Harry Potter for GrownUps: A History

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

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):

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

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):

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:

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:

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.)

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.

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), 45,216, 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.

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:

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”:

Penny thoughtfully included a greeting and synopsis from Lori Summers:

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):

John 5465 (11/8/00); Joywitch (5659, 11/12/00); Joywitch (6722 (12/12/00); 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.

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

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

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 17,513 with the following introduction:

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):

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):

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):

You can say that again!

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 15691, Moderator John announced the temporary moderation of all new members:

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.

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

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

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:

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”:

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:

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.

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).

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:

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:

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

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):

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.

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.

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…

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:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/files/Admin%20Files/hypotheticalley.htm

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)

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.)

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):

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):

****

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

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.