Harry Potter, Fanfiction, and Fandoms

My first experience with fanfiction, as I said in class, was Harry Potter. At the time, I really had no idea what I was getting into or even what it was called. I can’t even tell you where I found it. I have no idea. I wasn’t really on any fan sites all that much. But I do remember reading it and feeling really conflicted. Fanfiction is a really great outlet for creative expression and for interaction with a text. I think it’s a healthy way for people to get involved in a fandom — not that there are a lot of unhealthy ways…but I’m sure there are…I don’t know. 

I was conflicted because I was afraid that it would ruin the books for me, even more than a movie adaptation of a book ever could. Because it’s something that could happen, but it doesn’t. It’s not canon. I didn’t like that. I was under the impression that canon was important and anything else is just wrong and not worth my time. But, I liked it, too. It was a really weird place for me to be. I’m almost positive it was a Draco/Hermione fanfic. At the very least, it was Hermione. And I read it. And I read some more. And then, I eventually forgot about fanfiction. 

I still don’t really read it. I’ll read those short little blurbs on Tumblr. You know, the “what if Sherlock…” or “CAN YOU IMAGINE IF LESTRADE…” (I do love my Sherlock) I still feel slightly guilty about reading things that aren’t canon. It’s just weird. It’s not “right.” But, then I’ll read something that is really interesting and well-written, and I wonder if I’m just overreacting. Maybe I’m too conventional about my fandoms. 

I also remember, way back when, that there was a fan video that I really liked. It was a Hermione/Ron/Harry love triangle video. I loved it. And that is, in a way, fanfiction. This is the video: 

I am only slightly ashamed that I loved this as much as I did. It also made me want to watch all the movies they used to clips: Ballet Shoes (which I love!) and Driving Lessons (which I also love!) 

I also remember seeing a lot of artwork for Harry Potter ships. I mean a lot. I can picture a Hermione/Draco one in my head. I wish I had kept these in links somewhere. 

Harry Potter was, probably, the first real fandom that I was a part of. I spent so much time on mugglenet.com and watching videos and listening to Tom Felton’s music — I bought a few. They’re really good. And now, when I listen to them, all I can think of is Harry Potter, my experience watching and reading them way back when, and all the other movies. I just loved Harry Potter so much — I still do. 

I don’t know what it is about Harry Potter, but it has a massive effect on the fans. It’s been a while since the last movie came out, and there is still so much hype and so many new things coming out on Tumblr, and I can’t imagine that it’ll fade away for a long time. 

I think that the Harry Potter fandom also had a direct and huge impact on other fandoms. I feel like it is one of the earliest fandoms for people around my age and is the reason that things like The Hunger Games and Twilight had such huge and vocal followers. It revolutionized the fandom. 

Harry Potter rules!

Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone

en.wikipedia.org

When we were talking about the first book in class I described how I felt that I have to force my way through this text. Which is true, but I didn't mean that I don't like the story. I find the first book to be slow and hard to read, but I also think it is completely necessary to the rest of the series.

 It took me a while to get into the series because I started with Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone. I tried numerous times to read it, but couldn't do it. I eventually stared with the fourth book, Goblet of Fire, and felt the text begin to speed up, and the situations mature a little, which made it easier for me to read. I went back and read all the books starting at the beginning, and found that I liked the first one as part of a collective story. I liked how we can see from the beginning who characters are, and their relationships with one another, which then allows readers to see how those relationships evolve.

I ended up really loving the series, and would place The Sorcerer's Stone in my top three favorite behind the Order of the Phoenix (my second favorite), and my first favorite, The Prisoner of Azkaban.

http://creativityscorner.net

The Harry Potter Experience

Why do we Like Harry Potter? There’s magic, it’s an underdog story, battling of good and evil, but there have been a lot of books contain the same elements and have not reached Harry Potters popularity. I think a reason that this story has become so popular is the experience it provides in the book, and the opportunities to experience the story in our Muggle world.

The Harry Potter series create a world that is magical, but still relatable enough that it can draw in an audience. The students have high school problems. They have sports and clubs, and worry about tests. The society they live in is a lot like ours with banks and shopping but enhanced with magic. There is a feeling that the Wizarding world is not far away from ours. The students' experience, not with magic, is not that distance from what most of us have gone through in high school or understand.

http://giphy.com/gifs/aJICYlVnr6yBy

http://leicesterlovegoods.tumblr.com/page/3
Quidditch

http://evgeniasummer.deviantart.com/art/Hermione-GIF-195599689

The fun thing about Harry Potter is that we people have really been invited into that world, and not just through reading the texts. So much has been created so fans and other people can experience the ideas of the world. We want to identify ourselves by the house we might belong to, and Pottermore provides us with that source helping to feel more connected with the characters and houses. I talked about it in class, but the park at Universal really was an experience and I suggest everyone go at some point. It was so much fun walking around into the stores and shops that you read about it and seeing this world that has been created. The rides were fun, but the atmosphere was what was really special about the park.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lO8ulaMnM70/
Hogsmeade

http://goldarina-wallace.tumblr.com/post/21393464536
Pottermore

I think all the outside influences of websites, fanfictions, shopping, the park, and Quidditch is what has made the Harry Potter series remain popular, and not be as easily forgotten. It’s not a passive story we read, but a world that fans can be actively engaged in imaginative ways.

http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/File:OWL_carrying_a_message.gif

Sorting Myself

http://86bb71d19d3bcb79effc-d9e6924a0395cb1b5b9f03b7640d26eb.r91.cf1.rackcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/lego-harry-potter-house-crest-locations-guide.jpg

I decided to finally take a quiz to see which house I’d be sorted into at Hogwarts… Well, I went a little overboard and took a total of 4 quizzes to see if I was consistently placed in the same house. I assumed I would be placed into Hufflepuff…remembering my life from high school where I was a bit of a lovable outcast and pretty average overall.

I took my 1st test at www.TheAlmightyGuru.com and got Gryffindor! I wasn’t expecting this…I’m not particularly brave or adventurous. But hey, maybe I would be in the right situation…

I then took my 2^nd sorting quiz at www.BuzzFeed.com and got Slytherin. I am totally ok with this. I do feel I am ambitious, but I am fairly morally centered. I do look out for me and my needs first and foremost and I think it is perfectly fine to behave this way.

I figured the 3^rd test would be the deciding factor…I’d find out if I’m a true Gryffindor or Slytherin… but after taking a quiz at http://quizzes.familyeducation.com/ I was placed into Ravenclaw. Now, I do mean to toot my own horn, and I very much like to think I am an intelligent person. I love learning and deciding to go back to school to finish my degree was the best decision I ever made. I love school. I love knowing things. I love knowing things other people don’t even more. I’m known at my office as a “know-it-all” and I’ve been told I occasionally lord my intelligence over people…but it’s not my fault if other people are stupid or feel stupid after talking with me.

Now obligated to take a 4^th (and decidedly last quiz) I went to http://www.allthetests.com/. I finally got a placed in the same house as one of the other quizzes… as it turns out I am in fact a Ravenclaw. 

http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2011/259/0/c/mug_black_ravenclaw_by_lost_in_hogwarts-d4a0528.png

Snitches

            So while I am not much of a Harry Potter fan, I could see myself following Quidditch matches. It is just such a bizarre but intricate and strategically complex game. Oddly enough, game in the books (or rather the one book I read) did not strike me the same way. It just seemed like the magical companion of rugby. Of course wizards would have a sport that involves flying and abnormally dangerous elements. It seemed to me that the game was designed to give Harry an important position. The game only ends when the snitch is caught, only the seeker can catch it, and oh the snitch is worth so many points that the team that catches it usually wins. So why is the rest of the game there?  Did there just need to be a field of twelve other players who divert attention from snitch chasing?

Out of book Quidditch (which I really want to call Muggle Quidditch, but I think I would be wrong and probably insult a bunch of players) The best explanation of the game I found is actually the documenter posted on Black Board. Catching the snitch is no longer such an advantage, and means that the seeker has to time his catch to make sure his team has the upper hand when the game ends. Also by making the snitch a person it adds a dynamic to the community. The snitch is a one man team that the fans are just as ready to applaud as any other. Here is a video of an exceptional snitch. What he does is cool, but I enjoyed the way the crowd is in league with him.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JYbLDwfGPE

I tried to put this in the post but my internet hates me.