Not For Kids Only: Article in today's Hartford Courant

[Kaitlin]

Hi everyone!  This article apppeared in the Life section of today's 
Hartford Courant (Hartford, CT).  Some of you are mentioned here, as 
well as the HPfGU group and some of the fanfic sites.  Enjoy!
~Kaitlin

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Not For Kids Only 
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Adults, Too, Are Big Fans, But Some Display Bizarre Interest In The 
Boy 
Wizard

Story By JOHN JURGENSEN

June 16, 2003

As vivid as it may seem to some readers, the Hogwarts School of 
Witchcraft and Wizardry does not exist. But for hardcore Harry Potter 
fans, 
Walt Disney World's Swan and Dolphin Hotel could be the next best 
thing. 
It's real, and taking reservations for Nimbus 2003, the first 
symposium 
dedicated to adult devotees of the popular boy wizard.

There's not much to interest kids at the July 17-20 gathering in 
Orlando, Fla. Besides, they're not invited. Dedicated teens can only 
come 
with a chaperone.

But more than 500 voting-age fans are expected to make the 
pilgrimage. 
Doffing robes and toting wands, they'll come together in lectures 
("Harry Potter and the Epic Question"), panel discussions ("Can 
Wisdom Come 
>From Wizardry?") and, come nightfall, the "wizarding nightclub."

The mission is to deepen their relationship with a fantasy series 
that's been marketed primarily to children. But the real draw for 
many 
attendees will be to get a first glimpse at the kindred spirits 
they've 
sought out in Internet discussion groups like "Harry Potter for 
Grownups."

Not that this community has ever had to closet itself. From the 
moment 
"muggle" and "quidditch" entered the vocabulary, everybody knew there 
was something about Harry. The four books in the series have sold 80 
million copies in the United States alone. But as the days dwindle 
before 
the June 21 release of the next installment, "Harry Potter and the 
Order of the Phoenix," adults are emerging as some of the most 
dedicated 
fans. Their devotion has inspired everything from academic 
dissertations 
to erotic fiction.

"In my opinion, these are not children's books. With the third book 
we 
left that realm. This is not Dick and Jane we're talking about here," 
says Lee Hillman, one of the symposium's organizers.

A British survey found that, in 1999, 71 percent of Harry Potter 
books 
were bought for 8- to 14-year-olds. By 2001, this share had 
diminished 
to 36 percent.

Sure, many adult readers are just keeping up with their kids. Others 
enjoy the books on their own, apart from organized cliques. "To me, 
these 
books are my special friends. I don't need to go online to talk about 
them," says Linda Deignan, an employee at the Bookworm in West 
Hartford 
who was born in 1947. She's anxious to dig into the new book after 
work 
next Saturday. "I probably won't sleep until Monday."

But there's a higher order of fans out there. Folks like Hillman, 
also 
known by her Web handle, Gwendolyn Grace. She's 31, lives in 
Rochester, 
N.Y., has a master's degree in business and belongs to a group that 
re-enacts life in the Middle Ages. She's also "excessively fond of 
the 
original Star Wars" and "Star Trek." In short, "I'm a geek."

Hillman is part of a huge sector of the Harry Potter fandom that 
writes 
fiction rooted in author J.K. Rowling's universe. For her meditation 
on 
Remus Lupin, a Hogwarts professor and werewolf, Hillman wrote her own 
version of the Ministry of Magic's regulations on lycanthropy, 
complete 
with input from her lawyer friends.

Posted, consumed and discussed on sites like fictionalley.org, fan 
fiction lets readers live with the characters they love, running with 
plot 
lines and investigating mysteries while they bide their time until 
the 
next book.

"Rowling has given us this map that's torn off at the edges. I like 
to 
push those corners out and see what's underneath," Hillman says.

By far, the highest-octane fuel for fan fiction comes from the 
relationships between Rowling's characters, who are about to hit 
puberty in the 
upcoming books.

The most burning question, of course, is who will court the character 
Hermione Granger? Will it be Harry? His best friend Ron Weasley?

"There's a lot of tension within the fandom, lots of rivalries and 
competitiveness between the shippers," as fans who obsess over 
certain 
relationships are called, says Penny Linsenmayer, a former moderator 
for 
"Harry Potter for Grownups."

Other writers aren't satisfied with schoolyard speculation. Instead 
they pair characters off in erotic relationships, devoting thousands 
of 
words at a time to fantasized matches. One variant, so called "slash" 
fiction, abounds on the Web. Usually written by young women, slash 
writers 
couple male characters in gay trysts.

"It's a fringe element. Most people haven't heard about it and that 
keeps us out of trouble," said one 28-year-old slash writer from 
Toronto, 
who uses the name Ivy Blossom. Her imagined couple of choice is Harry 
and his nemesis, Draco Malfoy.

To get around the fact that they're sexualizing child characters, 
writers often place them in a post-Hogwarts setting. They're 18. 
They've 
graduated. They shack up in flats.

"There's a huge stigma around it in the fandom and the people who are 
worried about that are careful about aging up their characters," 
Blossom 
says.

For fans who want to insert themselves in the action, there are a 
host 
of online venues where they can act out their own Harry Potter plot 
lines. "There's tons of role play. Not all of it is sexual, but a lot 
of 
it is. To be honest, some of it really freaks me out," Blossom says.

The Harry Potter story can support all these interpretations because 
its narrative and characters are so rich, fans say. More evidence of 
that 
is the inroads Harry has made into academia.

At Kansas State University, Philip Nel teaches a children's 
literature 
course on Harry Potter and its influences. During registration, the 
class filled up in 24 hours. He's also written a book aimed at adult 
readers, "J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter Novels: A Reader's Guide." It 
explores 
the literary references Rowling makes, including Shakespeare, Greek 
mythology and mathematics.

"There's a prejudice there that says if a book's meant for children 
it 
can't be worthy as literature for adults. One of the goals of my book 
is to disprove that."

Rowling, no doubt, feels the pressure of writing for such a diverse 
audience. But as four books out of an intended seven have already 
proved, 
the fantasy world of Harry Potter is foolproof. The fans are locked 
in. 
Despite its literary credentials, the tale of a boy waking up to his 
magical potentials grabs readers in a fundamental way, especially 
those 
who may have grown out of the stage when such transformations seemed 
possible.

"That's a fantasy for many adults who feel that they may be better 
than 
their common job or common life," Nel says.

"There's something about Harry learning that he is perhaps the 
greatest 
wizard of his age," Hillman says. "Who among us does not want to 
discover that we are great?" 
Copyright 2003, Hartford Courant