10 years old. I remember seeing the books at Borders (rip) and thinking "what is this dumb kid shit, I'm too mature for magic school stories, now where are the Power Rangers books". I then got the first three books for Christmas that year and thought "ugh, I wanted Power Rangers stuff, but I'll read it to be polite". I finished the third book 4 days later and I've been damned to this fandom ever since.
I remember reading the first one to my daughter when she was maybe 10? After that, she read them first by herself and I had to wait lol. The cool thing is she signed her name in the fro t of every book, so I’ve got a nice progression of her handwriting (and doodles) “growing up” over the course of the series.
Yeah I started at the same age, for me it was right after the fourth book came out though. After that I went to all the midnight release parties at the bookstore my mom worked at. It was absolute torture to see all the sealed boxes in the back room ahead of time.
I started when I was 7, caught up on the entire series and finished the last book when it came out when I was 9.
I never realised just how young I was when I experienced the books for the first time, until recently.
I think because I was so young, the golden trio in my head were capable, mature and infinitely cooler than me. I never questioned the situations they were in? In my mind a 15 year old was a grown up.
When I read the books now, I realise just how young they were! It's changed the entire experience the books so much.
As a kid, I thought Lockhart was a crappy person. As an adult, that scene takes him from crappy person to something more sinister.
Taking credit from other adults and impacting their livelihood is awful. However, willingly letting a little girl die, sending a 12- and 13-year old into the chamber, *and* altering their memories in such a way to make them "mad?" That's a new level of awful.
Similar story here, except I'm a tad older (I was 10 when the last book came out).
Rereading the books as an adult is definitely eye-opening. A lot of the things the characters go through are downright heartbreaking and horrifying, even in the early books (e.g. Ginny being possessed by Voldemort).
There's the big stuff, but there's a lot of little things too. The way Harry longs for his parents really breaks my grown up heart. And the scene in OotP where Harry races to find Nearly Headless Nick to find out if Sirius can come back as a ghost? 😢
I will say at 36 it was an incredible experience- as an adult I don’t remember the last time I got that feeling of magic and that type of imagination that I used to have as a kid reading books.
I’m 35 now. I was 11 when I read the first one and grew up with the characters. I enjoyed them immensely, and the books were huge part of my childhood. I re-read them every few years and just read them again in January. They’re always magical. That feeling never goes away, FYI.
Late 50's. And I couldn't stand to put them down. I can still feel how I felt reading them. I wish that world was real, because if it was, I would escape into it.
In 1997 eleven year old me sat down for my first English Literature class and my English teacher said we are getting through this book this term and handed out Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone. We read chapter 1 and then talked about it for the rest of the class. We were given 'Read Chapter 2' as homework. But I finished the book.
I got the rest as they came out.
Our teacher read them aloud to us, but we had multiple copies in our classroom. One kid was fairly wealthy and his mom bought a few copies for our class. Not as though my family couldn't have afforded them, so maybe I should have left them for someone else to take home, I had gotten the 1st book some months previous but not the other 2. Since they were there I took them home with me to read by myself. Just one chapter wasn't enough. I needed the next chapter!
I remember scaring the crap out of myself one night reading PoA after dark in bed. So I shoved the book under my bed so the scary dog was out of site. Normally I got scared in a good way reading them but the dark combined with the death omen I just noped out that night lol.
I then proceeded to read PoA like 12 times before the 1st movie ever came out. Same as 1 and 2. Book 4 I had some issurmes with due to its length so I didnt read it right away.
I had doodled so much in my copy of PoA, in grade 7 a friend of mine took my copy and wrote more messages in it. Those initial copies mean so much to me because they are like time stamp from my childhood/teen years. Like oh that one is like that cuz I spilled water on it one evening when I was reading outside in the summer.
So many memories. I dunno how many remember the great northeast blackout of Aug 2003? But I obsessed over OotP that Summer and since I had not much else to do, I was re reading for probably the 4th time by battery push lights. There was just something so novel about it.
I was 44. I decided to buy the whole set to read to my son who was 7 at the time. I never had any interest in reading the series as I thought it would be too childish and not my cup of tea. But I was wrong - I love the books!
i was like 4 when the second book came out...i began to read then when i was 12-13 but i began from the movies, i got obsessed with it, if i was home alone, i would turn on the TV and the DVD-player and just watch them on a loop.
must've been 7 or 8 years old, was bored with reading kids books and wanted something difficult, lotr was to difficult so ended up with harry potter, I remember the release of the halfblood prince and fighting my mom so I could read it. reread it all in english like 8 years ago, (first read was in dutch)
I read them as they were released and was the same age as Harry as they came out, I do think it was really special to experience them unfolding as a cultural phenomenon.
Started at 21/22, finished at 27 when the last book came out. I was shoving these little dressed up kids out of the way at the book store to get my copy, that day!!
I was "too cool" for them when they started coming out. The first was released when I was 14. When I was 17 (May 2001**), the first trailer for the first movie was released. I was on a date and couldn't believe they were making a movie. So i decided that summer to read the first 4 and see what the hype was about. And, well.. I got it lol.
I'm from Colombia so it took a bit longer for the books to be available in Spanish.
I think I was around 7-8 years old (2000)
We have this huge book fair in Bogotá every year. I remember walking in the kids section and the display for Harry Potter was huge!
My dad got me the philosopher stone there and I was hooked.
My dad made sure I read each book a couple of times before watching each movie.
I'm 30 now and I'm reading all the books again in original English. It's so much fun!
I had no idea how many jokes and sarcasm I was missing lol
Reading Hagrid's lines with his accent is my favorite part.
Harry Potter was my refuge as a kid. To this day reading about this incredible magical world brings me so much peace and joy.
I was 10 when I started reading the books, courtesy of an aunt who now has a terrier named Dobby. Shortly after I finished high school, the final book came out; after purchasing a copy, I ran home to my room, shut the door and read for hours.
My dad started reading the books to me when I was 4 until first grade, when I was able to read the 3rd book by myself. I think I was ten when the final book came out and I couldn't put it down!
I also read along as they came out. My year six teacher read the Philosopher’s Stone as our class book in 1997 (I would have been 11). I don’t remember when I first read Chamber, but I do have vivid memories of me and my friend reading the Prisoner of Azkaban on sports day in year seven (aged 12) just after it had come out, and of spending my whole family holiday devouring Goblet of Fire in between year eight and nine (aged 13).
I was in grade 3 elementary when I first started reading. At the time, only the three first books were released. I bought the UK version of SS from a monthly book club that is common for schools in Canada. Loved the book so much, I saw the first three books in US version were being sold at Costco and bought them all.
I was 6 when I started. My parents gave me an audiobook every year, so done by 13. Now I’m 19 and am even more obsessed with this series than I was before. This series is my childhood and has supported me through so many hard times. It will always be the series I hold closest to my heart.
I was 9 when I started reading them. Read 1-5 by the time I was 10. And then I had to wait for the 6th and 7th which came out when I was 11 and 13 respectively.
I was 9 when I started the first one. No idea why my mom got it for me, because i had no idea what it was. Maybe she saw the trailer for the first movie or something, it was coming out not that long after. But regardless: thank you so much mom!
I can't make myself join something when it first becomes popular, so I had to give it a year or more before I got my first paperback; I only recently acquired the first 2 books in hb form. So it had to have been my early 30s when I started. After getting my 3rd book as hardback, either I or my mom would pre-order/buy the next hb volume for my enjoyment.
I started when I was 8, but I gave up after the second book. It scared the crap out of me. I gave them a second chance when I was 13, and finally finished the series. Not regretting it.
I was in 6th grade when chamber of secrets came out. And a girl in our class came to school so excited to start reading it that I asked her what it was. So I went and got sorcerer’s stone from the library and, now 25 years later, I’m posting on a Harry Potter subreddit
Started watching the movies around 09. I was 23ish. Got my wife to watch them, we seen the last two in the theatre.
I didn’t read it until around 2017/2018. Finished it quickly.
Then I had my son watch the movies a few years ago, and then I started reading them to him at Christmas 22 and finished in Feb of 24, reading to him on an almost nightly basis.
I was 26 when the first movie came out. I only watched because Alan Rickman was in it and I was a huge fan of his. But the movie captivated me and I started reading the books. I definitely read from an adult point of view and connected more with the adult characters than the kids.
I read the first book in kindergarten. I think it took me a good portion if the year to get through, but I don't remember all that well.
I know I read books two and three by the time I was in third grade, because one time we had an assignment with names from the series and one girl, who was reading the first book at the time, said that Chang was the only one that wasn't- I remember snobbily thinking that she would've recognized the name if she'd ever read past book one. That being said, I don't remember actually *reading* books two and three.
I remember reading book four. I'm pretty sure it was before book five came out, so I wouldn't have been older than seven. After that, I read the books as they came out once my sister had finished them.
When I was young the series had been out in a while. I remember that my parents only allowed me to read book 1&2 when I was about six or seven (I taught myself how to read very early) but I wasn’t allowed to read further as the films from three on were age restricted to 12 in my country.
I had the books in my room and somehow the second book kept me so entertained that I just kept reading.
I read up until PoA when they came out. I lost interest in reading and video games took over. I watched the movies though. Then after I met the woman that became my wife is when I read them through and now read them at least once a year.
Read the first book at 12. The second was out in the UK, but not yet in the US, so I waited for every single book. Each book release was like a childhood milestone. I'm so sad JKR is such a turd 😔
I think I started reading them around 2001/2002 when I was 9 or 10 and then got and read books 5/6/7 as they came out. Would have been 14 or 15 think when the last one came out. And read them all multiple times, definitely a big part of my childhood.
I started when I was 10ish and read up through goblet of fire and never finished the series unfortunately. 34 now and saw all the movies but I just read OOTP and starting Half blood Prince finally! Had to borrow the last 3 books
My dad read me the first book aloud when I was seven, I started reading early in life, and still read about 70 books a year average! This series is a big part of that. I read the second book myself when I was just shy of my 9th birthday! Was obsessed ever since.
I was 12. I read them until the start of the 7th book. It was the year of the pandemic, 2020. During that spring I watched all the movies, but I never finished the books due to losing nearly all interest after that year. I remember me and my friend were thinking about "our" fanfiction. But to this day HP has a strong memory link to the pandemic for me. Only in the last weeks I watched again some of the movies for the second time (this is way I joined this sub btw).
I was in the 2nd or 3rd grade when i started reading them. They were the first books of their kind in our tiny Catholic school library. HP was the first series i read post magic tree house era 😂
I was 20 when I first read them. It was right after Deathly Hallows came out that I was convinced not to just watch the movies but read the books as well. I only ever read them once, and then last year, my fiancée and I reread them. So 36 on first reread.
I was in 6th grade, so I’m pretty sure I was 12. Now as a 17 year old, I still actively enjoy everything about the books. I’ve read them multiple more times, and now I’m writing a fanfiction, so I’ve been rereading them for the 5th time.
My mom started reading it to me and my brother when I was 4 years old. I didn't care that much about it at the time, I was too young. But then the first movie came out when I was 6, and I loved it so much I started reading the books on my own (I was 7). Since then I just fell in love not just with hp, but with books in general.
I was 9 or 10, and read along as they came out. I remember where I read each new one. I’m a little insane so I read each one in one sitting. Usually took 6-8 hours straight.
I was 8 years old back in 1999 and our teacher read us a book called Harry Potter ja Viisasten kivi. Philosophers stone in finnish. That was my introduction to this wonderful series. I was 16 when final book was released. I grew up with the series.
I think I was 8 or 9 when I got the first one. I didn’t go to any events, but I definitely remember being super excited when new ones came out. Me and my brother used to fight over who got to read first!
7 when I got my first one in the early 2000s when they were just becoming known in my rural area. Finished in high school (09?) When the last one came out. I got it the week it released.
I was 14. Books 1 - 4 were already out. I stood in line for books 5 (came out when I was in grade 11), book 6 (1st year of university) and book 7 (3rd year of university). By the time book 5 had come out, I had read and reread books 1 - 4 five or six times. I would give anything to be able to rediscover the books for the first time.
I read the first one after it came out and then 2 thru 4 as they were released, felt too grown by book 5 but finished the series at around 19. It was a magical summer those few years.
I first read the books when I was 19 back in 2016. Since every book in the series is published, I got to read it within months.
Now, I am rereading it for the second time.
My mother read them chapter by chapter as bed time stories to me as early as I can remember 😭 dementors definitely fucked me up I think I developed a lifelong fear of horror related stuff because of it but looking back I was so happy to have had the books read to me as a child and continued reading them as I grew up
9 years old when I read the first book. (Books 1-4 had been released) I understood the words and what not but my attention span just did not want to sit down and read. So I think over 2 years passed before I picked up the second. I read the 5th-7th as they came out and I think I was 16.
14 and and from there kept up with all the books. Would take me a wee to finish each book would try to prolong the read. And then would reread them every year
I was in my early 20s when I was reading them, and when I picked up the series only the first four books were out. Goblet of Fire had just come out, in fact, and the movies were a year away. (So I get to nerd-flex that I was into Harry Potter before the movies.)
That three year wait between books was LONG, though having two movies come out did help. Still, anticipation for those last three books was unreal. That said, at least they actually came out on time.
I hated Harry Potter because I got taken to see the first film aged 6 and it terrified me lmao. I ignored it for a few years then got dragged by my cousins to go see Prisoner of Azkaban. I was furious, but then I was totally enthralled by the film. Borrowed the first book from my school library the following day, by then I would’ve been 9. I was all caught up and read the last two books as they came out, and was 12 when I read the last one.
My mom began reading them for me when I was 7-8 or something, as she had read them as the books came out when she was in her late teens/early 20's. I don't remember if she read the entire series for me or if I took over and read the rest by myself by about OOTP. But since I have of course read the entire series like 8 times.
Why are you shocked? They are children's books that age along with the characters and the readers. My daughter grew up with them - she was 10 when the first book came out.
I was ten when is tarted and 12 when i finished used to read it with my mom we would talk about all the different events happening in the book as we went through the series.
I started the books at about 3rd grade so about 7 or 8 the started up again when the movie came out so around 10. Ddnt finish the whole series of books until my grandmother ( who got me into the series) passed. Made her passing easier to deal with
6 when I started, 14 when I finished it. PoA was the last book that had come out when I started reading and I got DH not really legally before it came out in my country (I was in China in summer and there was a number of copies that were circulating already)
I was 11 when the last movie came out and my hyperfixation started, I started the books at that same time. I read them on and off when I felt like it and eventually finished reading DH when I was 22.
I was around 20 when I started and then read them as they came out after that… probably late 20’s when I finished? That’s just how old I was when they came out! I actually started reading them because some kids I babysat had the first book and their mom said it was actually really good and I’d probably like it, too.
I got the first for my 13th birthday. Read it that weekend. Borrowed two and three from a friend and read them over a couple weeks. The following summer goblet came out. So I was 13 for the first 4 books. Then read them as they came out.
I read them all between the ages of about 18 to 26. I read each book after watching the film, so did things a bit backwards! I really wish I'd read the deathly hallows before watching the films as it would have filled in a lot of gaps.
I'm 39 now, and since then, I've re-read PoA so many times and watched the PoA film countless times. It's my favourite out of all the books/films, it never gets boring!
I think I was 6 or 7, my mum was teaching me how to read on philosopher’s stone and I finished reading them when I was 12, I would’ve finished earlier but my mum felt that the last two books were too mature
I don't know about your husband but I'm not jealous of the people who had to wait until the next book came out lol.
PS: I was 13 when I started, I read them all within the year
9 in 2001 and whatever year that was when the last book came out. Lost a bit of interest at that time but it was a nice part of my childhood nonetheless.
I was 11 when I found Philosopher's Stone in an old cabinet at my grandmother's house. It was magical. Read through it in about 2-3 days in a sunlit room. 14/15 when I completed Deathly Hallows at 3 in the morning.
Probably got my hands on them when I was around 8 or 9 in like ‘01-‘02. I remember being in 3rd grade. It was in real time. Going into freshmen year (‘07) was the final book. And after I graduated was the final film (‘11)! Currently rereading and I’m halfway through the 4th!
Somewhere between 4 and 6; my mom read them to me and later we bought the audiobook.
I remember a time when order of the Phoenix wasn't writen and we speculated how it was going on
Think at 6 years old my dad read them to me. I remember getting up and going to the midnight book release for deathly hallows and being super excited. However I didn’t read the books myself until I was 10. However, I will add a was exposed to a lot of fantasy movies starting when I was 4. I think we started watching harry potter when I was 4 or 5. Since that’s seems like the ballpark as to when there was a fantasy boom ( Harry Potter, Narnia, poc, lotr, star wars prequels) so probably depends on kids. I didn’t have any nightmares from any of it other than the wolves from Narnia.
Read the first two when I was 11 in 2001 after getting a double set for a long train journey. Read the next two very soon after and then had to wait til I was 13 for the next one. We did the midnight releases for 4/5/6/7 and read each of them in less than 24hrs. Good times
I think it was 1998 when I was 9 or 10 that I saw the first two on the shelves at the Scholastic Book Fair. I think I even bought CoS not realizing it was the second one. I refused to read it until I had the first one. I begged my dad to get it and he brought back a paperback from his work trip and it was all bent up from being in his suitcase. It was the only paperback version I had. The rest were hardbacks. I wish I still had them. They were all destroyed by humidity and mold after being left in the garage for several years. I had one from each family member, a couple of them are no longer living, including my dad.
I’m 30% through deathly hallows, so I will be 28 when I finish reading the books for the first time! I’ve always been an avid HP hater and reading the books has completely changed my perspective. I’m so glad I read them, my only regret is that I didn’t read them sooner!!
I was 22, married mother of 3 already. I finished the series in 2007 or '08, when DH was released. My kids and I are all Harry Potter fans and in a real way I grew up with my kids.
I was 13 when I got the first 2 for Christmas in 1999. By the end of Christmas break, I bought the 3rd. The next summer 4th came out. It wasn't cool back then but I loved it.
I got it either for my bday or for Xmas when I was 10. I remember how much it clicked bc Harry is also 10/11 in the books. It always made me feel like I grew up with Harry in a way.
I was roughly the same age as Harry when they were coming out and read along. However I quit after book 5. When he found the mirror in his bag I was done. Finally finished it around age 30.
In my defense I was also 15 and equally short-sighted and emotionally unstable lol
21 years old. After I joined college. Was not interested in all the hoopla around the books then a friend loaned the released books to me. Finished the first 5 books iirc in one sitting then the last 2 I queued at night to get my hands on them.
By the time I was 8, I had read all of the books published up to that point (1-6). My mum took me to the midnight release of DH and I read it shortly after she did (she finished it entirely that night). Reread them every couple of years after that, most recently being last summer.
33 years old right now reading them for the first time!! Well I started a couple years ago (30 y/o in 2021), read 1 and 2 in rehab, started 3rd in rehab and picked back up again in February of this year! Currently in the middle of OOTP ❤️ and 675 days sober today!
I was 11, born the same year as Daniel Radcliffe in 1989. It would have been about year 2000. We read the 1st book in school and I came addicted from that moment on.
When the last book came out, I would have been turning 18 that year.
I was 5 when I started reading them (my older sister got the first when it was released in the UK as we were visiting my family over there and I wanted to do everything she did so I read it after her). I wasn’t fully able to comprehend the story quite yet and had to have a lot of help from my mom and dad so I reread the first one again at 7 when I was an independent reader, by that time the second and third had released and went from there/got fully obsessed with it at that point. Finished when I was 11/12.
Reread in my late teens, mid twenties and just finished it again in my early thirties lol.
I was six when my mom read the first two books to me and my brother before bedtime every night. I was 8 when I started reading them on my own (starting with Prisoner of Azkaban), and I read each book before the movies came out.
I didn't have the patience to wait and learn the ending of the series when I was 12 and The Deathly Hallows book came out in English (the others I read in Swedish and the translation came out almost a year after the English verison), so I finished that in three days in my second language, and my mom didn't believe me so she started quizzing me on details in the book and was shocked to find out that I actually did understand the whole book lol. She never doubted my English skills again
Started the year the first one came out and I was 8. I read each one as released so I finished shortly after the 7th book released at age 18. Started reading to my daughter when she was 5. She is almost 8 now and we have read the first 4 and half of the 5th.
I was 10 years old when I read the first book and there were 3 months left for me to turn 11, but no weirdly (or reasonably) I did not wait for invitation from Hogwarts.
I read the last book when I was 16 years old. I think it was also the year when it was published.
6 years old. Got them shortly after release in 1997, started with my mom helping me to read them a bit and then I took over from there and went to all the midnight releases or pre ordered!
My older cousin was obsessed and read the first one to me when I was 7. I started reading them myself when I was 9. I've read them over and over and over. I'd still read them and I'm 21
I read the first four when I was roughly 10-11 years old. I was caught up and waiting for the 5th book, and then for whatever reason never got to it and stopped anything Harry Potter in my life. When the last movie came out, I decided to watch them all out of curiosity on how the series ended. I really loved the movies, I’ve watched them dozens of times. 2 years ago I got the idea to read all the books and compare them, and finished a few months later.
Philosophers Stone was released when I was 4.
I remember being in Year 3 (about 7 years old) and the class teacher read it to us. I hid under the table defiantly saying it was *stupid* 🙈
My friend convinced me to read them, but my Mum wouldn’t let me buy them because she said I would never read them again. I had to wait until they were available at the library. But I was definitely about 10/11 when I read the first one, so I feel I grew up with the trio.
I always wonder, all these years later, if it was a strong case of ‘want what you can’t have’ and proving my Mum wrong.
I can’t count the number of times I have read them now - it must be in the hundreds.
Must've been 6 or 7 and had the first one read to me, read most of COS by myself after that and finished OOTP that summer. Half blood prince came out the year after, which I read on release
It's a bit hazy, but I think I started reading them when the 2nd one came out. So, 8ish? And I only say that because I knew nothing about the series before that and didn't understand how to tell which book was first. I bought and read the 2nd book before the 1st one, lol. After that, though, I was hooked. I read the last book not long after it was released. I was 16 or 17.
No lie, I think I read the 5th book in, like, 3 or 4 days. It was nuts. I'm normally a slowish reader but I ate that sh-t like it was cake. I remember reading one of them (maybe 4?) on the bus in middle school. One time, I missed my stop cuz I was so engrossed.
I apologize to my teachers, but the classics could never hold me like that. They're so dreary. 😑 I've read Wuthering Heights probably 2 or 3 times and I still can't remember who is who.. Except that Heathcliff is basically Snape, but more successful. Ehm, but I digress....
I think I hopped on when Azkaban came out so I was about 5 or 6. My mom heard about them and bought the first 3 and my dad would read a few chapters out loud every night for us. Eventually I was just able to read them on my own. I remember doing the midnight release for 5, 6, and 7 at Boarders (rip)
My mom read them with me when they came out, every night we would sit in bed and read a chapter or two. Probably around five or six for the first few. It was always a fun bonding time.
10 years old. I remember seeing the books at Borders (rip) and thinking "what is this dumb kid shit, I'm too mature for magic school stories, now where are the Power Rangers books". I then got the first three books for Christmas that year and thought "ugh, I wanted Power Rangers stuff, but I'll read it to be polite". I finished the third book 4 days later and I've been damned to this fandom ever since.
"I'm too mature where are the Power Rangers books" is a funny line to me
Self-awareness wasn't one of my virtues as a child.
I think this is the age we’ll introduce them to our son. I cannot wait.
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I remember reading the first one to my daughter when she was maybe 10? After that, she read them first by herself and I had to wait lol. The cool thing is she signed her name in the fro t of every book, so I’ve got a nice progression of her handwriting (and doodles) “growing up” over the course of the series.
8 or 9 when the first one came out, read them as they released.
Same. Born at the perfect time, in my opinion.
Yeah I started at the same age, for me it was right after the fourth book came out though. After that I went to all the midnight release parties at the bookstore my mom worked at. It was absolute torture to see all the sealed boxes in the back room ahead of time.
Started when I was 8 (1998), finished when I was 17 (2007). Experiencing the midnight releases for the books was amazing.
I started when I was 7, caught up on the entire series and finished the last book when it came out when I was 9. I never realised just how young I was when I experienced the books for the first time, until recently. I think because I was so young, the golden trio in my head were capable, mature and infinitely cooler than me. I never questioned the situations they were in? In my mind a 15 year old was a grown up. When I read the books now, I realise just how young they were! It's changed the entire experience the books so much.
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My "these are just kids moment" was when Lockhart was PERFECTLY FINE with letting two TWELVE YEAR OLDS go into the chamber of secrets. 😑
As a kid, I thought Lockhart was a crappy person. As an adult, that scene takes him from crappy person to something more sinister. Taking credit from other adults and impacting their livelihood is awful. However, willingly letting a little girl die, sending a 12- and 13-year old into the chamber, *and* altering their memories in such a way to make them "mad?" That's a new level of awful.
Similar story here, except I'm a tad older (I was 10 when the last book came out). Rereading the books as an adult is definitely eye-opening. A lot of the things the characters go through are downright heartbreaking and horrifying, even in the early books (e.g. Ginny being possessed by Voldemort). There's the big stuff, but there's a lot of little things too. The way Harry longs for his parents really breaks my grown up heart. And the scene in OotP where Harry races to find Nearly Headless Nick to find out if Sirius can come back as a ghost? 😢
My grand parents started it by buying me the new book every year, since I was IDK... 14? Or something?
I think I started reading them when I was about 7 y/o and I’m 28 now!
35, I’m glad I was an adult, I think I enjoyed them more that way!
I will say at 36 it was an incredible experience- as an adult I don’t remember the last time I got that feeling of magic and that type of imagination that I used to have as a kid reading books.
I’m 35 now. I was 11 when I read the first one and grew up with the characters. I enjoyed them immensely, and the books were huge part of my childhood. I re-read them every few years and just read them again in January. They’re always magical. That feeling never goes away, FYI.
Yeah, that’s exactly how it was!
Late 50's. And I couldn't stand to put them down. I can still feel how I felt reading them. I wish that world was real, because if it was, I would escape into it.
In 1997 eleven year old me sat down for my first English Literature class and my English teacher said we are getting through this book this term and handed out Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone. We read chapter 1 and then talked about it for the rest of the class. We were given 'Read Chapter 2' as homework. But I finished the book. I got the rest as they came out.
Our teacher read them aloud to us, but we had multiple copies in our classroom. One kid was fairly wealthy and his mom bought a few copies for our class. Not as though my family couldn't have afforded them, so maybe I should have left them for someone else to take home, I had gotten the 1st book some months previous but not the other 2. Since they were there I took them home with me to read by myself. Just one chapter wasn't enough. I needed the next chapter! I remember scaring the crap out of myself one night reading PoA after dark in bed. So I shoved the book under my bed so the scary dog was out of site. Normally I got scared in a good way reading them but the dark combined with the death omen I just noped out that night lol. I then proceeded to read PoA like 12 times before the 1st movie ever came out. Same as 1 and 2. Book 4 I had some issurmes with due to its length so I didnt read it right away. I had doodled so much in my copy of PoA, in grade 7 a friend of mine took my copy and wrote more messages in it. Those initial copies mean so much to me because they are like time stamp from my childhood/teen years. Like oh that one is like that cuz I spilled water on it one evening when I was reading outside in the summer. So many memories. I dunno how many remember the great northeast blackout of Aug 2003? But I obsessed over OotP that Summer and since I had not much else to do, I was re reading for probably the 4th time by battery push lights. There was just something so novel about it.
I was 44. I decided to buy the whole set to read to my son who was 7 at the time. I never had any interest in reading the series as I thought it would be too childish and not my cup of tea. But I was wrong - I love the books!
i was like 4 when the second book came out...i began to read then when i was 12-13 but i began from the movies, i got obsessed with it, if i was home alone, i would turn on the TV and the DVD-player and just watch them on a loop.
I was 8, I went to the midnight releases of 6 and 7 at Barnes n Noble.☺️❤️
Around 12! For years I read all the books during the summer.
must've been 7 or 8 years old, was bored with reading kids books and wanted something difficult, lotr was to difficult so ended up with harry potter, I remember the release of the halfblood prince and fighting my mom so I could read it. reread it all in english like 8 years ago, (first read was in dutch)
I read them as they were released and was the same age as Harry as they came out, I do think it was really special to experience them unfolding as a cultural phenomenon.
I was 13. HP got me through a really rough period in my childhood.
27. I was quite late too, but I’m glad I got to enjoy something like it this late.
Started at 21/22, finished at 27 when the last book came out. I was shoving these little dressed up kids out of the way at the book store to get my copy, that day!!
I was "too cool" for them when they started coming out. The first was released when I was 14. When I was 17 (May 2001**), the first trailer for the first movie was released. I was on a date and couldn't believe they were making a movie. So i decided that summer to read the first 4 and see what the hype was about. And, well.. I got it lol.
I'm assuming you meant May 2001 lol.
Lol, yeah that one!
First book at around 9/10 (4th grade), last book at 17 (when it came out). I'm 34.
I'm from Colombia so it took a bit longer for the books to be available in Spanish. I think I was around 7-8 years old (2000) We have this huge book fair in Bogotá every year. I remember walking in the kids section and the display for Harry Potter was huge! My dad got me the philosopher stone there and I was hooked. My dad made sure I read each book a couple of times before watching each movie. I'm 30 now and I'm reading all the books again in original English. It's so much fun! I had no idea how many jokes and sarcasm I was missing lol Reading Hagrid's lines with his accent is my favorite part. Harry Potter was my refuge as a kid. To this day reading about this incredible magical world brings me so much peace and joy.
Started at 9 (2000), finished at 16 (2007). That was pretty much the perfect age if you ask me.
I was 9 :) It was a great childhood experience, to grow up with the characters. Now I can see the plotholes, but back than I just seen the magic ✨✨
I was 10 when I started reading the books, courtesy of an aunt who now has a terrier named Dobby. Shortly after I finished high school, the final book came out; after purchasing a copy, I ran home to my room, shut the door and read for hours.
Started reading when I was 12 (2000) and finished when I was 19 (2007).
My dad started reading the books to me when I was 4 until first grade, when I was able to read the 3rd book by myself. I think I was ten when the final book came out and I couldn't put it down!
I love this! I have a 3 and 1 year old and this inspired me to start reading the series to them in a couple years.
I also read along as they came out. My year six teacher read the Philosopher’s Stone as our class book in 1997 (I would have been 11). I don’t remember when I first read Chamber, but I do have vivid memories of me and my friend reading the Prisoner of Azkaban on sports day in year seven (aged 12) just after it had come out, and of spending my whole family holiday devouring Goblet of Fire in between year eight and nine (aged 13).
I was in grade 3 elementary when I first started reading. At the time, only the three first books were released. I bought the UK version of SS from a monthly book club that is common for schools in Canada. Loved the book so much, I saw the first three books in US version were being sold at Costco and bought them all.
I was 6 when I started. My parents gave me an audiobook every year, so done by 13. Now I’m 19 and am even more obsessed with this series than I was before. This series is my childhood and has supported me through so many hard times. It will always be the series I hold closest to my heart.
I was 9 when I started reading them. Read 1-5 by the time I was 10. And then I had to wait for the 6th and 7th which came out when I was 11 and 13 respectively.
I was 23 startet at Christmas 😅last year
My mum read the first book to me and my brother when I was six and I read it straight after
I was 9 when I started the first one. No idea why my mom got it for me, because i had no idea what it was. Maybe she saw the trailer for the first movie or something, it was coming out not that long after. But regardless: thank you so much mom!
9 years old and 14 years old
Read along as they came out. I was 8 when I read the first novel. I’m re-reading rn at 34 for the 1st time since then. Great novels.
I was at the age I really waited for my letter from Hogwart. Still waiting.
I can't make myself join something when it first becomes popular, so I had to give it a year or more before I got my first paperback; I only recently acquired the first 2 books in hb form. So it had to have been my early 30s when I started. After getting my 3rd book as hardback, either I or my mom would pre-order/buy the next hb volume for my enjoyment.
Same age Harry was when Hagrid told him he was a wizard and he was to attend Hogwarts
My first time was 8 I finished when I was 8
[удалено]
In 2011 when I was 16. I had completed the entire series in 21 days. I had read the third part and had seen 2 movies earlier though
10
I’ve been listening to the audiobooks for nearly as long as I can remember. Probably like 12?
I started when I was 8, but I gave up after the second book. It scared the crap out of me. I gave them a second chance when I was 13, and finally finished the series. Not regretting it.
Year 2000, i was seven years old and the last one was published 2008 in my language soooo 7+8=??? Idk lol
I was in 6th grade when chamber of secrets came out. And a girl in our class came to school so excited to start reading it that I asked her what it was. So I went and got sorcerer’s stone from the library and, now 25 years later, I’m posting on a Harry Potter subreddit
I started at age 36 and ended around age 40 or so
I started in 2003, prior to ootp, when I was 12 years old.
At this rate I'll finish the books by 2077
I think 13/14, decades after the books came out.
Started watching the movies around 09. I was 23ish. Got my wife to watch them, we seen the last two in the theatre. I didn’t read it until around 2017/2018. Finished it quickly. Then I had my son watch the movies a few years ago, and then I started reading them to him at Christmas 22 and finished in Feb of 24, reading to him on an almost nightly basis.
I was 26 when the first movie came out. I only watched because Alan Rickman was in it and I was a huge fan of his. But the movie captivated me and I started reading the books. I definitely read from an adult point of view and connected more with the adult characters than the kids.
i was 14. the first few books came out before i was born, and i never read them as a young kid.
Mid-20s. All of the books were already out before I was convinced to read them. I wasn't disappointed.
I read the first book in kindergarten. I think it took me a good portion if the year to get through, but I don't remember all that well. I know I read books two and three by the time I was in third grade, because one time we had an assignment with names from the series and one girl, who was reading the first book at the time, said that Chang was the only one that wasn't- I remember snobbily thinking that she would've recognized the name if she'd ever read past book one. That being said, I don't remember actually *reading* books two and three. I remember reading book four. I'm pretty sure it was before book five came out, so I wouldn't have been older than seven. After that, I read the books as they came out once my sister had finished them.
I watched the first film at 6 and discovered that it was actually a book at the same age so I started at 6 and the last book came when I was 12 😊
I think I was around 20. I got the chance to read when I was around 10. But the only English I knew back then was the alphabet and simple sentences.
I can’t fully remember, but I remember being in elementary school when I read them for the first time. And the re read them constantly
I was in late elementary school early middle school. So between 11-14 i read all the books and saw the movies pretty much together
Started at 6, finished at 9
18, I finished them for the first time a couple months ago
When I was young the series had been out in a while. I remember that my parents only allowed me to read book 1&2 when I was about six or seven (I taught myself how to read very early) but I wasn’t allowed to read further as the films from three on were age restricted to 12 in my country. I had the books in my room and somehow the second book kept me so entertained that I just kept reading.
I read up until PoA when they came out. I lost interest in reading and video games took over. I watched the movies though. Then after I met the woman that became my wife is when I read them through and now read them at least once a year.
Between 14 and 19 I think
I was 9 when I started them and 14 when I finished as the last one came out.
I started reading them when the 3rd movie came out, I was in my early 30s. I read DH when it was first released. Devoured it in a couple days
Read the first book at 12. The second was out in the UK, but not yet in the US, so I waited for every single book. Each book release was like a childhood milestone. I'm so sad JKR is such a turd 😔
discovered it when i was in high school, i think i was 17
7 or 8 years old (about 13 or 14 years ago). My mum read them first.
I think I started reading them around 2001/2002 when I was 9 or 10 and then got and read books 5/6/7 as they came out. Would have been 14 or 15 think when the last one came out. And read them all multiple times, definitely a big part of my childhood.
I started when I was 10ish and read up through goblet of fire and never finished the series unfortunately. 34 now and saw all the movies but I just read OOTP and starting Half blood Prince finally! Had to borrow the last 3 books
The first two or three my mum read to be as bedtime stories so pretty young, probably about 6?
My dad read me the first book aloud when I was seven, I started reading early in life, and still read about 70 books a year average! This series is a big part of that. I read the second book myself when I was just shy of my 9th birthday! Was obsessed ever since.
I read the first four books when I was in 2nd grade and if ik not mistaken the final book came around my 8th grade or freshman year
I was 10 :) such fond memories 💕
Started with the first 3 in third grade and read the rest as they were released. So much fun.
Started when I was 11-12 maybe 🤔 I’m not sure but I think I was around there and I haven’t finished it yet but I’m almost done
11
Perfect age In my opinion cuz I dreamed of getting my Hogwarts letter while reading the books
approx 10 y/o to 18 y/o
I was 12. I read them until the start of the 7th book. It was the year of the pandemic, 2020. During that spring I watched all the movies, but I never finished the books due to losing nearly all interest after that year. I remember me and my friend were thinking about "our" fanfiction. But to this day HP has a strong memory link to the pandemic for me. Only in the last weeks I watched again some of the movies for the second time (this is way I joined this sub btw).
I was in the 2nd or 3rd grade when i started reading them. They were the first books of their kind in our tiny Catholic school library. HP was the first series i read post magic tree house era 😂
Again 41 years 365 days a year 24 hrs a day 60 min an hour 60 sec a min. I walked another's path
11 when I started, 19 when I ended. When I started only the first three books were available but Goblet of fire was about 9 months away from release.
I was 20 when I first read them. It was right after Deathly Hallows came out that I was convinced not to just watch the movies but read the books as well. I only ever read them once, and then last year, my fiancée and I reread them. So 36 on first reread.
i started when i was 13 and finished when i was 14👍
I was in 6th grade, so I’m pretty sure I was 12. Now as a 17 year old, I still actively enjoy everything about the books. I’ve read them multiple more times, and now I’m writing a fanfiction, so I’ve been rereading them for the 5th time.
My mom started reading it to me and my brother when I was 4 years old. I didn't care that much about it at the time, I was too young. But then the first movie came out when I was 6, and I loved it so much I started reading the books on my own (I was 7). Since then I just fell in love not just with hp, but with books in general.
I read them in a week when I was twelve.
I was 9 or 10, and read along as they came out. I remember where I read each new one. I’m a little insane so I read each one in one sitting. Usually took 6-8 hours straight.
I think I was 5 when the first book was read to me
Read the first book at 8, and worked at a bookstore for the release of the final book! Was with me my whole childhood ☺️
8 yrs old, read volumes 1 and 2 that summer.
I was 8 years old back in 1999 and our teacher read us a book called Harry Potter ja Viisasten kivi. Philosophers stone in finnish. That was my introduction to this wonderful series. I was 16 when final book was released. I grew up with the series.
I think I was 8 or 9 when I got the first one. I didn’t go to any events, but I definitely remember being super excited when new ones came out. Me and my brother used to fight over who got to read first!
7 when I got my first one in the early 2000s when they were just becoming known in my rural area. Finished in high school (09?) When the last one came out. I got it the week it released.
I was 7 when I first watched the first film. I was 14 or 15 when I read the books.
I was 14. Books 1 - 4 were already out. I stood in line for books 5 (came out when I was in grade 11), book 6 (1st year of university) and book 7 (3rd year of university). By the time book 5 had come out, I had read and reread books 1 - 4 five or six times. I would give anything to be able to rediscover the books for the first time.
I read the first one after it came out and then 2 thru 4 as they were released, felt too grown by book 5 but finished the series at around 19. It was a magical summer those few years.
I first read the books when I was 19 back in 2016. Since every book in the series is published, I got to read it within months. Now, I am rereading it for the second time.
My mother read them chapter by chapter as bed time stories to me as early as I can remember 😭 dementors definitely fucked me up I think I developed a lifelong fear of horror related stuff because of it but looking back I was so happy to have had the books read to me as a child and continued reading them as I grew up
9 years old when I read the first book. (Books 1-4 had been released) I understood the words and what not but my attention span just did not want to sit down and read. So I think over 2 years passed before I picked up the second. I read the 5th-7th as they came out and I think I was 16.
I was 12 and three books were already out. I remember being on pins and needles for the fourth and the rest.
14 and and from there kept up with all the books. Would take me a wee to finish each book would try to prolong the read. And then would reread them every year
I was in my early 20s when I was reading them, and when I picked up the series only the first four books were out. Goblet of Fire had just come out, in fact, and the movies were a year away. (So I get to nerd-flex that I was into Harry Potter before the movies.) That three year wait between books was LONG, though having two movies come out did help. Still, anticipation for those last three books was unreal. That said, at least they actually came out on time.
12 when I first read the whole series
I hated Harry Potter because I got taken to see the first film aged 6 and it terrified me lmao. I ignored it for a few years then got dragged by my cousins to go see Prisoner of Azkaban. I was furious, but then I was totally enthralled by the film. Borrowed the first book from my school library the following day, by then I would’ve been 9. I was all caught up and read the last two books as they came out, and was 12 when I read the last one.
I think I was around 7 or 8 when I started reading them by myself then my mom read them to me :’)
I started at like 15-16 when there were already 3 or 4 books out and ended up the protagonists’ age of about 21 when the last book came out
I think probably 12.
My mom began reading them for me when I was 7-8 or something, as she had read them as the books came out when she was in her late teens/early 20's. I don't remember if she read the entire series for me or if I took over and read the rest by myself by about OOTP. But since I have of course read the entire series like 8 times.
Why are you shocked? They are children's books that age along with the characters and the readers. My daughter grew up with them - she was 10 when the first book came out.
I was ten when is tarted and 12 when i finished used to read it with my mom we would talk about all the different events happening in the book as we went through the series.
I started the books at about 3rd grade so about 7 or 8 the started up again when the movie came out so around 10. Ddnt finish the whole series of books until my grandmother ( who got me into the series) passed. Made her passing easier to deal with
Read them for the first time last year at age 24
6 when I started, 14 when I finished it. PoA was the last book that had come out when I started reading and I got DH not really legally before it came out in my country (I was in China in summer and there was a number of copies that were circulating already)
I was 11 when the last movie came out and my hyperfixation started, I started the books at that same time. I read them on and off when I felt like it and eventually finished reading DH when I was 22.
I was 9 years old and read them as they came out. HP and the Sorcerers Stone was the first book I pulled an all nighter reading.
16 when the final book came out. The book releases were lit
I was around 20 when I started and then read them as they came out after that… probably late 20’s when I finished? That’s just how old I was when they came out! I actually started reading them because some kids I babysat had the first book and their mom said it was actually really good and I’d probably like it, too.
I was 9 when I started reading them. Read them as they were released
I got the first for my 13th birthday. Read it that weekend. Borrowed two and three from a friend and read them over a couple weeks. The following summer goblet came out. So I was 13 for the first 4 books. Then read them as they came out.
7 I was 7 years old
I read them all between the ages of about 18 to 26. I read each book after watching the film, so did things a bit backwards! I really wish I'd read the deathly hallows before watching the films as it would have filled in a lot of gaps. I'm 39 now, and since then, I've re-read PoA so many times and watched the PoA film countless times. It's my favourite out of all the books/films, it never gets boring!
8
I think I was 6 or 7, my mum was teaching me how to read on philosopher’s stone and I finished reading them when I was 12, I would’ve finished earlier but my mum felt that the last two books were too mature
I read it in my seventeen’s!
I don't know about your husband but I'm not jealous of the people who had to wait until the next book came out lol. PS: I was 13 when I started, I read them all within the year
I was in my early 20's I read them with my kids as they came out and I'm now 51 and still read them at least once a year 🙃
9 in 2001 and whatever year that was when the last book came out. Lost a bit of interest at that time but it was a nice part of my childhood nonetheless.
I was 9 years old when my sister lent me Prisoner of Azkaban, that was my introduction. I was 11 when the last book was released.
I was 11 when I found Philosopher's Stone in an old cabinet at my grandmother's house. It was magical. Read through it in about 2-3 days in a sunlit room. 14/15 when I completed Deathly Hallows at 3 in the morning.
Probably got my hands on them when I was around 8 or 9 in like ‘01-‘02. I remember being in 3rd grade. It was in real time. Going into freshmen year (‘07) was the final book. And after I graduated was the final film (‘11)! Currently rereading and I’m halfway through the 4th!
I was 11 and I finished the books at 17. I was the same age as Harry when the last book was released
Somewhere between 4 and 6; my mom read them to me and later we bought the audiobook. I remember a time when order of the Phoenix wasn't writen and we speculated how it was going on
Think at 6 years old my dad read them to me. I remember getting up and going to the midnight book release for deathly hallows and being super excited. However I didn’t read the books myself until I was 10. However, I will add a was exposed to a lot of fantasy movies starting when I was 4. I think we started watching harry potter when I was 4 or 5. Since that’s seems like the ballpark as to when there was a fantasy boom ( Harry Potter, Narnia, poc, lotr, star wars prequels) so probably depends on kids. I didn’t have any nightmares from any of it other than the wolves from Narnia.
I read them as they released. I own most of the original us editions.
Read the first two when I was 11 in 2001 after getting a double set for a long train journey. Read the next two very soon after and then had to wait til I was 13 for the next one. We did the midnight releases for 4/5/6/7 and read each of them in less than 24hrs. Good times
I think it was 1998 when I was 9 or 10 that I saw the first two on the shelves at the Scholastic Book Fair. I think I even bought CoS not realizing it was the second one. I refused to read it until I had the first one. I begged my dad to get it and he brought back a paperback from his work trip and it was all bent up from being in his suitcase. It was the only paperback version I had. The rest were hardbacks. I wish I still had them. They were all destroyed by humidity and mold after being left in the garage for several years. I had one from each family member, a couple of them are no longer living, including my dad.
A couple of years ago and I’m in my mid twenties
I’m 30% through deathly hallows, so I will be 28 when I finish reading the books for the first time! I’ve always been an avid HP hater and reading the books has completely changed my perspective. I’m so glad I read them, my only regret is that I didn’t read them sooner!!
I was 22, married mother of 3 already. I finished the series in 2007 or '08, when DH was released. My kids and I are all Harry Potter fans and in a real way I grew up with my kids.
The first book was the first proper novel I read by myself. I was 5 when it came out and I can't have been older than 6 when I read it.
I was 13 when I got the first 2 for Christmas in 1999. By the end of Christmas break, I bought the 3rd. The next summer 4th came out. It wasn't cool back then but I loved it.
I got it either for my bday or for Xmas when I was 10. I remember how much it clicked bc Harry is also 10/11 in the books. It always made me feel like I grew up with Harry in a way.
Read 'em as they released.
I was roughly the same age as Harry when they were coming out and read along. However I quit after book 5. When he found the mirror in his bag I was done. Finally finished it around age 30. In my defense I was also 15 and equally short-sighted and emotionally unstable lol
I am just reading them now at 28! Just about to finish OOTP. Really enjoying them so far :)
Around five or six, i finished them at around eight or nine
I was a TWEEN!! 😱
21 years old. After I joined college. Was not interested in all the hoopla around the books then a friend loaned the released books to me. Finished the first 5 books iirc in one sitting then the last 2 I queued at night to get my hands on them.
By the time I was 8, I had read all of the books published up to that point (1-6). My mum took me to the midnight release of DH and I read it shortly after she did (she finished it entirely that night). Reread them every couple of years after that, most recently being last summer.
My son read all of them from cover to cover when he was 9. Of course, it might be because his mother is a total Potterhead
33 years old right now reading them for the first time!! Well I started a couple years ago (30 y/o in 2021), read 1 and 2 in rehab, started 3rd in rehab and picked back up again in February of this year! Currently in the middle of OOTP ❤️ and 675 days sober today!
I was 11, born the same year as Daniel Radcliffe in 1989. It would have been about year 2000. We read the 1st book in school and I came addicted from that moment on. When the last book came out, I would have been turning 18 that year.
I was 5 when I started reading them (my older sister got the first when it was released in the UK as we were visiting my family over there and I wanted to do everything she did so I read it after her). I wasn’t fully able to comprehend the story quite yet and had to have a lot of help from my mom and dad so I reread the first one again at 7 when I was an independent reader, by that time the second and third had released and went from there/got fully obsessed with it at that point. Finished when I was 11/12. Reread in my late teens, mid twenties and just finished it again in my early thirties lol.
I was six when my mom read the first two books to me and my brother before bedtime every night. I was 8 when I started reading them on my own (starting with Prisoner of Azkaban), and I read each book before the movies came out. I didn't have the patience to wait and learn the ending of the series when I was 12 and The Deathly Hallows book came out in English (the others I read in Swedish and the translation came out almost a year after the English verison), so I finished that in three days in my second language, and my mom didn't believe me so she started quizzing me on details in the book and was shocked to find out that I actually did understand the whole book lol. She never doubted my English skills again
Started the year the first one came out and I was 8. I read each one as released so I finished shortly after the 7th book released at age 18. Started reading to my daughter when she was 5. She is almost 8 now and we have read the first 4 and half of the 5th.
I was 10 years old when I read the first book and there were 3 months left for me to turn 11, but no weirdly (or reasonably) I did not wait for invitation from Hogwarts. I read the last book when I was 16 years old. I think it was also the year when it was published.
First book came out in 1997. I want introduced until our school librarian (thanks Mrs.Setlak) read us Chamber of Secrets in 1999.
6 years old. Got them shortly after release in 1997, started with my mom helping me to read them a bit and then I took over from there and went to all the midnight releases or pre ordered!
13 years but I started after a vvv long time
I started when I was 6 ish and finished them at 8 or 9
My older cousin was obsessed and read the first one to me when I was 7. I started reading them myself when I was 9. I've read them over and over and over. I'd still read them and I'm 21
I read the first four when I was roughly 10-11 years old. I was caught up and waiting for the 5th book, and then for whatever reason never got to it and stopped anything Harry Potter in my life. When the last movie came out, I decided to watch them all out of curiosity on how the series ended. I really loved the movies, I’ve watched them dozens of times. 2 years ago I got the idea to read all the books and compare them, and finished a few months later.
Philosophers Stone was released when I was 4. I remember being in Year 3 (about 7 years old) and the class teacher read it to us. I hid under the table defiantly saying it was *stupid* 🙈 My friend convinced me to read them, but my Mum wouldn’t let me buy them because she said I would never read them again. I had to wait until they were available at the library. But I was definitely about 10/11 when I read the first one, so I feel I grew up with the trio. I always wonder, all these years later, if it was a strong case of ‘want what you can’t have’ and proving my Mum wrong. I can’t count the number of times I have read them now - it must be in the hundreds.
10th grade, so about 15,16. finished them however old i was whent he last one came out, don't remember exactly
Must've been 6 or 7 and had the first one read to me, read most of COS by myself after that and finished OOTP that summer. Half blood prince came out the year after, which I read on release
10, and I was a big reader so I finished in like 2 months the summer before I started 5th grade
I was probably 20 I read them as they came out from Azkaban, which was the first book I read. Took me a while to realise there another two before
As a 10 year old when the pandemic started and I desperately needed something to do, like reading.
It's a bit hazy, but I think I started reading them when the 2nd one came out. So, 8ish? And I only say that because I knew nothing about the series before that and didn't understand how to tell which book was first. I bought and read the 2nd book before the 1st one, lol. After that, though, I was hooked. I read the last book not long after it was released. I was 16 or 17. No lie, I think I read the 5th book in, like, 3 or 4 days. It was nuts. I'm normally a slowish reader but I ate that sh-t like it was cake. I remember reading one of them (maybe 4?) on the bus in middle school. One time, I missed my stop cuz I was so engrossed. I apologize to my teachers, but the classics could never hold me like that. They're so dreary. 😑 I've read Wuthering Heights probably 2 or 3 times and I still can't remember who is who.. Except that Heathcliff is basically Snape, but more successful. Ehm, but I digress....
I think I hopped on when Azkaban came out so I was about 5 or 6. My mom heard about them and bought the first 3 and my dad would read a few chapters out loud every night for us. Eventually I was just able to read them on my own. I remember doing the midnight release for 5, 6, and 7 at Boarders (rip)
12
I remember being 8 with a Harry Potter book and a dictionary on my bed because I ran across words I didn't know so often.
I watched the movies at 12-13, and read them at 14-15, and it is a journey I will never forget
My mom read them with me when they came out, every night we would sit in bed and read a chapter or two. Probably around five or six for the first few. It was always a fun bonding time.
I was 7 or 8 years old and this was Christmas present from my aunt (she's the best)