Harry Potter for GrownUps: A History

by Penny Linsenmayer and Cindy C.

'History never looks like history when you are living through it.'
--John W. Gardener

Thirty-seven months. 4,737 members. 56,094 main-list messages. 12,098 OT-Chatter messages. 3,411 Movie-list messages. 740 Announcements-list messages. 11 regional lists. And hundreds and hundreds of FILKs. [1]

In the face of all of this sustained interest and continuous activity, HPfGU has managed more than just survival. HPfGU, by any measure, has thrived. Message volume remains manageable, message quality remains high, and the list has not splintered into warring factions or burst into flames. Instead, the members of HPfGU somehow manage to entertain, challenge and amuse each other, even as they patiently await the release of OoP.

Through it all, HPfGU has proven to be far more than a discussion list. HPfGU is a tight-knit community of people who came together because of a genuine interest in the Harry Potter books but who stayed together because of a genuine interest in each other.

How did HPfGU manage such a feat? The best answer may be the one overheard all too frequently on the main list: 'Check the archives.'

In the Beginning, There Was Yahoo . . .

The Founding of HPfGU

HPfGU was formed as a Yahoo Club on September 17, 1999, with this terse inaugural post by Barbara Drey, the founder of the group:

Welcome, This is the Yahoo! Message Board for Harry Potter for Grown Ups community. (C1)

Well, it was a start.

List volume for Week 1 of HPfGU was 4 messages, and three of those messages were from the founder. Things picked up quickly, however, and by the end of the first month, list volume had surged to 44 posts.

On April 6, 2000, Barbara opted to step back from HPfGU and designated Penny Linsenmayer as List Mom. Barbara rejoined under another name but is no longer a member today. She posted the following farewell message (Message C992, 4/6/00):

Dear GREAT Harry Potter Fans:

Thank you so much for joining this club ... Unfortunately, I am no longer able to be the 'founder,' but Penny (plinsenmayer) has agreed to take over the reins. Because of tedious Yahoo procedure, I have to quit altogether and rejoin under another name - which will be very similar to my current one. I'll look forward to our discussions on the future books.

I just want to thank you again for joining this club and making it such an interesting and great place to talk about Harry Potter.

Barbara

Penny commenced moderating the list, which for quite some time involved little more than the occasional 'Be nice to each other' ADMIN-style message.

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'Talk Amongst Yourselves'

Growth of the Main List

The group continued to grow, taking in refugees from other Harry Potter discussion sites such as Harry Potter Anonymous, Virtual World of Harry Potter, and Unofficial Harry Potter Fan Club. Then list volume exploded - August 2000 saw over 3,000 posts. Message volume for July...August 2000 alone exceeded the cumulative message volume since the group's inception 10 months earlier. Members began expressing dissatisfaction with the limitations of the format and features of Yahoo! Clubs. The group decided to migrate to egroups on August 24, 2000. In February 2001, egroups merged into Yahoo! Groups.

By Summer 2000, the crop of incoming members included intrepid Harry Potter pioneers such as Skimmel, Norevoli, Simon Branford, Melanie (Ravensclawlady), Lexicon Steve, Sister Mary Lunatic, Nick (babynick), Dave Hardenbrook, Voicelady, Catlady, John Walton, Dee (Gypsy Caine), Carol, Jen P., Heidi Tandy, Joywitch, Ebony, and Neil Ward - most of whom are still active in HPfGU today.

Toward the end of 2000, Penny needed help moderating the list due to increasing membership. (See Appendix A for HPfGU Monthly Message Volume.) She deputized the first Magical Moderator Team - Neil Ward, John Walton, Jim Flanagan, and Jeralyn (Voice Lady) - on January 4, 2001. Over the years, the Moderator Team added Catherine, Cindy C., Kelley, Elkins and Parker, gained and lost Melanie (Ravensclawlady), Aberforth's Goat and Amy Z, and lost Jim and Jeralyn.

Needless to say, list administration became more time-consuming and complex as membership spiraled upward. Membership milestones were:

As membership numbers increased, group leaders developed the idea of 'newbie moderators' in April 2001, which morphed into 'List Elves,' who are personal resources for each new member. The first roster of nine original List Elves was announced to the main list on April 25, 2001 (17712) with a '[r]esounding thunder clap and puff of green smoke' as Moderator Neil Ward AKA Flying Ford Anglia 'step[ped] through the fog wearing a quilted, lilac smoking jacket and Muggle crash helmet marked 'Boyracer'.'

As Mods and Elves retired, they became Poltergeists, offering sage advice and words of wisdom on policy matters. As of this writing, there are 14 Elves and 14 Geists.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/files/Admin%20Files/hbfile.html#16

Burgeoning membership ranks and message volume notwithstanding, the list has seen the release of only one Harry Potter book since its inception - GoF on July 8, 2000. The first list member to post that she had obtained a copy was Trina (C3564, 7/8/00):

Went to Books-a-million at around 11:20 pm. Was in line by 11:40. Had some nice conversation with children of all ages. Bought my copies (one for me, one for young cousin) at 12:20 am. Home and reading by 1:00 am. Currently on pg 57 and am just as enchanted as ever.

For those unable to make the London Release at King's Cross, Neil Ward prepared a detailed three-part report in Messages C3575, C3576, and C3577 (7/8/00). Part Three contains the climactic scene in which our intrepid reporter snagged his copy of GoF and began the long journey home, in the company of a mother who had just purchased GoF for her child:

I caught the tube back to London Bridge Station holding onto my bag with the precious book inside, as if it contained gold bullion. "Gold bullion would be worth less than this,' I thought to myself. As we neared my stop, I noticed that one harassed mother had given in to the pleadings of her little boy, and opened "Goblet of Fire" at Page 1. The train rumbled and grumbled, and I realised, slowly, and with increasing horror, that her lips were moving. She - was - reading - it - out - loud!

I escaped, but in the nick of time. I don't think I've ever had to invest so much effort in *not* reading a book! (C3577)

With any luck, the list will soon again face the release of OoP, after what seems to many like an interminable wait. But then again, any wait is a long wait for a fan of Harry Potter:

While some people here may not like us picking out the inconsistencies, it is meant to be fun... it's not serious. We are all bored... we have a month to wait - we need something to do. (Nick, C1553, 5/31/00).

In the meantime, members continue to post to the main list, with 96 members qualifying for the HPfGU Main List Hall of Fame for posting 100 or more times to the main list. (See Appendix B and Appendix C: Daily Posting Rates of Members with Over 500 Posts.)

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'Hey, Did Anyone Else Notice . . . ?'

First Frequently Asked Questions

Shortly after the list was founded, conversation turned in earnest to analysis of canon issues (also known as nitpicking), a pastime that is still popular on the list to this day. Indeed, memorable early posts raised what later became very, very, very Frequently Asked Questions:

The first member to take LOON-ing (L.O.O.N. is League of Obsessed Nitpickers) to the next level in terms of sheer comprehensiveness and painstaking attention to detail was Joywitch, who outlined a series of 32 mysteries in a three-part post (C2215, C2216 and C2218, 6/18/00). Indeed, Joywitch's list was so comprehensive that many of these issues form the basis for spirited LOONing to this day. [See the HPfGU Mysteries FAQ]

The first FILK was a ditty by Randy Estes, who rose to the challenge to devise a Harry Potter version of the song from 'Pirates of Penzance' - 'I Am the Very Model of an Adult Harry Potter Fan.' (C2754, 6/24/00).

Since then, list members have generated 593 posts with 'FILK' in the subject header, with the most recent called 'The Wizard World,' to Disney's 'A Whole New World.' (Nicole (nplyon), 45216, 10/11/02). Caius Marcius alone has posted over 250 FILKs in almost every conceivable musical style, demonstrating a range that spans from 'Moaning Myrtle' (to the tune of 'Mona Lisa') in Message 12575 (2/18/01) to 'Taunt Your Children Well' (to the tune of 'Teach Your Children Well - (A Snape Filk')) in Message 14074 (3/10/01).

Is there a musical style that has *not* been memorialized in a FILK? Hard to say, although there aren't great numbers of FILKs inspired by opera. Yet.

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'It Was a Dark and Stormy Night ...'

HPfGU and Fanfic

On April 17, 2000 in Message C1082, fanfic made its debut on the list. Jeralyn wrote, ' I'm going to start writing a story, and each of you will continue it. To keep things from getting messy, I will SELECT someone to continue. That person will write the next bit, and then he or she will designate the next storyteller, and so on.'

No Redeemable!Draco, no Vampire!Snape, and no Mary Sues for this particular fic. Instead Jeryalyn chose the title 'How Hagrid Became a Hero.' There were 16 installments, each with its own unique style of nail-biting drama:

MESSAGE C1082 (Jeralyn): 'Norbert!' Hagrid cried happily, 'You've come home to Mummy!' And that's when Norbert began to talk.

MESSAGE C1092 (Darwin_nyc): ...Hagrid knew nothing of Romania, though he was fairly certain that there was a type of lettuce named after it.

MESSAGE C1093 (Penny): 'Dear Hagrid,' the note began. 'The most terrible thing has happened! It all started when Bill got his hands on one of Dad's Muggle artifacts, a World War II-vintage typex. A typex was a cipher machine used by the British army and the RAF to encode messages...

MESSAGE C1096 (Arawa_99): Hagrid was stunned, and a little proud - he had never come across a dragon that could carry people before, they were not usually that trustworthy - he had really hatched a winner!

MESSAGE C1116 (iago_nyc): The trip to the Weasley's was somewhat uneventful - if you call two near-misses with Muggle aircraft and a brush against a church tower uneventful.

MESSAGE C1117 (iago_nyc): 'Well,' said Hagrid out loud to a seagull he was passing, 'I guess it's off to Africa and Gringott's. It's all up to me now.'

MESSAGE C1129 (Skimmel_98): In Hungary, Hagrid found ... well... Hungarians.

MESSAGE C1130 (Skimmel_98): They were greeted almost immediately by a young man with flame red hair. 'Hagrid, my old friend,' Charlie Weasley said pumping Hagrid's hand.

MESSAGE C1131 (sweetandsour6453): Charlie opened the envelope and a note fell out. Charlie - HELP!!!!! It's me, Ron. I'm at the Gringotts prison, with Bill.

MESSAGE C1138 (Melanie): 'Freeze!' A voice came from behind him, cutting bill off. A chill swept through Hagrid, and he was, literally, unable to move.

MESSAGE C1142 (norevoli): 'Oh my God! It's Hagrid!' screeched a high pitched voice. 'Hermione?' Hagrid asked ...'

MESSAGE C1143 (norevoli): 'Bill! You're the curse breaker! Do something!

MESSAGE C1148 (Jeralyn): After only a few minutes in flight, though, Norbert began to falter. 'Hagrid, I think there's too much weight!'

MESSAGE C1149 (Jeralyn): 'We know where we are,' answered Ron. 'We're on Gringott's prison mountain.'

MESSAGE C1159 (Darwin_nyc): Upon their arrival, they were greeted by a small creature whom Grebon referred to as Geegorp - apparently, the house elf.

MESSAGE C1238 (Penny): Ron broke in, 'Whenever you'd like to share Hermione. Or we could, you know, just stand here yammering while Norbert gets sliced up, stuffed and slathered with mint sauce.'

Did Hagrid become a hero after all? Installment 17, anyone?

Shortly after the round-robin began, Penny made the first fanfic recommendation (C1098, 4/18/00) for a humble little fic by Lori Summers - 'Paradigm of Uncertainty':

I've been following this fanfic series (it's now Chapter 3) from the beginning and am enjoying it immensely. Note the warnings re: adult content (it *is* as she says PG-13 but is still intended for an adult audience).

Penny thoughtfully included a greeting and synopsis from Lori Summers:

Hello all! Your friendly neighborhood keyboard-pounder here, announcing the third chapter of my ongoing story, which is quickly turning into a huge long monstrous thing that might end up being as long as one of the real books. (C1098, 4/18/00).

It was, without question, the start of something big. Lori's 'Paradigm of Uncertainty' discussion list currently boasts a membership of 4953 (large enough to rival HPfGU itself) and now also features discussion of the fics of Cassandra Claire ('Draco Dormiens' and sequels) and Penny Linsenmayer and Carol Estes's ('A Sirius Affair' and sequels by Carole).

HPfGU's other foray into fanfic was inspired by the disputed 2000 Presidential Election in the U.S. Joywitch kept the list fully informed on the wizarding world's perspective on the Florida recount in a series of Daily Prophet articles (5456, 11/8/00):

Dissenting voices include Muggle Affairs Directorate (MAD) Chairman Jack Weasley.... 'A Bush victory will set back the cause of improving Muggle-Wizard relations and pave the way for the return of the Dark Side. Now, today, is the time for the ministry to act. The muggles are currently recounting the Florida vote; we could simply change a few thousand ballots and Gore would win the state. After all, he won the popular vote, so it's only fair. Besides which, we would only be making up for the many thousands, if not millions, of muggle votes which were influenced by the illegal and immoral use of the Imperius Curse by a certain unnamed Wizarding Society.'

John (5465, 11/8/00); Joywitch (5659, 11/12/00); Joywitch (6733, 12/12/00); John (8863, 1/9/01); Joywitch (16482, 4/12/01); Joywitch (16826, 4/15/00); Joywitch (17786, 4/27/01); Joywitch (23064, 7/27/01).

Will the Daily Prophet return to HPfGU someday? Inquiring minds want to know.

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'Troll - in the Dungeons!'

Controversy and Discord

On March 25, 2000, controversy erupted for the first time when someone named Mr_Beckhorn made his views known (C702):

I had assumed, when I saw this club, that it would be adults, talking about what to do about this new phenomenon with children, Harry Potter book series. Instead it is adults who say that the books are good, haven't you ever heard of a little book called the bible????? That is the important book, can you show me where in the bible it says witchcraft is acceptable???? How can we teach this to our children?? We should teach them to respect and worship and fear our lord not to mock Him! you should be ashamed of yourselvces.

The first response to Mr_Beckhorn minced no words (Jeralynks, 3/25/00, C703):

Is this a complete joke?!? Lighten up, buddy!

Mr_Beckhorn opted not to lighten up, and the usual flame war ensued. Well, it was hardly a flame war, if truth be told. More like a fireworks sparkler, actually, with only around 20 messages responding to Mr_Beckhorn's views.

Mr_Beckhorn eventually left, but not before he posted some misinformation on March 30, 2000 about HP-banning in England, which included the statement that in the HP books 'Christians are portrayed as slobes.' (C774). This touched off another firestorm - well, something akin to a tropical breeze, really - of 11 messages taking issue with Mr_Beckhorn.

Was it HPfGU's very first April Fool's joke? (Jeralyn, C850, 4/1/00). Mr_Beckhorn's not saying.

HPfGU did suffer one flame war sufficient to result in HPfGU's very first banned topic: Richard Abanes's book 'Harry Potter and the Bible.' Mr. Abanes made his debut on April 23, 2001 in Message 17513 with the following introduction:

I was alerted to the fact that many of you have posted some
rather negative comments about my book 'HARRY POTTER AND THE BIBLE.' I can appreciate your contrary opinions and look forward to some sincere, thoughtful, and rational dialogue with as many of you as possible (time permitting).

Several months of back and forth about the wickedness of Harry Potter ensued. Frustration reached unprecedented levels, to the point where list members pleaded for an end to the conflict: (Gaynor Thomas, 22879, 7/23/01):

The messages start around no 17513 and continue until 17649 when it was asked that the discussion be taken off list. This is because the discussion had degenerated to nastiness on both sides. (I, for one, felt quite ill.) I'm not against a reasoned debate, but I would hate a repeat of the April discussion - the 'atmosphere' of the list was terrible and I was relieved when it was over.

To no one's surprised, the group failed to reach consensus on the merits of Mr. Abanes's book.

Finally, Moderator John called an official halt to the uproar (22886, 6/23/01):

[I]n the spirit of list harmony, the Moderators have decided to call a halt to this posting thread, and to caution our membership away from the subject in general. It's something about which a majority of our list members - regardless of their spiritual or religious persuasions, or the absences thereof - feel very strongly, and the likelihood of compromise on such a topic is therefore reduced.

Thankfully, discussion of Mr. Abanes's book has not been resurrected on the list. Only two other topics have resulted in dust-ups so contentious that subjects have been banned from discussion on HPfGU lists: the Holocaust (Penny, 11664, 2/4/01) and politics (Penny, 5628, 11/11/00).

The darkest day for the list was, without question, The Day The List Went Dark. On March 17, 2002, the main list was hacked and deleted in its entirety. Thanks to the considerable efforts of the list administrators, the list was restored that day, and Moderator John breathed a collective sigh of relief for HPfGU (36647, 3/17/02):

Well, folks, that's a relief. Welcome back to HPforGrownups. It looks like everything is in order over here and at the other lists which were *ahem* out of order for a day or so. A massive thank you to the techies at YahooGroups who managed to rescue our groups intact. We all certainly appreciate it.

You can say that again!

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'Houston, We Have a Problem!'

Moderation of New Members

Since its inception, all members of HPfGU could post freely to the main list until they committed an infraction or series of infractions serious enough to justify a stint on moderated status. With the release of the PS/SS movie in November 2001 followed quickly by a New York Times article that mentioned HPfGU, however, new membership subscriptions soared overnight. Some days brought over 100 new members.

Alas, too many of these new members displayed much more enthusiasm for Harry Potter than familiarity with list rules. Rules violations at that time were addressed with after-the-fact, off-list Howlers, and one distressing weekend forced one Moderator to send over 50 Howlers. Veteran list members complained, and some members left due to the rise in message volume coupled with the decline in message quality.

Something had to be done.

On November 28, 2001, the Moderator Team implemented a significant policy change to improve message quality on the main list. In Message 30307, Moderator John announced the temporary moderation of all new members:

[W]e've decided to introduce an introductory period of membership to the list.

Moderated Status allows the Moderators to check the posts for compliance with the rules before releasing them to the group at large.

Please understand that this change in policy is by no means designed to discourage our new members from participating in our group. Each new member brings his or her unique point of view to the community, and it is this diversity of perspective, experience and personality that keeps the list exciting, interesting and fresh. We hope all of you will continue to offer your insights and contribute to our discussions.

Since then, the Moderators, List Elves and Poltergeists have approved, edited or rejected over 5,000 messages to the main list.

And the veteran list members rejoiced.

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'You Cannot Be Serious!'

Practical Jokes, ADMINs and In-Jokes

In Message 15691 on April 1, 2001, the following highly suspicious ADMIN message appeared:

Dear Listmembers,

I've got some unfortunate news to impart, but please bear with me. As Penny, the list Founder, is currently unable to get to her computer (pre-natal breathing classes, I think), she has asked me to convey this information to the group.

Yahoo, host of the YahooGroups service, has been served with a cease-and-desist order from AOL-TimeWarner (parent company of Warner Bros., who own the movie rights to SS/PS and CoS) for HPforGrownups and several other Harry Potter groups, including HP_Fanfiction, ParadigmOfUncertainty, HP_Paradise, SnapeFans and HPslash, on the basis that they infringe Warner's copyright for the HP mark. Yahoo have agreed to go along with this and have served the Moderators with a 24-hour closedown period. As of 12 midnight Eastern Time tomorrow, the HPforGrownups community, as well as all its HPFGU-based lists, will cease functioning. I enclose an email from Yahoo services informing us of the action, with the sender obscured.

The Moderators deeply regret this, but we are left with few options. If you have any suggestions at all, we'd be very grateful if you'd send them to our address at HPforGrownups-Owner@yahoogroups.com (which will only be working for a day). After tomorrow, please use my email (john@walton.to) as a contact.

Please be patient during this very trying time for us all. Again, HPforGrownups will be discontinued as of midnight on April 1st, 2001.

Sincerely,

--John, for the HPforGrownups Moderator Team

[******]

> From: Sheena G. ([deleted]@yahoo-inc.com)
> To: HPforGrownups-owner@yahoogroups.com
> Cc: [deleted]
> Subject: Deletion of your group

>

> Dear HPforGrownups Moderator,

>

> we at Yahoo! have been notified by AOL-TimeWarner that your

> HPforGrownups group contains several violations of their
> copyright on 'Harry Potter', and has been served a Cease-And-
> Desist letter by AOL-TimeWarner. Yahoo! is bound by law in the
> State of California, which requires us to remove all such content
> within 48 hours. we therefore inform you that your group will be
> deleted at 9PM tomorrow.

>

> thank you for using YahooGroups!

>

> Sheena G.
> Technical Executive
> Yahoo!, Inc.

The alert MMMfanfic was the first to smell a rat in Message 15695, a mere 30 minutes after the April Fool's joke appeared:

Umm, is this a joke? I know it's April's fool but still YOU CAN CAUSE HEART ATTACK by sending messages like this.

Anyway, HAHAHAHAHA. It did look pretty authentic at first glance.

In playful retaliation, Amandageist sought input on the most appropriate punishment, posing the simple question 'What should we do to John?' in an OT-Chatter poll:

On April 1, 2002, a prankster struck yet again. This time, the list's home page was spruced up to include the slogan 'Harry Potter! Ban Him!' complete with a crude cartoon Harry decked out in devil horns. This time, Joel N. Fischoff was the first to spot trouble in Message 37243 :

Subject Header: 'Looks like we've been hacked. :)'

Unless someone has a really strange sense of humor, that is...

Well put, Joel!

Moderator John quickly admitted his responsibility for the 2002 practical joke in Message 37265 (4/1/02) - after his fellow Moderators took the unusual step of banning him from the list in the list's first virtual 'Time Out':

Those of you who've been to the group or read messages in the last nine hours will have noticed that we underwent a transformation in our mandate from 'Harry Potter for Grownups' to 'Ban Harry Potter NOW.' OTChatter turned into 'Harry Potter is Evil!' April Fool's! Apologies to anybody who went into cardiac arrest >:)

Of course, one of the other Moderators has taken it upon themselves to ban my usual address from the list... just deserts, methinks!

. . . .

--John, the April Fool *not* for the HPFGU Moderator Team

Moderator John has undoubtedly learned his lesson and will be on his best behavior in the future, so the list can look forward to calm, joke-free Aprils in the future.

Daily life on the list isn't all fun and games, however. HPfGU has rules - lots and lots of rules. When list members wander off-topic, violate netiquette, or generally require a gentle reminder, the Moderator Team issues administrative announcements, called ADMINs. Newer members to HPfGU are sometimes bewildered by some of the strange doings in ADMINs, so rather than force them to comb the archives with the wholly inadequate Yahoo search function, brief explanations are in order.

Hairnet'n'Bunny Slippers: Some Moderators have adopted various personae, outfits, and props to lend heft and credibility to their ADMIN messages. Moderator Neil Ward often turned up to deliver administrative pronouncements wearing a McGonagall-esque hairnet and tartan dressing gown, his sleep apparently disturbed to shoo the naughty children back to their rooms in dead of night (12039, 2/11/01). Neil donned a variety of unusual outfits, each designed to entice members to immerse themselves in a recitation of list rules, occasionally casting spells to hypnotize list members into compliance. (12496 [2/17/01]; 13151 [2/28/01]; 17847 [4/29/01]; 18525 [5/11/01]; 19634 [5/28/01]; 20982 [9/16/01]; 28260 [10/26/01]; 30254 [11/27/01]; 34555 [2/3/02])

Moderator with Rock: In Message 11132 (1/29/00), Amanda posed a series of rather pointed questions about the origin of John's new handle 'Moderator with Rock # 47':

'What the hell is this rock? What *are* you talking about? Where'd the rock come from?'

John, unflustered by this friendly heckling, cheerfully responded:

[I]t's a reference to cameos in literature, specifically fanfiction. Essentially, there's a long-running joke in online fandom that, when you give a friend a cameo, you make them 'Background Character with Rock' - in Star Trek, it would be 'Furry Monster with Rock'.... From then on, the degree of friendship you have depends on the higher number after the Rock. '47' is the theoretical maximum, so your best online Trek friend would be 'Furry Monster with Rock #47.' Ergo, therefore and thus, as this is my favorite list, I'm Moderator with Rock #47!

Anal P. Lardbottom:Who is this Anal P. Lardbottom, purportedly employed at LOON headquarters, who has been known to deliver scathing challenges to the LOONing credentials of list members? And more importantly, is he any relation to Moderator John Walton? (Anal P. Lardbottom, 26990 [10/1/01]).

Maybe some mysteries are best left unsolved.

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'Is That Your Final Answer?'

Contests and Puzzles

The first group contest was a trivia quiz prepared by Jeralyn (C872, 4/2/00). The rules were simple: from memory, identify the quotes by identifying the speaker and the book:

The winner was Penny, with 5 out of 5. Answers are in Messages C873, C878.

Alas, that inaugural contest was the first and last time answers were given on the list itself. Since then, answers are e-mailed to the contest organizer because, as Penny explained (C885, 4/3/00), 'This way everyone will have a fair shot at answering the questions without knowing the guesses of others.' The prize? The honor of devising the next quiz.

After the contest became a regular feature, Melanie introduced the idea of puzzle contests. The first one (C1099, 4/18/00) was a cryptogram:

Winners were Christine, Voicelady, Norvelli and Penny. Answers are in Message C1106 (4/19/00).

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He Loves Her, He Loves Her - NOT!

SHIPping

SHIPping, a favorite pastime of large numbers of list members, has its friends and its foes, to be sure. There have been over 1,600 posts to the main list with 'SHIP' or 'SHIPping' in the subject heading - a large number, but only a small fraction of total list volume. As Ebony explained:

Truthfully, shipping *is* the HP equivalent of the Tower of Babel. Some of us speak Hebrew and some of us speak Greek.

And some of us speak Gobbledygook and Mermish.

And some of us are just... mute. (17897, 4/30/01)

SHIPpers and non-SHIPpers usually co-exist peacefully on the list, with the SHIPpers scrutinizing canon for their favored SHIP theories, and the non-SHIPpers squinting, shaking their heads slowly, trying to see what the SHIPpers see in canon that so unequivocally supports their respective positions. Amanda spoke for the non-SHIPpers:

I think romance isn't the focus of the books, nor yet even a plot device, and discussing the fluff isn't appealing. Especially since most of the characters in question are in their early adolescence. (10101, 1/21/01)

Undaunted, SHIPpers began to adopt nautical metaphors to characterize their SHIPping theories. The Good Ship Harry/Hermione was cheerfully described thus:

We have a large interior ballroom with a great swing band (thanks to Lori, who booked it for us months ago). Every night at midnight, blue snow falls in the ballroom (thanks to Cassie). We have a well-stocked bar of course. (Penny, 10113, 1/21/01)

Rarely - very rarely - SHIPpers will decide to 'jump ship,' usually meaning that they have changed their allegiance. Most dramatically, however, SHIPpers have been known to bail out of SHIPping altogether (Kimberly [Moongirl], 10202, 1/22/01):

I am officially abandoning ship(s) of all kinds.

When the issue first came up when I was a newbie to the board, I kinda thought I was supposed to choose a side, so I chose what I thought would be the closest to a happily-ever-after ending for everyone, simply because I love all the characters too much to want anyone to be left out.

. . . .

[N]ow that I've jumped ship, do I get a dinghy, or a raft, or an inner tube or something? If not, that's ok, I float pretty well on my own, I'll just stretch out on my back and relax.

The SHIPpers have, on occasion, engaged in fairly testy debates. December 2000...January 2001 was a time of particularly intense SHIPping debates (primarily waged between the R/H SHIPpers and the H/H SHIPpers). Recognizing that both sides were dug in, Cassie tried to soothe frayed nerves in Message 8340 (1/2/01):

I would characterize the stances of both the H/H shippers *and* the R/H shippers onlist as fairly inflexible. And I don't, frankly, see either side as being more stubborn or intractable than the other. The H/H camp tends to dismiss textual items that the R/H camp sees as wildly significant (Hermione scowls at Fleur!) The R/H camp does exactly the same thing. (The infamous kiss on the cheek at the end of GoF!). This does not, in my opinion, mean that the discussions should be suppressed or abandoned. The goal of discussion, even between those who disagree, is not necessarily to *change* the other person's viewpoint. It's not about winning.

A main-list poll put to the list the question of which SHIP members prefer. By a margin of 20.67% to 12.98%, Ron/Hermione prevailed handily over Harry/Hermione. Surprisingly, even the Fred/Angelina SHIP with 14.90% trounced Harry/Hermione. If it's any consolation to the Harry/Hermione contingent, however, several SHIP possibilities came up empty with no adherents (or at least, no adherents willing to admit as much publicly): Harry/Parvarti, Ron/Padma, Ron/Fleur, Neville/Hermione, Sirius/McGonagall, Lupin/McGonagall. Poll results are at:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/surveys?id=511774

By the critical measure of message volume, however, H/H has been mentioned in subject headers 259 times, compared to 270 mentions for R/H.

Close enough to call it a draw, perhaps.

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'It's Like Alphabet Soup Out There!'

Inish Alley

As is common on the Internet, where all communication is typed, a shorthand evolved on HPfGU to encapsulate oft-used ideas and phrases. In honor of such HP shorthand such as S.P.E.W., N.E.W.T, and O.W.L., HPfGU developed its own set of abbreviations. Early shorthand that developed on HPfGU had a decidedly unpronounceable quality, e.g., SS/PS, PoA, GoF, F.I.T.D. (Farmer in the Dell), S.S.H.A.B. (Stop Saying Hermione is a Bossy Braggart, [26480]). Most of these earlier abbreviations were 'clubs' that people joined if they wanted to show agreement with the concept or theory. Price of joining was two sickles, of course.

In late 2001, people began developing actual acronyms: abbreviations that were themselves words or phrases. P.I.N.E. (Percy. Is. Not. Evil.) and C.R.A.B. (Cut Ron a Break) were among the first to display this characteristic. On September 22, 2001, Luke tried his hand at creating an acronym to respond to Penny's astonishment at an anti-Harry thread.

> I nominate Ebony or Jenny to come up with a good acronym for us
> Harry fans!

I'm not Ebony or Jenny (as best as I can remember) but I'm with you on this one. Unfortunately I seem to have stumbled upon a creative dryspell. Some days I'm better at this. My first thought was How Anyone Can Not Love Harry Is Beyond Us, but H.A.C.N.L.H.I.B.U just lacked--I don't know--that special ring to it. :-)

And so I deliberated on many other possibilities, but the only halfway decent one I came up with was:

A.S.T.O.N.I.S.H.E.D. ([A]t [S]tatements [T]hat [O]bject to [N]ice, [I]ntelligent, [S]weet [H]arry's [E]ndearing [D]emeanor)

It's a bit too long, and not properly descriptive of these alleged anti-Harry-ites complaints, but I enjoyed the fact that the acronym was also the first word of the sentence. (26522)

And so it began. What Luke characterized as 'too long' became the standard for HPfGU acronym-making. The intrepid Tabouli began to crank out acronyms at such a rate that she set up T.A.G.S. (Tabouli's Acronym-Generating Service) to provide acronyms for any theory or idea that needed one. Other listies soon joined in the fun.

Early acronyms tended to be single words, the longer the better. The longest single-word acronym on the list is "ANTIDISTESTABLISHMENTARIANISM" [About Neville (Teenager in Distress in Snape's Educational Snare--Terribly Absentminded Boy)'s Lackadaisical Intellect: Severely Horrible Memory Enhancement Necessary Tool Assisting Rehabilitation Initiative = Absolute Nightmare-Inducing Spotty Memory].  

Listies soon raised the stakes, and acronyms became entire sentences. The longest, at an impressive 32 letters, is "SAVE HAGRID FROM COMPLETE DISRESPECT!" [Should Albus and Voldemort Epic Hurtle Against Goodness, Remember: Indomitable Determination From Rubeus and Olympe May Contribute Outstandingly to Master Potter's Lasting Efforts To Eliminate Darkness. Indeed, Stalwart Rubeus' Enormous Strength and Power Ends Conflict Totally!].

In early 2002, a database called Inish Alley began to catalog these acronyms so that listies could translate posts from Acronym into English. Tabouli's most famous acronym, L.O.L.L.I.P.O.P.S. (Love Of Lily Left Ire Poisoning Our Poor Severus), graced a sailing ship in the waters of a tranquil bay, and listies frolicked on its deck and sampled its hors d'oeuvres. These antics soon evolved into another phenomenon entirely...

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'Water, Water Everywhere...'

Theory Bay

In Spring 2002, a new posting style emerged on the main list. Rather than discuss canon in an essay style, posters began to use extended metaphors and dialogue, with posts set in the fictional universe now known as Theory Bay. No character was too insignificant, no theory too subversive, no speculation too wild for Theory Bay - so long as the post somehow answered to the oft-repeated question, 'Where's the can(n)on?'

These days, Theory Bay is awash with dozens of vessels of varying degrees of seaworthiness, including a hovercraft, a destroyer, a barge, a majestic sailing vessel, a Cal 20 racing boat, a kayak, a dinghy, a raft, a rowboat, various innertubes and lifeboats, a make-shift catamaran, an inflatable wading pool, and a jet ski.

As the Bay became more crowded, theorists sprawled into the adjacent yet-to-be-named town. Local landmarks now include a canon museum with basement meeting rooms and dioramas, a movie set, a studio trailer, a radio studio, a psychiatric treatment facility, a tattoo parlor, a castle, a safe house, a volleyball court, a canon college, a professor's office, a tavern, a restaurant, and a walking path.

All of it beachfront, of course.

Explanations of the theories, vessels, and personified characters of Theory Bay can be found in Hypothetic Alley.

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'What's My Motivation?'

The Movie List

The hot topic of conversation in the earliest days of the list was the PS/SS movie and fantasy casting. Even back then, HPfGU members had their fingers on the pulse of All Things Harry Potter, such as this post (nlpnt, C7, 9/27/99)

Does anyone else agree that this movie will be either wonderful or horrible, with almost no possibility of anything in between? Some encouraging signs (all from Time Magazine);

1. Movie rights were bought by WB. ANYONE is better than Disney!

2. Harry and Hogwarts will be British in the movies. If they had Americanized him, I would've boycotted Time Warner.

3. Live action, and 'most of the budget will go on getting the spl. effects right.'

There was even an early 'Spielberg scare,' in which members believed Steven Spielberg had been chosen to direct the first film: 'It's official: Spielberg will direct.' (Angelx_ph, C352, 1/18/00).

For almost two years, movie discussion took place on the main list, sometimes using the prefix 'MOVIE' and sometimes not. List members analyzed each trailer for the PS/SS movie in exquisite detail, noting minutiae such as the authenticity of the school uniforms and, of course, the all-important question of whether students sat upon benches or chairs in the Great Hall. (Amy Z, 27381, 10/9/01).

Concerned that movie discussion would quickly swamp book discussion when the PS/SS movie was released, the Moderator Team formed the Movie List on September 9, 2001, making it the newest of the HPfGU sister lists.

As of this writing, the Movie list has 1,227 members and a total of 3411 messages. List volume, while never approaching the volume on the main list, ramped up almost immediately and peaked with the release of the film in November 2001.

What did HPfGU think of the PS/SS movie in the end? Thumbs up, mostly. In response to the poll question 'What did you think of the PS/SS movie?' results were as follows:

The Movie list has its own Hall of Fame roster of prolific posters, with no overlap between the main list Hall of Fame. (See Appendix D for Monthly Posting Rates and Movie List Hall of Fame.)

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'We. Are. Family.'

The HPfGU Community

The OT-Chatter list, established February 7, 2001, is now the equivalent of the town square for much of the community building that takes place at HPfGU. OT-Chatter was originally formed after list volume on the main list reached an all-time high of 3,086 in January 2001. A great many of the main list posts did not discuss the Harry Potter books, but instead reflected the close personal relationships among list members. There were recipes, discussions of unusual foods (spotted dick?), introductions and forays into social and cultural issues.

HPfGU extends far beyond the four corners of the lists themselves. List members correspond in private e-mail and rendezvous for impromptu social events. The first-ever Harry Potter Symposium for HPfGU members and other interested fans will take place in Orlando in Summer 2003. http://www.hp2003.org/

OT-Chatter is also the gathering place where members turn in times of celebration and in times of trouble. Members have reported their attendance at JKR's personal appearances, for instance (Message 4608, 10/25/00). Sheryll, the list Birthday Elf, (and Sheryll's predecessor Amy Z) posts personalized birthday announcements on OT-Chatter for the 109 members who have signed up to receive a birthday greeting. Members receive best wishes and moral and spiritual support for the births of their children, job losses, family crises, natural disasters, and medical emergencies. The 32 posters in the OT-Chatter group with 100 or more posts are listed in the OT-Chatter Hall of Fame in Appendix E.

If there were any doubt about the strength and closeness of the HPfGU community, it was laid to rest on September 11, 2001. That morning, Penny encouraged members to report in (25928, 9/11/01):

Given the events of this morning (sketchy on the details myself as I just turned on the T.V.), we'd love for all the NY City HP4GU'ers (or those temporarily in NYC) to let us know you're okay.

On both the main list and OT-Chatter, list members shared news on the whereabouts of members who live in or near New York or Washington, D.C., helping to relay news that everyone in the community was safe. Concerned members generated scores of posts to the main and OTC in just a few days and supported each other in several chat sessions. Luke put into words what hundreds of members were experiencing (26028, 9/12/01):

[W]hen I checked here yesterday I was not only filled with relief at the safety of you all, but a certain sense of pride for the people on this list. This is more than just a great discussion list; it is also a very caring and warm community and I am quite proud to consider myself a part of it.

As long as people who have never even met can be so filled with compassion and love for each other than I think we are winning the war against this sort of hate and violence in a more vital and wondrous way than any military action could ever do. Yesterday's events upset me greatly, but the response has only served to strengthen and reaffirm my faith in people.

********

As of this writing, HPfGU braces for the CoS movie and waits Ever So Patiently for the OoP book. And the wait has been long indeed; as some members once believed OoP would follow quickly follow GoF:

As an interesting side note, the German version of Amazon is now taking orders for Book 4 and for Book 5. They don't have a title for it yet... Apparently the plan is for Book 5 to come out late in the year. (Skimmel_98, C574, 3/3/00)

As we all know, things did not work out quite that way. JKR's most recent pronouncement on the subject was heartening, however:

It's coming and it's a lot nearer than you'd think if you read some newspapers - just trust me.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/uk/newsid_2269000/2269270.stm

And so we wait. And while we wait, we talk.

**************

Acknowledgements: John Walton, Neil Ward, Joywitch, Paul Kippes, Simon Branford, Caius Marcius, Dicentra Spectabilis and the tireless Moderators, Elves and Poltergeists of HPfGU.

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Appendix A

HPfGU Main List Monthly Message Volume

Inception to October 2002

Posts per Day of the Week
Inception through September 24, 2002

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Appendix B

HPfGU Main List Hall of Fame

Posts from Inception through September 24, 2002,
(100 or more posts)

* 'C' indicates Yahoo Clubs Archives

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Appendix C

Daily Posting Rates for Members with 500 Posts or More

Total posts/Number of Days of Posting (Measured from First Post to Last Post)

Inception to September 24, 2002

Honorable Mention for New Member with less than 500 posts:

Richelle Votaw 235 posts, 2.35

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Appendix D

HPfGU Movie List Monthly Message Volume

Inception to October 2002

HPfGU Movie List Hall of Fame

Posts from Inception through September 24, 2002,
(50 or more posts)

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Appendix E

HPfGU OT-Chatter Hall of Fame

Posts from Inception through September 24, 2002,
(100 or more posts)

[1] All dates are DD/MM/YY. All message citations to the main list are to Yahoo Groups, except for Yahoo Clubs citations (archived), which are prefaced with "C." All information is current as of October 11, 2002 unless otherwise noted.