Share your Harry Potter memories!

[Clover]

Before we get to the main part of this week's blog post, as usual, here are some bookish links that I have stumbled across lately. Not as varied as they have been in the past, but I've been studying for an exam (due today, I hope it goes well!) Off we go.

Have some old children's books lying around that are too dog-eared or too battered to give to charity? Why not make a birdhouse out of it instead? A very green idea.

Nick Hornby would like to inspire Britain's children between 8-18 to GET WRITING and he has done this by opening a Ministry of Stories and a monster shop. I think it's a fantastic idea.

Barack Obama, not just the President of the United States, but also children's author. Read a review.

Do you like to read? Are you on Twitter? If you answered 'yes' to both of those questions, then are you aware of #fridayreads ? All you do is tell everyone what you're reading on a Friday and you could win prizes. As lots of people take part in it, it's a fun and social way to check out which books people are reading.

And now onto Harry Potter...

I think it's fair to say that a lot of us love the Harry Potter series, myself included. A lot of us have grown up with it, read the books, watched the movies. I think nerdfighters love talking about it as well. (Which house would the sorting hat put you in?) I must admit, I didn't start reading the book until the 4th book came out but I was instantly hooked. I bought the next two books at midnight when they were released and the Harry Potter movies are the only movies that I must watch at the cinema as soon as they're out. (What did you guys think of Part One? I laughed, I cried, I was scared silly!)

We all hold on to some Harry Potter memories, don't we? Whether it's midnight releases, dressing up for the movie premieres, where we were and how we were affected when our favourite characters died. The forums are full of Harry Potter related discussion threads .. who are favourite character is, whose death made you the saddest. After reading several blog posts written about nerdfighter thoughts on the new moviethis past week and one moving post about how Harry Potter gave hope to a nerdfighter who had been bullied and friendless, I thought I'd open this post up for your thoughts and comments. On the series, on the new movie. Who would say is the biggest Harry Potter fan?

If you don't like the Harry Potter books or the movies, then instead you can talk about your favourite and least favourite book to movie adaptations instead?

So, let it spill. Any Harry Potter memories you'd like to share with us all.

[Tasha_Obsession]

I got books 1-4 as a birthday present when I was 9. I'm pretty sure I didn't really start to read then till I figured out that they gave you massive amounts of radical reader points. (ok, radical reader was a program at my elementary school were you read books and then take quizzes on them and you have to pass the quizzes to get points for reading the book.) But anyways there was a radical reader shop were you could buy things with your points. So I started to read Harry Potter so I could be the person with the most points in my class, But i got hooked on Harry Potter because it was awesome. I purchased each book as they came out and have seen all the movies, I even when to the midnight showing of Part 1 of the Deathly hallows. I still have the prize i bought from all the points i earned. Its a tin poster of Harry Potter playing Quidditch. :)

[Aabysinyaa]

I read the fourth book first... o.O
which is odd, but i was instantly a fan, even if the fourth isn't my favourite.
I don't particularly like the film adaptions of the series. It takes away from the book.
Removing huge chunks. Necessary, i do know that. But I love the details the books have.
The only movie i really enjoyed was the third one, even with the horrible way they created Werewolf
Lupin.*More like wererat*.
However the funnies memory i can remember seeing a Harry Potter film was the fourth movie. Waiting for it to begin with my sister and grandmother i was being pretty loud and annoying cause i am impacient. My grandmother slapped my arm jokingly and it echoed through the whole theatre like my talking hadn't and everyone in their seats around us were dead silent. My grandmother was mortified. It was hilarious.
Harry Potter was one of those films that have been there through most of my life. it'll be odd not waiting for the next one to arrive once they're done. The books mean a lot to me. I've read them so many times the covers are rediculously worn and tattered, or not there.
I got the final book on its release day. Around twelve in the afternoon and finished the whole thing by ten that night. Haha. Stopping only for a small victory lap around the house the a very excited dance. Because of Ron and Hermione ^_^
I think the Harry Potter series has been very important in my life. =P

[Meaghan]

I started reading the books myself starting with GOF, (my dad read the first 3 to me) and quickly after read, and re-read all of them, went to midnight releases, movie premiers, etc. However my favourite memory(ies) is the fact that I successfully converted every single one of my long-term babysitters into hardcore harry potter fans (not to mention the countless friends, and my sister).

[Kayla ☼]

I regret to say that I started reading Harry Potter after my big sister begged my mom to take her to see Harry Potter in the Sorcerer's Stone. After I saw the movie I wanted to read the books sooo bad! I finished the book series in a week. And after I finished the first time, I read them again. And again. And again. I've re-read the books so many times! I went to all the other book releases and they were AWESOME.
When we saw Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, my sister (who is 5 years older than me) and I got into the theater as 11 year old twins and it was hilarious. The first thing I thought when I saw my now boyfriend for the first time was "Dude! That boy looks like Harry Potter!" And Harry Potter is one of the biggest bonds I have with my best friend in the whole world.
I completely agree with Hank's latest song. No matter what I read I think "This is not Harry Potter." Nothing I read will ever change my life like Harry Potter <3

[Mike Helmke]

i got harry potter 1 and 2 for Christmas a long time ago , when they were the only two out. i remember thinking " great a book , wheres my toys!". my mom ended up reading the first one and half of the second one to me, but she was too slow so i started to read them.i can honestly say that the harry potter changed my life , without harry potter i wouldn't be the reader i am to day , and if i wasn't the reader i was today, i wouldn't be a nerd , and if i wasn't a nerd i would be a nerdfighter and as a consequence i would be a Deception. so i thank jk rolling and i thank john and hank , for i have no idea what i would be doing right now if it weren't for them

[Stormy Larson]

my first memory wasd the first movie actually! I walked into a friends house and the quidditch scene was playing. I asked "what the heck is this?" she said "You've never heard of Harry Potter?!" Sadly I went back outside to play! It wasnt until I got into 8th grade that I started reading all the books since I was a book worm that year and I haven't stopped reading them since! Also, I never miss a movie and MUST see them in some sort of Potter gear! This movie I wore a white simple shirt that said "I found the Deathly Hallows and all I got was this lousy shirt!" and all of the As were the Deathly Hallows symbols! Good times! :)

[Carolyn Brennan]

I remember the day I began reading the Sorcerers Stone. I was probably in 3rd grade or something like that. I was in the class room and for some reason while reading I was eating an Egg Salad sandwich (I was a weird kid). I remember walking over to my seat with my sandwich and not paying any attention and accidentally getting egg salad on some girls head. She was very angry. Then a boy teased me about spilling my food on some girls head and reading Harry Potter. I'm not sure if the food spill was accidental or not. This didn't relate to harry potter that much but oh well.

[Alex Lynn]

oops, forgot to mention, I'm a Slytherclaw (because it's hard to choose between evil and smart) but I think I'd be sorted into Ravenclaw

[Alex Lynn]

I'm a rather late-coming Harry Potter fan. I began reading the series last year, and only just finished the series in June. Because I'm so late to realize just how truly awesome Harry Potter is, all of the deaths of the characters were ruined for me before I read them or saw them on screen, so I wasn't nearly as affected by these as I probably should have been. (That's not to say they weren't sad. I was especially upset after reading Sirius's death scene and was devastated after Fred died.) For me, some of the saddest parts of the series was reading about Snape's and Dumbledore's pasts. Snape's tragic, hopeless love story, and the hardships Dumbledore had to face and the mistakes he made in his youth were amazing, sad, and wonderful, all at the same time.

The incredible thing about the Harry Potter series, I think, is that contrary to what the posters say, it doesn't all end here. Harry Potter has touched lives and united people everywhere. So many people around the globe share this amazing story as an interest, if not a passion, and awesome fans (like Starkidpotter and Wizard Rockers) will keep it alive and well for years to come.

[Bhakti Patel]

I started reading Harry Potter after the 4th book had come out n i was 11 then. So i considered Harry to be my age. To confirm it, book 7 came out just after i turned 17!
Harry Potter helped me get over my fear of darkness and ghost.

One of the memories i have is when the book 7 came out I fell sick n got a fever coz i couldn't get a copy at midnight. finally wen i got later in the afternoon i felt fine. But wen Ron left Harry n Hermione, i cried like hell and my fever shot up again. When Ron returned, i actually felt stronger from within.
That day my parents stopped asking me "when will u get over this harry potter", they realized it was Love forever.