So, when I was a kid I loved reading, I have basically loved reading since I learned how. So, with that you probably think I started reading Harry Potter as soon as book 1 came out and I've followed it until book 7 and watched all the movies as soon as they came out. That would be both right and wrong. I did watch all of the movies as soon as they came out because my Mom loved Harry Potter and she would constantly try and get me to read it. However, at that age I was very much a hipster and I only wanted to read unknown books so I could say how great these books were that nobody knew *rolls eyes at my past self*. I was a big silly back then. So, I never read the books until they all had come out and the Order of the Phoenix movie was releasing, but I'll get back to that.
Now, you might be wondering how watching the first movie didn't instantly make me want to read all of the books. I was such a big hipster I just didn't want to read the books, I wanted to hate the story. So, when I went to the theaters with my Mom instead of watching it I took a nap. Now put down those pitchforks and torches, you must remember I was very young at this time. I was like 4. Heck, I watched the first movie before I turned into that hipster reader, or even a reader, that came later, like when I was 7. But for all of the movies until the fifth I didn't really pay attention because I didn't want to like it *rolls eyes so hard at my past self*.
Then when I was like 10 or 11 I went to daycare during the day. The lady who ran the daycare was another huge reader and Harry Potter fan. When she learned I had never read the Harry Potter series even though I was a fellow book nerd she was determined to get me to read them. I finally accepted when she offered to lend me her copies which I knew was a big deal because she coveted her first edition hardcovers, she wouldn't let anyone near them let alone borrow them. So, I went home and read them all in less than two weeks. All seven books in less than 14 days, I powered through them, even the Order of the Pheonix. Looking back at it now I wish I took my time because I read them so fast that I really didn't get an understanding for the story. I read them fast not necessarily because I was in love but because I wanted to say I read them all in two weeks *urggg, I did not like past reader me*. So Because I had such a vendetta against them for so many years and because I read them so fast, I didn't fall in love with the story when I finished the series *hides behind my desk to avoid the pitchforks *. I was so determined to be outside the norm that I forced myself to hate them.
Looking back now I am really annoyed with my past self. I was such a big silly because a couple of years later between the Deathly Hallows movies I had this urge to re-read the series so I could understand what was happening better. When I did this I was over my hipster phase and I went into the re-read with a clear head and low expectations because I just remembered not really liking the books. I instantly feel in love with book 1 and again read them all in like 3 weeks, but this time it was because I was in love and I read them slow enough to grasp a lot more information. It was at this time that I realized what a hipster I once was and how I kind of forced myself not to like this series. I got so freaking mad at myself when I realized this because the movies were almost all over and I felt like no one would want to talk to me about Harry Potter anymore. I felt like I missed the Hogwarts Express and I was screwed. Obviously I was wrong *gestures to Harry Potter month* and I am so glad I was because I love Harry Potter so much and it would suck if I couldn't really talk about it with anyone!
That was my long story of how I was introduced to HP and went from hating to loving it.
Happy Reading
