since i didn't see a topic for it: 20 years ago YESTERDAY

[kestral_kitsune]

the Very First Harry Potter book came out.

how old were you?

I was 13

[mewthemew]

I was a year old ^^"

[RoseNoire]

20 years ago ? I was born. x-x"
On the 26th of June 1997, I wasn't born yet.

[lovesbabysquirmy]

I was in school .... though it took until Book 3's release that my BFF finally convinced me to read it!

[ColdRuru]

In 1997 I was 7. Beeing born in January 1990, it's pretty much easy to count.
I grew up with HP, got the first book when I was 11 and as in the end in 2007 when the last book was released he had 17 years then in the story, so as me.

[Harmonie]

I was 8 years old. I never really got into Harry Potter, though. Probably because I never was one to really enjoy reading books as much as other media.

[Taffeta]

the Very First Harry Potter book came out.

how old were you?

I was 13

16.
I had just finished secondary school and was awaiting my GCSE results.

I shunned Harry Potter when it first came out, though, as it seemed too samey to the Worst Witch.

[Kiwi]

Actually this is 21 years since it originally released. It just took a year to get over to this side of the pond. That's why the 20th Anniversary house editions came out last year.

With the celebrations, I realized I was 11 when the books first came out, just didn't know about them. It was a while before they were over here, and a bit longer before I read them. I think I started reading them when I was about 13.

Let's just say, I love the Harry Potter world, and am a very proud Ravenclaw. My pony room is HP themed, I got my own custom wand (based on my Pottermore wand), robes, and all of the 3D puzzles. I even made my own plastic canvas Hogwarts Express, nearly 3 feet long.

[WaterDraw]

I wasn't born yet 
Although, interestingly enough, I literally just started reading the first book today. For some reason my grandma had the first American edition of the first book in her house. I had thought it was finally time to at least give the first book another chance. So far I'm enjoying it. It isn't the best book I've ever read so far, but it is not the worst.
Since as long as I can remember I had always hated Harry Potter. I think it was, growing up in the early 2000s, Harry Potter was always parodied on the TV shows I grew up with. That sort of left me with a warped view on it. Along with that my older brother didn't like it and to young me, if he didn't like it I didn't like it either. (Looking back on this, I ended up missing out on a lot of good media this way.)
My sisters loved the movies, but never the books. I remember watching about....5 seconds of one of the movies and immediately hating it. It might've been because at the time I was very young and it seemed sort of boring to me at the time. It might've also been because my brother was playing video games upstairs and I wanted to play them with him really bad but I didn't want to ditch my sisters. Either way I have bad memories although I can't remember anything about the actual movie.
When I was 8, I decided to try and read the first book. At the time I had an advanced reading level (not to brag ) and all of my other peers who I shared a reading level with told me that Harry Potter was one of the best books ever. So yeah, I had high expectations going in aaaaaand...I hated it. (I think there's a theme going on here ) I read the first chapter and it just, I didn't wow me. It might've been because my friends were all telling me it was such a great book, or maybe it's because I just wasn't a fan of the wording. (It seemed a bit redundant to me at times, even as a young child), but I just couldn't continue reading the book knowing I'd have to sit through, what seemed like at the time, a ton of sequels. I put the book back and told my friends I did not like the book, I thought it was boring....yeeeeaaaaaah that didn't end well. I think that bad experience left me not liking the series as a hole, although admittedly I don't think that should've effected how I feel about the series.
Fast forward to the current year. One of my best friends is a Harry Potter enthusiast and is constantly telling me to get into the series. I dismissed her suggestions and made fun of the series just to mess with her (It's something normal, she makes fun of my interests too). I remember looking up Harry Potter knowledge and spouting it out just to make her dumbfounded. How in the world did I, the person who knows jack-squat about Harry Potter, know this fact? How did I know that fact? Her confusion made me laugh.
I eventually was suggested some Harry Potter discussion videos on YouTube and I watched them and they interested me. So I decided it's finally time to try and read the books again. However, my local library had all of the books EXCEPT the first one. So my quest was postponed for now.
Cut to now. I was just looking up around my grandmother's shelves when by chance I found the first book of the series. So yeah, I'm reading it now and I'm enjoying it. I think it's what I needed after reading a really bad book I had just finished.

Wow, I bet you didn't expect an essay as a response. Well I hope any of you enjoyed reading my weird journey. I don't know how to end this sooooooooo uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh


THE END

[Honeycomb]

That's been 20 years ???? Time sure flies.
I was 17 and feeling way too old to read it.

[Mewtwofan1]

  twenty whole years? Wow. The world changes fast. I mean, twenty years ago, I wasn’t even born and my parents hadn’t even or had just met. I was born in 2001. I’ve never read the Harry Potter books or seen the films, being as I wasn’t into that kind of stuff way back when I was a little kid. But now, I might give them a shot. See what my old classmate was talking about and me just smiling and nodding like I knew what she was on about.

[Taffeta]

Actually this is 21 years since it originally released. It just took a year to get over to this side of the pond. That's why the 20th Anniversary house editions came out last year.

That actually makes more sense. Although I wasn't interested in HP when it came out, I was aware of it. The summer of my 16th year we had also just got online at home and I felt like HP came out before that. So if it was in the UK a year earlier, then I would have been 15. Just having taken my early entry English and Science exams) meh.

I have read 2 of the books - 4 and 5. I have 6 but have never read it because I got told pretty much the whole plot and didn't need to. I have a lot of friends who like HP and I had to trudge to Platform 9 3/4 when they were renovating King's Cross station with one of them (they kept moving it around). I understand the security aspect but I don't like where they put it permanently, it's very much a tourist photo spot but it is nowhere near platform 9 and 10. I lived within walking distance of King'sX for 2 years but that's the only time I went there looking for that. Now, if you use King'sX station, you can't miss the crowd of organised fans waiting next to the fan shop to have their photo taken with the sign and the baggage cart. (sigh). It's all so commercial and all so fake.

I think the stage show is still in Cambridge Circus but it has been massively sold out and sometimes you do encounter random people dressed in cosplay at stations heading in that direction.

Back on topic. I have seen some of the films as well. I actually like the films for themselves, but haven't seen all of them. I know that true HP fans generally disdain the films. I don't overly care about that as I'm not a HP fan. I find them entertaining but I'm not really that bothered either way, even now.

The concept still is very similar to the Worst Witch, which I grew up with. On a lot of levels. I mean, she did make it different enough to stand out as a story on it's own, I'm not saying that - but there are a lot of resonant parallels and sometimes it bugs me a bit that HP got all this attention for being something new and different when Jill Murphy already trod the magic school concept some time earlier with Mildred, Maud and Ethel.

[ladybastilla]

I was 16 then, but I did not start the Harry Potter books til I was 18. We got the first two as Christmas gifts and then I got Prisoner of Azkaban and Goblet of Fire as birthday presents when I was 19.

[Einhornbaby]

That's been 20 years ???? Time sure flies.
I was 17 and feeling way too old to read it.

totally that
I was 16 and felt silly to read a "kids book" but when my schoolfriend insisted I shall borrow her copy... I did and thats when it started. I was SUCKED into the magical world of HP 

[melodys_angel]

With the celebrations, I realized I was 11 when the books first came out, just didn't know about them. It was a while before they were over here, and a bit longer before I read them. I think I started reading them when I was about 13.

What she said.  I think I started reading them in grade 9 so either 13 or 14--but Kiwi and I are the same age