Mods: Nappa gave me permission to post this in the H/Hr forum.
MOD NOTE: Since it's now been bumped off page 1 (in the "H/H General Shipping" forum), it's time to move this to the "Prof. Binn's Library" forum.
~gal-texter 27Nov


For those of you who are unaware, Portkey celebrated its one-year anniversary this month (October) and I'd like to take this time to say a few things:

Overall this is great site, but as a HP shipping site/message board, it's wonderful. It’s great to have a place where H/Hr shippers (from the HMS Harmony and HMS Pumpkin Pie) can celebrate the ship in good faith, fun and spirits. I wish more HP shipping sites had the good-natured quality and tone this place exhibits.

So many of them are more about bashing the other ships than celebrating the one they're on. That's what I love about this place. It may be H/Hr, but no ship bashing is allowed. It's about loving H/Hr, not hating r/hr and h/g. Oh sure you can hate those ships all you want and you’re welcomed to, but that's not what this place is for. It's not about coming here and venting your anger at other ships and shippers, it's about coming together and enjoying each other’s company. It’s a very…‘Harmonious’ place to visit (I couldn’t resist ) - it's true.

Portkey truly shows a love of Harry Potter that many other sites lack or seem to have forgotten. I would now like to extend a BIG ‘Thank You’ to all the Admins and Mods who volunteer their time here – especially Nappa, James and Heaven.

So in conclusion I'd just like to say...


PORTKEY!


-Mad Eye Mike


[COLOR=blue]

I second that motion. The Next round of ButterBeer is on me.

PortKey

I third that motion. Let us all celebrte the wonderful job the Admins. and Mod team have done. I wouldn't have had the chance to meet all the wonderful people here if it weren't for this site. Huggles to all!

PK!

Pass on the pumpkin pie!

Hear, Hear MEM!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY PORTKEY!

May you live on as a haven for H/Hrs everywhere until the end of time!

Free butterbeers!
On the house!

*passes butterbeers around*

Yay! ::takes butterbeer and drains it:: Mmm. Yummy.

Happy Anniversary Portkey!

I love you!

Harry and Hermione forever!

Indeed, congratulations are in order.

Hip hip... hooray.

En nog veele jaren meer.

Traveller

Well said Mike, very well. This was the first place I did find as I bought my books and read them till I become interest in this stuff.
To this comes you guys were and are always understandable though I know my english is terrible though you try to understand me.
If I can one day really english than I have to thank this site. Because here did everything start.

I thank you that you take so much of your time to create this site, to face trouble but fun for sure too. You can be very, very proud of yourself that you make so many people happy.

God, truely one year already? Funny I got the books in the same month to be exactly on my birthday. Anyway I hope, no I know next year we see us at this point again and celebrate with 7000 members. Thats my predict because good things, great things like this site are successfully.

Thank you very much NAPPA, James, Heaven and all Moderators

A special thank that you gave us a home.





To Heaven I wish you much, much luck in your new year

Portkey! This is such a wonderful site - I'm so glad to be a (small) part of it ^.^ (And there's people who understand how I feel about H/H *ahem*) And all the mods and members are wonderful, too So happy birthday again! *huggles Portkey 'cause she can * I'm really grateful for PK, though. I really am.

Happy Birthday Portkey!!

Edited to close the Size tag ~gal-texter

hey! happy birthday PK!

the BB my come now!


I've only joined PK about a month ago I think but I've read many posts much before that and I want to THANK YOU so much coz at the moment I found PK I felt that I wasnt alone anymore! HP and especial H/Hr become a part of my life and so PK too coz it's like a second "home" for me!
I always feel very well posting here and been able to read so much good essays and opinions! and like someone told before here we love our ship and dont just bash the others! we're very fair to everybody around here even if they come to "atack" us somehow!

I'd like to thanks the mod and admin team and 'course all the ppl how post here coz I love you all for making this site the home it is!


hope the best for the PK!


Ana

Ahh! Happy birthday portkey! I didnt know when was the date? Well anyway im glad this is celebrating one year!

Is it really Portkey's birthday? Wow...that just goes to show you how fast time flows by. I first joined up here almost a year ago( last December in fact ). PK was fairly new back then...Ahhh, those were the good ol' days

I'd just like to say thanks to the administrators and the other moderators for making PK such a fantastic place. I know that I haven't done my best in my mod duties, but I promise to be better this year *offers complementary present* I didn't become a huge H/Hr fanatic until I discovered PK. Now, Portkey is perhaps the biggest H/Hr shipping site in the fandom. Without Portkey, the fandom wouldn't be the same.

Yay! Happy B-day Portkey. Has it really been a year? Everyone should be so grateful to this site because it is so much fun. I personally have a blast here. ya, PK!

Happy Birthday dear Portkey. I wish many more years of a great site. Congrats to everyone.


Sondra

CONGRADULATIONS PORTKEY! YOU'RE OLDER THAN ME! WEEEEE...

Ok, a little too enthusiastic I think. But... YAY! Happy Birthday. Must make cake, although I can't cook so it would be mud cake for all.

YAY!

I'd just like to say ::sniffs:: I love you all, you've you've... made me soooo happy these last couple of months ::wipes tears from eyes:: I think I think... I think I'm going to cry waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa...

I'd like to thank... the freaky people out there... who seem... to have... lost... their sanity because... of my... weird... freaky... deeky... wacky-O... Personality. But you love me for it right, right, right... RIGHT? ::crys again:: Mwah mwah too you all. ::hugs and kisses the scared audience::

Anywho. Cake anyone?

Nackers~

I have still a pumpkin pie. Because we have Halloween. So than Who want a bit? Its very delicious

Haha! Jess you make me laugh! And, yes I think I lost my sanity and Innocence because of this wonderful place!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PORTKEY!!!!!!!!!!

Do you think that's big enough?!

OK, I would like to say the following:

Before I stumbled upon dear old Portkey, I was a mere lurker at the main HP R/Hr dominated sites, and to tell you the truth, I didn't enjoy posting my views as I knew I'd just get flames from a FEW anti-H/Hr shippers.
I've always enjoyed reading and writing Fanfictions and before I found Portkey, I never even considered sharing my fics with anyone. As I knew people would hate them.
I got so down because shipping was no longer fun for me, I decided to search for H/Hr forums on Yahoo, and dear old Portkey popped up.
I joined Portkey on the 13th of July and I was a fearful newbie, nervous of posting my views but all you wonderful people welcomed me in with open arms and for the first time in a VERY long time shipping became fun again!
Now 3 months later I have 1009 posts and I have all of you as my friends!
I've met the most amazing people in the world on here, and I want to thank Portkey for that!
Without Portkey, I would still be an upset shipper drowning in the world of HP Fandom!
Thank you everyone!
Especially Witch of the Web, Jess, Jack, Kalie, Jere, Sandra, Nitya, Alex, Amanda and everyone who has made me feel right at home here!
THANK YOU PORTKEY!!!!

Well, seems like I have come over here late, and everyone else has said everything that I had planned on saying - so I'll make this short and sweet!

HAPPY
B'DAY
PORTKEY!

thereader

Happy birthday portkey!

I hope that this site will exist many more years.

PORTKEY!!!

OMG, I can't believe it's that time already! I just wanted to thank Nappa, James, and Heaven for created an H/Hr website. I always wondered where I could find a nice harmonious website where I can talk about my favorite SHIP without getting upset and almost resorting to breaking my keyboard to get my point across. This is a place where I can share my ideas and be celebrated and vice versa. We don't even bash other SHIPS, that's how harmonious this place is.

I love it here. I love the people here. I feel as though I'm at home because everyone is so nice and even the layout is welcoming.

May God Bless Portkey with many years to come!

~Grace Granger

wow! HBD to PK.
and thanks Nappa James and Heaven .
like kalie said

I am so late!

Anyway, just want to say Happy Birthday to Portkey!

And a big thank you to all MODs and everyone here who have made Portkey my second home!

Sorry for being late.
Anyway, Happy birthday Portkey.

It's the only place in the fandom where I post (not much, but I try to do better), because it's so peaceful to post in a forum where you know your views will be accepted.

May Portkey have a long and happy life.

Hmm, yes, I'm late as well. Happy Biiirthdaaay.

But I'm also wondering why we didn't have some kind of special event? Hmm - better start planning for next year then! I'm thinking giant pumpkin pie Astro-Jump...

Well, I am really late, but better late than never, right?

Big Birthday hug to Portkey, Nappa, James, Heaven, and all the mods because without you guys Portkey would not be the truly great place it is now. I am happy to have found this great website where everyone is considerate and fun to be with.

~Cris

P.S
Today is my birthday!

Feels like the portkey has been longer online then that.
i still remember too joined that first time on November last year, then i got a new e-mail and all and got a new username(and closed my old username).
Happy Birthday to Portkey.
the staff and mods of portkey has made a wonderful work and Nappa ,James and Heaven how started it all.

oof... I am the latest aren't i?
sry portkey for bein late... couldn't have come earlier since im so new...

HAPPY B'DAY PORTKEY!! the best harry potter fansite!!! :claps hard:
very late bbeers all around!!!

happy birthday to you
happy birthday to you
happy birthday dear portkey
happy birthday to you!!!

happy birthday dear portkey, from me and from portugal.

Well, this may be super late, but I figure late is better than never!

Portkey has done wonders for me. Last year, I was introduced by one SamanthaMarie and I never looked back. I have met so many great people that I am still in contact with today.

Now I'm going to sound like one of those old people who walked to school, both ways, in the snow, barefoot. Deal with it.

I remember back when Portkey had no chatroom. A few of us would stay up all hours of the night, posting comments back and forth, having to refresh the screens every three seconds. We did this so much that we fried the system. James was forced to code for a chatroom. (Sorry James)

Once the chatroom came about, we had our first ever, hopefully annual Portkey Valentine's Day Party. That was one of the most fun events I have ever taken part of! Who can forget the Shippers/shipping thread?! Good times were had by all.

Even though I don't post here much anymore, I am still pretty faithful to the fanfic page. I still talk to all the wonderful frends that I made here:
Darkstar
714
PerfectMistake
MaxLoneWolf
SamanthaMarie
Ereinion

There are others of, course...

I just want to finish by giving a HUGE thank you to James and Nappa (I never really knew Heaven ) for giving me this wonderful forum to make friends and talk about the things that I love. You guys will forever rock my world for the wonderful memories I have created.

*HUGS*
~Batgirl

This is a late post, but on a whim I decided to look around the boards and I came across the forum.

Portkey... wow... what has this little website done for my life? Too much to even write down. It sounds crazy, but this site has probably changed my life simply because of the friendships I have made because of it.

I joined PK nearly a year ago in January. I remember it very clearly, I was bored one night and went to bored.com to find something to entertain me. I came across a website called fanfiction.net. I thought it sounded interesting and I saw there were fanfics about the Harry Potter books. I had started to read the books the summer prior and really liked them so I thought Id read a fic. Call it devine intervention, but the first one I read was Babygrrl's "A Ride to Remember" I had never read a fanfic before, let alone smutt... but I was intrigued by it. On the last updated chapter, Nanea said that this story was also at a new site called "Portkey." There was a link... I clicked... and the rest is history.

I joined in the early days of Portkey. The days where there was 50 members and where it was a big deal when I was the 5th person to reach 100 posts. The days before a chatroom where threads would be refreshed every 3 seconds to see what someone had said. The days where shipper/shipping began... Im glad to be part of the first one at PK... even though it sunk long ago.

The friends I made here have become closer than some friends in real life, thanks to the forums and chat in the beginning and now to LiveJournal. I love them all so much. They mean more to me than they know.

It was also nice to get a friend in real life involved in fandom (batgirl) so I didnt feel so lonely on the outside. And Ill never forget the day Jill told be she switched from a R/Hr shipper to a H/Hr shipper. That was a great day!

I suppose, in someways Ive grown out of Portkey. I dont post anymore. I dont write fanfics anymore. And I dont go into chat anymore. I miss the old days when posts were paragraphs long and no one was under the age of 18. I miss the days of intelligent and well thought out posts, and miss the days of old Portkey.

Portkey has changed, in many ways for the good. But I cant help but think that as the membership and post numbers go up, the original spirit of the site goes down.

This was a site created to explore a work of fiction with others and create bonds that carry over mountians, oceans and time zones. This was a site where older fans of the HP stories could find solace and acceptance.

At least... that is what it was to me.

Well, in any case, happy birthday, Portkey. Ill always remember you for what you were, and not for what you became.

-SamanthaMarie

Although this name is new, I joined PK last December, I think. To tell the truth, PK has changed a great great deal in one short year, and the drastic change a year brought has surprised me somewhat. Although, I won't deny the site has become more interesting, and holds more content, I also wont deny the fact that I used to enjoy this site a lot more when it was smaller. When the fanfiction section wasn't so large, and when the forums weren't so crowded. And when the blabbering I often see was nearly non-existent.

Like Sam, this site changed me in many ways. More bad then good, I'll admit.
And mentioning Sam, I joined before you, and I was under 18.
I'm just joking.

Well, I'd write more, but I was never good at writing enormous posts like Darkstar or the other oldies.

Anyhow, happy birthday to Portkey.Org, my bad for posting this so late. I did not know. = /

MOD NOTE: This and the next 21 posts originally formed a separate thread in Off-Topic. The latter is now buried in that forum's page 2, so I'm merging it with the "Happy Birthday, PK!" thread, as they both talk about the changes Portkey went through. ~gal-texter 29Dec

As some of you have noticed I haven't been around here like at all. I came here like 2 seconds ago and got lost. lol. Gosh, everything has changed so much, the people, the boards, EVERYTHING! I guess no one remembers the old portkey days...

Like what about the "old portkey days" do you miss?

I miss the old Portkey days too, honey. I hardly ever post anymore, though I come here often enough. Come back to us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Everything is new and expanded. There are a ton more people and most of my old friends left. I remember, hmm, I can't really explain it, everything has changed. This is my second post in like 5 months, hmm no one really cares tho.

It might be different, Chico, but that doesn't mean it's bad. It's only explanded because more people have joined and it's become bigger.

And correct me if I'm wrong, but everyone is very friendly. New friends at PK are not hard to come by.

Kristina

Aw. But change can be good as well. All us wonks will welcome you oldbies back.

*huggles to the oldbies* I remember you. In the days where I was not registered and lurked like mad.

Don't be sad.

*sighs* Ah, the old Portkey days. I signed up almost a year ago. The boards definitely have changed since then. Some of my PK friends have left too, so I can definitely sympathize with you, Chico.

~struggling to get her "newbie" tag off her shirt~

If it makes you feel any better, the other forum I hang out on has been overrun with idiots.

And they scared many of the good people away.

I hope the oldies don't think that's what's happening to PK...

I joined about 6 months ago, so I'm not new but I don't know about the days when it first started.

Kristina

*tear*

Ah, those good old days. I have been a lurker since December 2002, perhaps late November, and I didn`t join till February. I don`t post nearly as often as I used to, so my posts per day has gone down drastically. I don`t really know anyone here anymore. No offense to the other people here, I read all of your posts, you are fantastic and funny people. I just feel strange about it now.....

Well, last year during this time we were a little more than 100 people, and now we've passed the 4000 members mark without anybody really realizing it. Portkey has become very large, most probably the largest H/Hr Shipper site in internet. But we're still trying to keep it the neet and friendly place it was right from the start. Sure, Portkey changed a lot since last year but I don't think it's something bad, just different.

I think the thing that makes it awkward to the oldbies is because you don't know these new people. So merely participate and join the random conversation and you'll find yourself a new group of friends.

Everyone is really friendly here.