Growing up with Harry

[author_by_night]

(Yet again, non-Harry Potter people- forgive me.)

Many of us were children or in our early teens when we first picked up the book with that odd guy in front of a train (or on a broomstick, or somewhere else, depending on where you reside.) 

So I'm conducting a survey of sorts, and want feedback from those of you who were in your teens or younger when you first read the books. In a short paragraph or sentence, tell me these things
- Your country of residence.

- The fandom/LJ name you want to be quoted as (in case I decide to quote yours), or if you'd rather not be quoted, but still want to answer. 

- How old you are now, and how old you were then. 

- What it was like, growing up with the books.

If you know someone who grew up with the books (little brother/sister, younger friend, your own kid, etc.), you may also post about that. 

Note: I will be quoting a number of these unless you request otherwise, but it is possible not all answers will be used. I will make an effort to link to this post when I complete the project, but if it is hard to fit the number I recieve in, I will not be able to. However, again, I will link to this.

Oh, and just FYI: I was fourteen when I first read the books. I'm now twenty two. Time flies!

ETA: Thanks to all of you who have replied so far! 41 comments! One of these days I will catch up on replying, but in the meantime, it's been cool hearing all of your stories, and look forward to more. :)

Comments

[hlclark.livejournal.com]

UK

moonytoes

I'm 19 now, and I think I was... 11, then.

Er... At first, I wasn't so much into the whole screaming young-girl fandom type thing. In RL, that is. And they were just quite good books to me at the time. It was when I got on the net and discovered LJ, FanFiction.net when I was 12-13, then it became a lot more serious. Yay, fandom! But I always read them alone- too old to be read to! And I think the madness of pre-ordering and trying to read them in an hour started with GoF and OotP. However, since OotP, I've been a lot cooler about them coming out- Real Life makes you think of other things. :)

I hope that helps.