hey everyone. i used to be the biggest HP fan in my whole school but now im not as into it as i used to be. could this be just a stage for me? does anyone here think Harry Potter is just s stage?

I think that the obsessions can dwindle, yes, but I don't think that liking something ever does. I obsessed over the X-Files at one point...and Queen and Star Trek and The 10th Kingdom and numerous other things, but now I just think that they're all really good. I watch them if they're on, I'll never get rid of my CD's/DVD's and 'One Vision' and 'The Show Must Go On'.....and 'Those Were the Days' actually....they all still give me shivers and they always will, but the magic has gone, you know? Pardon the pun...

Obsessions come and go, but if you truly like something, I think you always will have a soft spot for it. If not, then I would question both why you liked it in the first place and if you ever truly liked it at all.

If that makes sense...

That makes perfect sense, Louise...

What you said was spot-on, couldn't have worded it better myself. The obsession definitely dwindles as/if other "new obsessions" come along () and/or life starts to take it's toll on you with work/studies/personal matters...it's only natural, mate.

I think it was that period of waiting for OotP that my HP craze started to decrease. HP sorta hit a "dry patch" in my life and even in the media itself. There was no movie, no books, no news to look forward to for awhile then, I recall. And then when OotP came out that's when I started becoming active in here and from then on, the fanatic fan in me slowly but surely started mounting again. By the time PoA the movie released, I was back in all my over-obsessed-with-HP glory.

And now that I'm a Mod in here, I can say I practically live and breathe HP and to answer your question, for me personally, no I don't think this is a phase for me. Maybe when the series is finished, all the movies out, and the HP craze has settled down...when I've finally grown up (eeek!! noooo!! NEVER!! )...my obsession for it may subside, but I don't think I'll ever truly fall out of love with HP.

As Louise has pointed out, obsessions come and go but if you truly loved something and has such an incredible passion for it, the degree of obsession may decrease, and you may even move on to other things, but you will always have a soft spot for it.

Btw Louise, I used to be a crazed X-Files fan too...

And RG'sBabe...I hope the same fate has not become of The Phantom Of The Opera too...has it??

I think that's why I never try to become too obsessive about anything. I end up burning out on it, and it's hard to get back into it. I like to say that I've always had a fairly "healthy" relationship with Harry Potter, which I think helps me be able to continually adore everything about it.

Dana_Scully is aka Louise, JD... You didn't think that doomed_renascence (referring to your post in Happy Birthday!) and Dana were their real names did you?!

Sorry 'bout that, just helping JD out of his confusion Back on topic now!!

I kinda alternate between Harry Potter and LOTR phases, although this HP one has lasted for 3/4 of a year now, and with HBP and GOF the movie, coming out this year, i cant see me becoming less obsessed!
Everything is a stage, but to repeat, if you really like something, surely you will always like it, you might not be as scarily obsessed, but that doesnt mean you wont enjoy reading Harry Potter!

I don't think so at least not for me . I find it stress releiveing to dissapear in another world for hours on end

ok i figured this out. it was basically a phase for me that had lasted about 2-3 years. now im into LOTR and POTC but i still like HP, just not as much as before. thanks for helping guys! well then...

Yes, it's a stage in life you grow up with. Remember our forefathers have different stages: Era of jazz, rock'n roll, Maryln Monroe, the Beatles, superhero comics, Elvis Priestley.
Harry Potter is unique because it has books and movies that coming out very close. Star Wars only came out as movies. LOTR books were old. HP is fresh.

I've been thinking about this a lot lately, as I've been in the process of doing a huge clean up at home. I don't tend to jump on the fan bandwagon all that much- I've never really had band or singer posters and gear, I've had actors that have been pretty consistent over time and then I love hockey, LOTR and got into Harry Potter several years ago.

Hockey and LOTR though have been my collectables. I've got autographed pictures, shirts etc etc. During my cleanup I finally parted with some of the items. I've still got my autographed things- would never trade them if I can financially afford it!- however things that really don't seem to matter as much, action figures, a few shirts I never wear etc- just didn't seem worth hanging on to.

Which then got me thinking to Harry Potter. I've been a huge fan of this, dreamt up various fanfic etc, however never really became a collector outside of media. I've got at least two copies of each book plus the audio cds and DVDs.... but nothing else really. But have at times looked at things like jewellry or the dolls, collectable trinkets, watches etc and seriously considered buying them at times. So started thinking about how much of that stuff would be getting chucked out in 5 or 10 years time.

I think that I will always be a HP fan- the books and movies are great. But in terms of the other things.... yeh, that side of it probably is a stage. I can't imagine still having Harry Potter collector tins or a poster up on my walls in 10 years time. Which doesn't devalue what it is, but just to say that the non-lasting things, the fads that come and go- would eventually go for me.

i have never been able to part with any of my old obsessions. when i was little i was completly obbsessed with 101dalmations to the point when i saved up 600 dollars (i was 11) and borrowed 600 dollars of my nan to buy a dalmation puppy (which died a little while ago ) my room was painted in dalmation print and i had every colection item you could imagine... but when i got into harry potter my harry potter posters went up over my dalmation print and mum told me to chuck out my dalmation items to make way for my growing harry potter ones, but i couldnt do it! i wanted them because it represented a time in my life and i wanted to pass the toys on to my kids, i no its silly, it wasnt even because i still loved the dalmations it was just what it represented!...so now all my dalmation things are in boxes i still go through them and smile but they arent on display like they use to be. i supose one day my harry potter stuff will be in boxes but not untill my mum want to redo my room at home (i have just moved out) because i cant put up harry potter posters in my apartment my boy friend wouldnt allow it, but i have a plan i will ask him if i can decorate the house however i want and get a harry potter picture painted in the dinning room *evil laugh*

well it could be a stage for some people maybe you found something else better. but it is not a stage for me because well i was in love with Harry Potter since the first book came out and i am still in love with harry potter it is amazing. and it will stick to me for the rest of my like it is a story you can't forget.

I think some things for some people are just stages. I really doubt that Harry Potter is just a stage for me. It has taught me so much and I can hardly imagine completely replacing it with something else when and if I got bored with it.
I can not predict the future, however.

I don't think it's a stage. I've loved it for 6 years and i still will. I recently gave the first book to my dad to read and he loved it as well! And he's middle aged, so i think if people really like HP then they will always love it.

It is possible that some people are only into harry potter as a fad thing. However, I do not believe it to be a stage. No more than i consider shakespeare to be a stage, or Kipling, or Frost, or Shelley, and least of all Poe and Twain. I think that Harry Potter will stay a classic, even when the fad has worn on..it will remain a classic...and a classic never dies. So no, I do not consider Harry Potter a stage!

You know, I found myself asking this question about 2 years ago. I was starting to lose interest in Harry Potter after being obsessed since like Grade 4. But the thing I figured out was that as soon as something new came out, a book or a movie, I got more excited. I think the reason my interest dwindled was because I had run out of things to be obsessed about. I mean you can only read the books, and talk in length about it, and watch the movies, and theorize about it so many times. It's like you run out of material. But I definately know for me, it isn't a stage. I may have lost interest from time to time, but in the end, I always remembered what I loved about it, and went back to it.

Nope. Not a stage.
I became a fan when I was seven. My parents, their friends, uncles, basically, all adults who knew me said, "don't worry, you'll get over that book in another month." My stepdad said that it was just a fad that would be forgotten over time. Nobody was supportive. Everyone just thought it was cute that such a little girl sat with her nose in such a big book. Years passed, and I'm twelve. I've been a fan for nearing six years. I'm already five years late in "getting over" HP. Who says I won't be ten or twenty more years late?

i use to say it was a stage to all my friends who like hp in middle school
but then ever since i started reading it i realized it wasn't a stage i mean i agree with Usagi hp is now a classic! i mean i've liked it for 4 years now and i don't think i'll ever stop liking it! just like i've never stopped like many other books!
i know that my parents wish i was just a stage but they've realized it isn't! lol

okay so i have only read the first few posts...sorry...
i think in essance everything is a "stage"...some "stages" just last longer than others i mean Harry Potter is something we all love now..something we are involved in but i think later in life we won't be as involved/interested as after theall the films are done. awards are dished out and the theme park has been opened a for a few years the excitment (for some of us) will die down.
remember Lord of the Rings? look at it now. no so much as a mention. i was (in essance i am still) a big fan. i loved the books, the films, everything about it! and now thedays where we and my cousion would chat forever about it are gone. i still remember t, but its not as a big thing to me as it used to be.
i think (in time) the same will happen to Harry Potter. but that's just my opinion.

I agree with you K.Lupin_werewolf, I likes Harry Potter since I was about 6-7? I'm not sure, well, I'm 13 and I'm still very interested in it. Though there was one point when I wasn't too into it. It was earlier this year, or last year, or something like that. But I didn't even mention Harry Potter, sort of just dropped out of my life for a few months, now I'm back and better than ever!! No one really said it's a faze, or stage or whatever, they weren't very suppotive either.... I don't think they knew But know they do!!!!! For Sure!!!!!

Nicely put panicattackx. I agree. I mean there was a time a couple years ago before HBP I wasn't thinking about it as much. But since last summer I've been totally HP obsessed.
For me three big stages were Sailor Moon, Pokemon, and, X-Men. I don't liek the first two anymore. With X-men I still Like it, look for news whatever but I'm not as obsessed. With HP I've liked it forever even if I wasn't totally obsessed thinking everday about it.

SO no I don't think HP is a stage. I thikn I'll read them forever, then read them to my kids.

yeah for me there are times when im really into it(on the forums etc) and then ill cool down..but ive never stopped loving it.

I think that when the movies came out, people really started to get into HP...things just ran into each other...

Now that the last book is out, I definitely think that in a few years (at the most) HP will just be another series out of 200 in USA.

For Example, Lord of the Rings. Look where it was and where it is now. The Movies Brought the phase back. When movies were done, the phase ended!

When the movies (and now the books) for Harry Potter are finished, we (the USA) will learn to forget the world of HP.

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Hm. Well. When I was Little I used to be obssessed with the Power Puff Girls.
Of cource now i'm older and Harry Potter is like for everyone.

Lets see. You are probably just getting older and after so many years of the same thing it gets old. Plus the 7th book is out now. After a while everyone will get tired. It might be a stage Maybe you'll start to get more excited about it when the sixth movie comes out

i dont consider harry potter as a stage. i consider it more as a life long friend. i think that, as we get older, we kind of move on from hp. you know, we get busy with shool and friends and family. every summer i would be totally obsessed with harry potter. but when school starts, i kind of drift away from it, kind of like we do with childhood. but even when i get a family and have kids, and someday get old, i will never forget my childhood friend, harry potter.



long live the classic harry potter!

well, i too am in the same situation...but a lot of my friends are just now getting really into it, so i am trying to get back into it. On http://www.facebook.com/ there is a trivia application, and i am working my way through that. I have found that people submit their own questions and answers, and its the things that you least pay attention to that are asked about. It really helps to get back into the swing of things. It can be a phase, but only if you want it to be!

For me, I've been in love with the HP world since I was introduced to it. I get more obsessed when the new books or movies come out, but the interest is still there. I think it's like having a really good friend. You have times when you're closer, and times when you're distant. But, through it all, you're still friends.

Well, I think that is definitely a different perspective than the norm...

I agree and disagree with you, Silver Doe....it is like a friend, in the sense that one feels a very personal connection to HP and friends, but then again, it seems that the longer that HP stays around, the more burnt out on it people get. I understand both arguments and I still stay with what I said before. It can be a phase, but only if you want it to be.

It is sort of like a stage, for me too, I guess. My Harry Potter obssession is strong at times, and not so strong at other times. But I guess it's just like every other thing I got obsessed with: Pokemon, YuGiOh, Disney Channel, etc.
Right now, Harry Potter is the best thing there is for me. I know that I'll get addicted to something else as time progresses, but I will always like Harry Potter!

I kinda agree...i do not DISlike any previous fads, but i think that all HP is is a fad. People are addicted for now, but i dont think that they will stay addicted. Everyone will move on, but they will stilll remember it.
It's kinda like drugs. A true druggie would not just give up their highs because there was no more of a certain drug. They would still need that high, so they would find someone/something that could replace the feeling they got from the first drug.
True?

I do think it's a stage but only as in how obsessed you are with it, not necessarily liking it. Because I know I wont always be obsessed with it but I will always like it and enjoy reading it.

Wow, this is a rather long stage.

Personally, I will never stop reading the books or discussing them.

For true fans, the Potterverse will live on strong forever.

A fan is always a fan.
For me as long as this generation lives, it will be there. And since this generation is trying to pass this on to the next generation, I doubt extinction. See who among in this forum who does not have any single book from the heptuplet? I believe at least one everybody has and wants to preserve it for ages

It could be a stage for some people. Some fans are fans of something for a bit, and then move on. You see it all the time with bands, movies, and actors, so who says that it isn't true for books?

Personally, it isn't a stage for me. I love the harry potter books and I think I will for quite some time. But your mileage may vary.

the books dont seem as exciting to reread now that i know what clues are actually clues and the puzzle all fits
now rereading is just to spot things that still dontmake sense that are like mistakes etc

i think that by the time the last movie is out i will watch it and buy the dvd but i will be like oh yer collection complete comeon its clubbing time...

i wish the books started coming out a bit later than they did as i would have understood them a bit better and iw ould still be able to post theories on here

im quite disappointed i never found this site till recently it would have been great to predict on here


i hope there comes a day that i havent read the books in such a long time that wheni read them to my kids i am excited again

Even if I'm not as obsessed with Harry Potter as I am now, the books will always be one of my favorite series. I go through stages with series or books or movies. Like the first Pirates of the Caribbean for example. I was obsessed. I watched it over and over and over until I got to the point where I didn't really enjoy it anymore. Now that I took a break of a year from watching it, I find it just as enjoyable as the first time I saw it. The same thing happens with books and other movies. I imagine at some point the same thing will happen with HP, but I'll get back into it again. I hope it doesn't happen soon.

I think I'm the same way, sort of. I'll decide I just want something different, and then I'll look for a new series to read. But then I'll come back to Harry Potter or Redwall or Maximum Ride or whatever series I want to read and read them over. Books are like friends to me. And who wants to only see a friend once in your life?

Personally, HP is not a stage for me, but it happens of cause. Actually, I used to think that one of my best friends was as much into HP as I am. But it wore of after she was done with the Deathly Hallows. That never happend to me. I still loves HP as much as ever.
Since the Prisoner of Azkaban I have had almost the same age as Harry when the book was published, so it has been easy for me to identify and grow with the series. Actually, I don't think I will ever grow out of it. The books are so deep that there is still much in them yet undiscovered.
A few months ago I was crazily obsessed with Queen, now I just think they are pretty great. Maybe it is just like a crush, obsession lives for six months, then it weares of. Therefore, I much conclude. I am not obsessed with HP, I have true love for it

Well, it might have just died out, like all good things. But it just makes it so much more fun when you take a long time off and then start back over. But it all just depends...

Oh i totally agree with you amortentia_149. When i take a long break from reading HP, and then come back its alot better when i read them again. Other then, since i started reading HP i have always loved it! except for the period between the 6th and 7th books. I did kind of forget about it and when i read DH i realized i forgot what happened in HBP. (ohh i was so happy when i reread that one again =] ) But i know i wont go a year without reading the whole series probably for a very long time.

You make a fair point, harrypotterlover1024. Sometimes you forget something important or funny in one of the books. Or maybe you don't get a major clue until you go back and read it again. Who doesn't like finding one of those in the last place you thought it would be in?

This isn't a phase for me, I've read other series of books by different authors, and I still love to go back and re-read them just like the HP series. The only difference between HP and the others I've read is HP has also been made into movies, the only other series I've read that's been made into moveis is LotR. So even after the final film is completed and in theaters, I'll still re-read the books.

Well...for me it's not a phase. I'm a fan forever. It may be a phase for some people...everybody is different. But I just reread the books, watch the movies, visit VTM and talk about HP when I have an opportunity. Personally...I can't wait to have to kids so I can relive HP through their reactions. I think HP is stuck in the minds of the fans. It's been a part of us for several years now. I don't remember anything as big as HP lasting for this long.

Very interesting thread. I don't think its a stage personally, i have been a fan since the first book came out and i was completely and utterly obsessed since around the release time of Order of the Phoenix. I really did worry that after DH, because there would be no more books, i would lose interest, and i went through that mourning time, and for a while after that, i kept worrying that after the final movie (or should i say movies) i would never have the same enthusiasm. Then, by pure chance, i stumbled across harrypotterfanfiction.com and thank god! i know some people dont like it, but i think its the best way to keep the fanbase going and im so pleased i got into it, that way, i know my love of HP wont be a stage, because i can keep my interest going, without having to resort to stalking JKR