other people telling me about it. I would play HP with my friends every single day, and always make my parents play it with me. I'd also make them take me to all the movies that were coming out. then I eventually grew out of it, and my obsession ended. Then one day, after years passed, I decided randomly to finally start reading the series, just for fun. O.M.G. LIFE CHANGED. I actually liked reading the book after i saw the movies (nothing big was spoiled because I had only seen a few) because instead of reading the book, then seeing the movie and how everything was left out, i got to see the movie which I assumed was everything, but then read the books and got all this new stuff! Plus I had an image of all the characters. I loved the books, but was never really obsessed. Years later, after I only read the books one time, I discovered AVPM, and averagewizard.com that was a few months ago. My obsession that began when I was only in kindergarted, was officially revived.

- Slytherclawgirl

My obsession began when I was a young girl, just barely in the double digits. I had seen my mom and my older brother reading the books, and I just thought "ew, my brother AND my mom like it? gross" so I didn't read them then. But when the first movie came out my mom and my brother both wanted to go see it, and since I was young I couldn't stay home alone to be by myself. They took me along and... let's just say my mind was blown. I was in love, I idolized that movie. And once I saw it I begged my mom and my brother to let me read their books. After that I was always at the midnight release for the three books that hadn't been out when I started reading them. Although I could read them first because (5th) I had to go to camp and I couldn't take the book with me because it might get damaged (other girls had theirs there so I found this completely unfair), and for the sixth and seventh my brother used the whole "I helped pay for it" excuse. I wasn't old enough to have a job yet! And I could have read those books much faster than him. He took two weeks to read the seventh one, it took my just under nineteen hours to finish it, right after he got it. My family aren't Harry Potheads like I am, but I'm proud to be one and I love it so much. So I thank them for introducing me to the wonderful, magical world.

--<3-- MaggieisnotaMuggle

Oh, this will be long...

So, Harry Potter came out when I was in kindergarten, so lets say I didn't read it then. Soon, the first movie came out onto DVD, my Dad rented it, and I watched it with him. I loved it. My whole family watched the second movie it theaters. Then in the third grade (by then I'm pretty sure the 5th book was already out) MY teacher read us PS, which we all loved, ad had a 'Harry Potter Party' on the last day of school.

My Obsession started there, where my friends and I played Harry Potter outside. I was Hermione, who was, and still is my favorite Character.

Then, starting 4th grade, I found the 3rd Harry Potter book in my Closet, dan began to read it. I was surprised, it was REALLY good. I found out one girl I knew in my year was also reading the POA, so, naturally, we're best friends. So, in 4th grade I read POA, and I read GOF, which I did for a book talk, even though my mum said it was too long, and I won't finish it. During the 5th grade, I found a copy of OOTP, which took a long time for me to read, because my mum wouldn't let me bring it to school. That summer, the day before I left for vacation, I went to my first, and sadly only, midnight release party.

I brought HBP with me to the cottage I was saying at, rarely left, so I finished it in 3 days. DH came out the next year, but sadly, it came out the day befoere I came back from vacation. As soon as we got back, I bugged my Mum to take me to the bookstore, they were closing the store as I ran in there. I finished that book in about a day in a half (My parents made me take breaks )

So, since I was in middle school, my obsession toned down a bit. Although, before HBP came out, I read all the books again, and remembered my obsession. Also, before that I discovered Fan-fiction, which also helped grow the obsession. Then last year, when I discovered AVPM off AverageWizard (and also when I discovered AW) my obsession is what it is today.

Its tough times though, My best friend who read the series with me isn't as Obsessed as she use to be.

But, Harry Potter is what got me into reading in the first place, so I am pleased to be a Potterhead.

I read the 1st book when I was about 11, I liked it, but I can't remember why I didn't read the rest of them. Then about 2 years ago, I had only seen the first 2 movies, and one day my brother was watching PoA on TV. I had nothing else to do, so I watched it with him. I fell in love with that movie (even though I was pretty confused and had to keep asking my brother questions) and realized that it had to be an incredible book. I promised to myself that I would never watch another Harry Potter movie until I had read the books. I had a lot of Harry Potter friends and they would take about it after the 7th book came out, so I knew what was going to happen. But I still told myself that I would read the books. But 2 years passed & I still hadn't read the books. But I did read another book and became obsessed: Lord of the Rings. (VERY good books/movies) At the beginning of this year, I made a deal with my HP obsessed friend that if she watched the movies and loved them, then I would read Harry Potter. So pretty much the rest is history, and now I'm completely obsessed with Harry Potter, and my friend will not shut up about how cute Frodo is.

The summer before second grade, my family was going on a trip. My aunt gave us SS on tape to listen to in the car. My whole family was hooked. From thre I had always loved Harry Potter, but I was kind of scared of expressing it since no one I knew liked it.

But then this past year (8th grade) I was introduced to MLIA by a friend, and saw how many people love HP and hate Twilight (sorry to bring that up). One day, I finally go curious enough to click the "Average Wizard" link on the side. And viola! That was around Christmas I think.....

In fourth grade, the teacher would always make us go to the school library to get a book. It couldn't be a picture book so I would always be stuck on which one to choose. So, I would always get Harry Potter but I would never get past the first chapter. Then, in fifth grade, my friend read it and wouldn't stop talking about it. She kept telling me I had to read it so finally, on the last week of school, I gave in. I read SS and right when I finished it, I wanted to go to the library so bad to get CoS. And that's when I started becoming obsessed. In sixth grade was when the first movie was coming out and I was SO happy. I made my whole family watch it. I'd even play HP with my friends and get HP presents for Christmas. I have to thank that girl so much for getting me in to HP. Even though we're not friends anymore, if she hadn't made me read it at such a young age, I have no idea where I would be.

My family has had the first book since the year it came out. My mom started reading the first books to my brother and I when I was only 6, so I didn't understand much, but I do remember having weird dreams after about a dark haired boy, chasing a little golden ball on a broomstick. Once my mom had finished reading all the books up to Goblet of Fire (Order of the Pheonix wasn't out yet) my brother asked her to reread them. She told him that he was old enough to read them himself (9-10), so that was when I stopped hearing Harry Potter's story as my bed time story. A year or two later, I needed to improve my english reading skills. I was 9. I picked up the Philosopher's Stone, even if my mom told me it was too difficult for me, and I read. I have never stopped since then. In just weeks my writing and reading skills and grades improved. My english teacher that I had in 6th, I had again last year in 9th grade, and every semester we have to have a reading log. When he was talking about this to the whole class, he looked at me and said "And no Katie, you may not put all 7 Harry Potter books on it, since I know that 3 years ago you had already reread them over 3 times each."
I can't remember the first time I watched the movies, but there are pictures of my 6th Christmas, and my favorite present was a cheap plastic Harry Potter wand with the glasses. In our house, we have random Harry Potter costumes lying around, and in my room are my Alivan's wand and my hand carved wands, my time-turner, my Ravenclaw tie, MY set of all the books, the posters, a hand-made broomstick...
All I can say is, thank you Mom, even though I annoy you sometimes with my obsession, thank you for being the one who read Harry Potter to my brother and I, even though we were too young to understand.

When I was 12, my mom told me I wasn't allowed to read the books, because she'd heard at church that they were "Satanic". So naturally, I went to the library the next day and checked out SS. I was hooked, and my mom was pissed. (In all fairness, she should have known better than to tell me not to read something; I was already reading anything I could get my hands on at that age, whether or not she let me.)

My mom read them to my sister and me when we were toddlers as bedtime stories. She did voices and everything (when the movies came out, she discovered that she had done her Hagrid all wrong). Once the third book came out, I could read at that level and started reading them myself. My earliest Harry Potter memory is when I saw Chamber of Secrets with my second grade class because we won a raffle. Ever since then, I've been hooked. That's really all there is to it.

My mum started to read PS to me and my brother soon after it came out (I think about 1999, 2000), at the reccommendation of one of our family friends. The odd thing was that I didn't want to hear it at first - I was only 6 or 7, and I thought it would be too scary. But I joined them at around the Welcoming Feast, and I loved it right to the end; when mum finished reading it, I read the second, third and fourth ones by 2001. By that time, I'd read them all a lot of times, and was hooked. I distinctly remember being absolutely shellshocked when I read Cedric's death After that, I remember going to the 9am release of OotP in 2005 (it wasn't a midnight release here) dressed up as Hermione, and I got some free HP colouring books for enthusiasm
I have loved them ever since I first read them, but reading and loving other books had dimmed my obsession a little. Then, one day, on MLIA, I decided to follow a link to AW, and you guys, along with AVPM/S (which you introduced me to) and Mugglecast have reignited my obsession, and I am now re-reading them for the umpteenth time, still discovering new details. So a great big THANKYOU to you for helping me become more obsessed than ever!