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------- ORIGINAL MESSAGE --------

Hi all,

We've got two enduring questions here:

• How old or young are we H/H fans?
  Vote in the poll on this thread.
  
  
  
• How young were you when you became a fan of the Harry Potter universe?
  
  Go vote in this other poll.

You can put additional comments about both questions on this thread.

(Note to the diligent H/H Mods, I'll move this somewhere else after a week. Feel free to remind me if I haven't by then. Thanks.

Just how enduring have these questions been? Well, take a look at when they were first asked around here:



... and more recently:





So vote away, friends! Go, shoo! As for me, I'm 34, and not a bit ashamed of it. *votes*

Im 26 and didn't pick up my first HP book til I was 23. I actually had to read the first book for a college class (Intro to Childrens Lit).

Well, I'm 16 though next month I'm going to be 17 I'm not sure why people get surprised when they learn my age So I guess I should be considered young, no? I remember I started to read HP books when I was 11, ah nice memories. See, even teenagers can be H/Hr shippers But I agree with those who said that H/Hr may seem a ship for "adults". I've often hear the argument that if Rowling is going to write these books for adults, than it must be logically H/Hr and I agree.

Michy

hehe I'm not sayin'!

Just kidding

I am 22 years old - I was convinced by one of my good friends to give Harry Potter a try when I was 19, if I remember correctly. Bought the first book, read the first ten chapters, then ran to the book store to buy the other three that were out at the time.

No need to say my poor student wallet hurt a lot after that.

@Mirtilla - Not knowing your age, I would have supposed you were lots older - well, at least in your twenties. The maturity of your posts and the thoroughness point that way... Not that the teenagers don't do that, but if I'm comparing my sixteen years old self to you... well... *cough*

I'm 31. I guess it's rather old to be so passionated by a series whose target readers are children, but I'm really not an exception; every day I see adults reading HP books, everywhere I go. A good number of my workmates are reading HP or already did. Some of them have children, but some others, like myself, don't. My parents are fans too, and they are 60 and 63...
I started reading HP 3 years ago; I had seen lots of people around me reading those books, and their comments were very positive; I was really not sure at a point, but few days after I went visiting my parents, and my mom had taken book 1 at the library, so I seized the opportunity to read it. I liked it right away and after I bought the first and the others at the rate of one by week. Then I spent two long years waiting for book 5, like all of us...
What I find remarkable about the poll results so far is that we H/Hr shippers seems to be of a variety of ages, which I think is a part of what makes the discussion here so interesting.

I'm 22 years old. To be honest looking at the polls right now it looks like the majority of us who support H/Hr are around their mid teen years on up. I guess maturity and experience in relationships do have a factor in what relationships people believe in when they started reading the series.

Oh man, I'm in the "Sorry, no offense" group. But, like blueangle, most of my contemporaries read Harry Potter, too. I started reading from the very beginning. My youngest son's class started the book in school and he'd bring it home every night. Being an 'active' parent, we'd read the book together. Shortly there after, many of my friends began asking, "Have you heard of the book HP and the SS?" The rest is history.

Wonderfully written books are classic, timeless and ageless. Which is great - because it brings together all different groups of people and disolves barriers that normally exist.

Mirtilla - I have to admit I was surprised at reading your age. I was clearly under the impression you were much older...at least in your early to mid-twenties.

Spygirl

Oh, oh, I'm 18. Just turned, last August.
I'm surprised with Nelli's (Joogie) age, actually. You sound way too mature, hon

I started reading Harry Potter when I was 15, I think, because my classmates [girls, mostly] kept badgering me to read it. I was like, "Ugh, okay, okay, I'll read it, but ONE chapter!" One chapter, heh, yeah right.

Anyway, for fellow H/Hrs who feel too old: Age is but a number. Ya'll a kid at heart

Thanks Pen, for putting this up again and taking the time to, from your busy, busy schedule

Dani

Well, I did know about Harry Potter since 1998 yet I did refuse to read it for another 4 years though I got an idea what its about. I did know who Harry, Hermione and Voldemort were. The giant and that old guy told me something too.

It might have changed as I watched 2001 the first LotR movie and read this book, too. Anyway it was then 2002 as I started to read this books. Hmm how old was I? It was before my birthday so I was 20. Sooo young

I'm fifteen... my birthday was just this past August. Only three months, two weeks, and two days until I can get my learner's permit! Yes, I am a young one.

I was introduced to Harry Potter at the age of 10... when my best friend whispered in my ear, 'Say Voldemort' and I did, and a whole bunch of people pretended to flinch. I was naturally curious, but I didn't get the first book until Christmas that same year, which was a few month later. Then I had my mom order the other books that were out at the time, and the rest, they say, is history.

So I was ten when I was actually introduced to Harry Potter. I really didn't realize that I shipped H/Hr until I was at the thirteen/fourteen age... that was when a friend introduced me to the fandom, and I learned what 'shipping' was. But I think that I've always been a H/Hr shipper, because I read GoF before I was intoduced to the fandom... and I squeed when Hermione kissed Harry's cheek.

I wa sintroduced to Harry Potter at about the age of nine or ten, and had absolutly no intrest in it whatsoever, until I was tweleve, in which i only watched the movies and then I start read fanfiction and somehow started shipping Leather Librarians (Hr/D), then I got a tidbit of H/Hr and about a year later I read books three and four, and H/Hr made the most sense so I'd say I was thirteen when I started shipping H/Hr.

--Jessie

I'm 16 now, but I wasn't at all interested in reading or anything at all until I was 11, when my brother got fed up of me sitting in front of the TV all day and playing computer games, so he bought me the first Harry Potter book for christmas. I started reading it that night, and by the next day I was an addict. I must have read that book non-stop for about a week, finishing the book in about two days, then turning it over and starting again. Then about a week after that I got the second book and did the same with that.

But I've always been a somewhat romantic, ever since I played Final Fantasy 7 and I was always egging Cloud and Aeris on... then started hating Aeris and started egging Cloud/Tifa on, and the same with FF8 with Squall/Rinoa. So from the first time I read Philosopher's Stone, I was egging H/Hr on. I was thinking, the first time I read it, when Hermione hugged Harry in the room with the potions, I was like: 'Oooh, is she gonna kiss him? I hope she kisses him. She needs to kiss him. It'd be so cute if she kissed him.'

I'll be 19 in about a month! w00t!

I first got involved in HP when I was 16 as a naive R/Hr shipper... but then I found portkey and...well now look at me *waves to everyone*

*highfives fellow thirtysomethings fieryphoenix30, blueangel*

Well I just turned 27 last weekend so I'm happy to say that I'm a fan of the books and our favorite couple. Provided it ends with them getting together that is. We know how she likes to change things at the last minuute so we'll have to wait and see after Half-Blood Prince if we've got a pretty good shot at a H/Hr victory in the end.

Okay, I became addicted to Harry Potter when I began reading the books to my daughter and nephew. I am 41 years old...

I first learned about Harry Potter through a news report concerning ste release of book 4 in Germany. That was in October 2000. I refused to be part of this hype though. Then half a year later I stumbled over a german version of the first book at my brothers. After reading the first few chapters I was interested, but didn't like the translation.

The next time I came to out local bookstore I got the first book in english. It didn't even take me one day to read it and I went back to the bookstore the next day to get the other three books. I've been a fan of HP ever since.

As it must have been the summer of 2001 I was 22 years old then.

I'm 21 (will be 22 in Feb.). I got into HP due to my boredom over Christmas. I accidently picked up COS and started reading it, thinking it was the first book.

Hi all,

Glad to know I'm not the only 30-something person here! I first read the books at my niece's urging (she's now 12) and I think it's given us a rather unique common interest (now also shared with her two younger sisters, 9 and 4).

Anyway - it's nice to know that I'm not the only grown-up who finds the books completely ageless. Feeling a little relieved, actually, since most people think my interest ... er ... obsession is a little odd!

well I turned 25 on september 18th, and I started reading HP, lemme see... must have been sometime in 2000, very likely at the end (somewhere from october to december), that's when I bought PS. I remember carrying my book in my bag to college to read between classes and a guy who saw me also happen to be reading the book, so I guess we were like the first people to be fans of it. I have all the books 1 through 5 in spanish, 'cause my dad is also a fan but he doesn't read in english, and I also have ootP in english 'cause there was no way I could wait a whole year for the spanish version, which means that I will also get book 6 and 7 in english, and eventually I'll buy 1-4 in english as well, to have the whole series. When I went to Spain last year, I bought QTTA and FBAWTFT in Spanish, of course, for my dad, because those books where nevere brought to Panama.

I'm 14..

I remember starting to read Harry Potter when I was 10. I really didn't think much about shipping until last year, before OotP came out, although I always wanted them to get together.

Michy/Mirtilla: I was very surprised to learn your age. I thought you must have been at least in your mid-twenties. I guess it's the fact that your posts always seem well thought out, and you are very mature for your age...unlike me

--Sabby

Hey all.
I'm only 12 and I love it here.(I'll be 13 on January 13!!!!!!! Cool hey!!! And to think some people call Friday 13 unluky!!!)
I would never of guessed all your ages. Sorry, I guess i didnt realize just how popular Harry Potter is.
I was 6 when I started loving Harry Potter. I started reading the books in 1999 and I fell in love with them.



Phelp Phan








"We'll send you a Hogwarts toilet seat"-Fred and Goerge.

I am seventeen!

I first learned of Harry Potter when I was in seventh grade so.....1999. I actually had to hide my books from my parents because they thought that Harry Potter was an evil series. *rolls eyes*

I have been an H/Hr shipper since I first read the books.

*Elivania*

Well I became a fan in 2001 with the first movie came out and I have been a H/Hr ever since and now I just turn 29 years old.


Sondra

I hope no one thinks of redoing this poll next year, since I will have to cast my vote in the "Older than 45 (No Offense)" area.

As to when I got started in the HP fandom (which is, in effect, my start with the H/Hr fandom )... 2001, or three years ago (making me still in the 'over 40' grouping).

On another thing... I'm really not surprised anymore when I see the ages of people around the fandom: people like Mirtilla and Joogie sounding--and writing-- as 'more matured (or older) than they actually are; others (such as spygirl who is probably a year older than me ) sound as if they're much younger than I am.

And about people reading HP in the workplace... as I understand it in my workplace (I'm with an advertising agency), most of our 20-somethings are fans (more of the books than the movies) while those in the 30's range are in the "know of it, have watched the movies, but think of it as a kid's fantasy series" kind of thing.

I sometimes suspect they pass off my perceived fascination with HP (no one really wants to discuss H/Hr since they are mostly R/Hr--they claim-- ) as part of the 'eccentricities' one finds in a creative ad agency.

(By which, if they do find out how involved I am in the fandom, they may well upgrade me from 'eccentric' to downright 'mental.' )

Of course, having various Emma Watson-as-Hermione Granger wallpapers on my laptop may just make them see me as a dirty 'old' man.

If they only knew...

gil

Well, am 19 and I first learned of HP a couple of years ago but since I dint want to fallow the "trend" I dint pay much attention to it until this year

I started reading Harry Potter shipping R/Hr, and that was mostly because of my friend, since she got me hooked on the series and its a R/Hr shipper. But PoA totally changed my views And I dint became a real pumpkin pie shipper until reading Ootp.

I'm 20 now, been addicted to HP since 15.
Never heard of it before then, get to known this series since one of my best friend (a girl ) keep reading it in front of me, saying how great it is, as well as making fun of my name. Actually my first impression of the series was " Why on earth does the hero of the series having the same first name as me ?!" Yes I know "Harry" is not that uncommon worldwide, but it is in my country.
So finally my curiousity got the better of me and I decided to give it a try (Luckily the PS happened to be the book I've picked". I've stopped right after the second chapter as the writing style is a bit...unfamiliar to me I may say. However several weeks later when I was bored to death, I just randomly pick up the book. Next day morning I just rush to the nearest library to borrow the COS. One week later I've all the 3 books on my book shelf.

Sadly before the first movie come out nearly none of my friends and classmates are interested in it. (Actually very few of them were interested in reading, except textbooks and revision book Hell I'm a weirdo just because I read English fiction, can u imagine?)Even after the movie publised quite few of them are willing to read the book, thinking they are far "mature" to read "children" fiction . Ignorant muggle.

Haven't thought of ships until GOF, though I knew something would happen between Cho and Harry. The moment I thought of ships I became a loyal H/H shipper. Please don't ask me why, I keep asking myself that question. I'm not very confident it will become canon since many ppl I encounter are R/H shipper, until I came here and read all those excellent arguments

I'm 20, and have been into HP since I was 17.

Some people make fun of me for it, but I don't care But the kids I work with like that I like that kinda stuff

So I guess we H/H-ers tend to be older and more mature than some of our other counterparts, right?

Hi! I am 26 this year and only got into the fandom recently. I think I might have heard of HP a few years back (since 2001) but was not too interested in reading it. I was thinking that I will read it once all the books are out (not keen on the waiting part). Then came the movies and they were relatively good, but still my interest level is low, until PoA hit the screens, that is. The Hr/R prospect was what first caught my attention, though I really liked the H/Hr moments.

However, the books still did not hold a lot of interest for me at that moment. Nonetheless, I was fascinated with the theme and romantic hints in PoA and, went on the internet and began reading the humongous amount of HP fanfictions available. With so many spoilers floating about, I was thinking I might just as well read the books, and finally, plucked up the courage to pick up the books. The books pushed me in the direction of H/Hr, and this site fans the passion. Thereafter, the obsession began.

Cheers.

teehee! I'm 17!

18 in about 4-5 months

hmmm.... it was.... ok I've been into HP since I was 13-14...

Love Millie

I'm 24 - it's cool to see h/hr shippers of all ages, i thought i would be one of the oldest here!

i only got into hp properly this year, my friend dragged me along to all three films as they came out but it was after watching PoA (twice) that i really got the H/Hr vibe and felt i needed to read all the books to find out more about their relationship...

i actually read the books in reverse order so didn't fully appreciate the shippiness of Ootp until i read the others. i came here to portkey soon after and read all the fab posts ans essays and i was like - WOW!! - Ootp is SO shippy. i missed LOADS after only reading the book once!

i don't think i can wait until 2006 for HBP but i'll have to... at least theres the GoF movie to look forward to next year!!

I am proud to say that I too am in the thirty-something category. (Turned 30 this year.) I got into HP in 2001 when I was 27. At the time I worked for a movie theatre corporation, and SS was just about to be released. There was a lot of commotion over it at my work; I remember I had a HP balloon in my office; we had those temporary scar tattoos and there was just general buzz and lots of carrying on, knowing it was going to be one of the biggest opening nights of the year. Before that, I hadn’t really given HP too much thought. My boss read the first book, and he loaned it to me and I read it about a week before the film opened. I really liked it, and I liked the film, but I didn’t get totally into it at that time. It wasn’t until a year later when CoS was about to open and I read that book that I got really hooked. After that I read PoA and GoF in quick succession, and just had to buy OotP on the day it came out. I know lots of adults who are into HP as well, including my aforementioned boss who stood in line at midnight to buy OotP, and my brother who is an avid fan and is over 50.

I've been a H/Hr shipper since the hug in the first book. Here's to hoping HBP has even more shippy goodness than OotP!

Hello peeps.

Well I just turned 30, and what a nice, nice age it is! Finally settling in after the Sturm and Drang of my 20s!

I read books 1-4 in a sweep whilst bored a couple of weeks when I was 26, and really liked them. I did not become obsessed however until after reading OotP last year, when I discovered to my horror, that some people believed that Hr/R was more likely than H/Hr. Where did they get that from? So, I have been an avid shipper since January, and a non-lurker since August.

I have to say, that part of believing so strongly in H/Hr has to do with my age. Before 30, I was looking for all the wrong things in a guy, as I wanted a love-hate and passionate relationship, and not until recently did I realize exactly that what I wanted and needed was a nice guy. Bad that it took me 30 years to realize, but I believe JKR said it took her 35 years (the Edinburgh chat), so I feel like I am in good company.

This is also why (or one of the many reasons why) I believe H/Hr will ultimately happen: If JKR has come to this conclusion, as I have, there is no way she will put Hermione with anyone else. Hurrah!

I'm 19 and I was introduced to HP series just last year when my sister bought the books 1-3 from a garage sale. To be honest, no one in our family likes to read those books at first until one day during the winter break, I just picked the PS randomly from our bookshelves for the sake of doing something else aside from watching tv, and besides, I never really understood the plot of the series in the movies . After that, I was amazed in the writing style and imagination of JKR, and the next thing I knew I'm through with CoS. But what really got me hooked in the HP series is the PoA because this time, I've got no idea what it is all about , and the plot and twist of the story in the book has surprised me a lot. A week later I'm done with GoF and OoTP and became an absolute fanatic formultaing my own theories inside my head and couldn't wait for the 6th book!

In the shipping topic, when I haven't read the books yet, I thought it was R/Hr because that's what my friends are telling me. But after reading the books myself, it has always been an H/Hr to me. I argued with my friends over this but they are all saying that I'm hallucinating things and asked for evidence . To me, i don't know how to explain this, but I honestly can't pinpoint why I think it's H/Hr, but maybe because of their progressing deep bond of friendship and I look at the plot of HP series as a whole, not just book by book, and maybe because I felt the emotions and the subtlety of their relationship even though they are 'just friends' or maybe because I 'read between the lines.' Then I read "Partner's and Friends" essay at HP Lexicon, I became estatic! The essay says all the things that I really want say to my friends. I'm not alone at all thinking H/Hr, and I'm not hallucinating!!! ! Harry and Hermione all the way!

Ooo! I'm in the most populous category. I'm 18 - though I've been involved in fandom since before I was sixteen. And I also wanted to say, that as a relatively new 18 year old, I was extremely excited that I would get to mark in the 18-24 category, but it wasn't there! (Yes, I'm fully aware that is probably one of the geekiest things EVER )

Anyhoo...

Well, I'm 26, and I must say that I'm excited to know that H/Hr seems to appeal to such a variety of ages.

Mirtilla/Michy I fall into the (fairly large ) category of people who thought you were older. Just like everyone else I think it is the fact that your posts are so insughtful and mature that led us to that conclusion. I'm sure there are some others out there that have us (or at lest me) fooled with the maturity of their posts as well.

I found HP at Christmas of 2002 when my husband got me the box set as a gift. 2 weeks later I'd finished the set and every other HP related book I could get my hands on.

I'm a little ashamed to admit that I have the series thus far in paperback, hardback, and on audio book (which I need when I drive an hour to school 2 times a week.) However it's all one big cycle, and I love it.

Oh, I've been a H/Hr fan from the beginning!!

Now, back to reading.

Ha! I knew how old Michy was!

Okay, so I visited her profile before all the birthdates were wiped from them... *admits* I generally am a rather nosy person and like knowing how old my shipmates are.

I am 16 at the moment, though I will be 17 next month. (December 9th folks, put it in your diaries! Hehe)

I've been a HP fan since I was more or less forced to read it when I was... oooh, 13?
Yeah, how weird is that? I hated HP! Now look at me? It's funny to think that not 4 years ago I couldn't stand the world of HP and I loathed and despised the very thought of it... then I read the book (CoS) went to see the movie (PS/SS) as a result of me LOVING the book (CoS) and loved that... so I bought the rest of the books, read them all, loved them all, and I've been a HUGE HP fan and even BIGGER H/Hr shipper ever since!

So.... there you have it... the story of my HP fandom life... again.


~Bec

I'm 14, 15 next month.

I started reading Harry Potter when I was 11 and became a big fan when I was 13.

At first I thought the books would be stupid and boring, because who cared about a boy who found out he was a wizard? But then, I read them. It changed everything and now I try not to judge a book by it's cover.

It sucks though, most people I know judge HP before reading it.. by watching the movies or by hearsay.

I became a big H/Hr shipper last year. I always liked the idea of H/Hr, but wasn't very convinced and never really thought about it that much until OOTP. The idea of H/Hr was always more satisfying than H/R.

im 15

i found out about it when i was 11 hated it till i read it when i was 13 then fell in love with H/Hr as soon as i read the first book

Hey everyone!

Well, my mom starting reading HP to me when I was about ... *racking brain* ... probably something like 10 or 11. Maybe even 9. I'm with hpfanatic, definitely, because back then (being the stubborn, naive little bugger I was) I thought that reading the books would be a waste of my time. So, instead, my mom read them to me, and I completely fell in love with Hogwarts, and Harry, and the whole Magical World. I guess I owe it all to my mom, huh?

Okay, well, that poignant story makes me 14. I'm not really that surprised that there are so many older people that visit the forums and have online spats over couples and whatnot, because it's so much fun! (and I swear, without it, I'd lead a dull life of homework, homework, and more homework. Though I guess I shouldn't be complaining, only being a wimpy freshmen and all.)

I'm just glad there is such a large variety of ages. It's very neat, to be able to talk with people on the forums without feeling weirded out by how old they are, lol. Not that I'm prejudiced against older people ...

Cheers,

-Lauren

I am 28, and discovered HP books rigth before the release of first movie, when I was 24-25. Always thought H/Hr would end together, since book 1.
First time I heard of R/Hr was when I discovered on line fandom, some time after reading books 1-4, when looking for release date for book 5. I couldn't understand what R/Hr shippers were about by this time.
And, to be sincere, I can't understand them now either.

I turned 19 just under a month ago now. I didn't get into HP until after I finished high school so when I was about 17 or there abouts, can't exactly remember when I first started......