The 'four' types of Harry Potter readers revealed

London, October 21 : Readers of the Harry Potter series can be divided into four categories, according to a marketing expert.

According to Professor Stephen Brown of Ulster University, the booklovers tend to bear striking similarities to each of the four houses presented in the series' Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

His findings divide the readers under four groups and relate their reading habits and attitudes to that of the four houses.

For example, 'Hufflepuff' readers like reading their novels at a slow-and-steady pace and would end up re-reading the books many times, while the enthusiastic 'Gryffindor' readers would want to finish the latest book in one sitting though they'd soon move on to other new things.

'Ravenclaws' readers tend to be seditious and read the stories with a tongue and cheek attitude in contrast to the 'Slytherin' readers who would prefer to see the film but still pretend having read the book.

"What we noticed was that the different types of readers were incredibly close to the characteristics of the four houses in the books. It was surprising but it made sense," the Telegraph quoted Professor Brown as saying.

"Only the Hufflepuffs are totally loyal to Harry, the Gryffindors are already moving on to other things, the Slytherins never really liked him anyway and the Ravenclaws are too busy writing their own fan fiction or posting spoof videos on YouTube," he added.

The Professor, who had questioned readers aged seven and above, further predicted that though the series had made a tremendous impact on the mind of its readers, but sometime in future, its readers might just turn around to ask themselves if it was really worth it.

He said: "It could come back into fashion but I think it could be like many fads and just fade away and people will look back and say 'Why did we ever read this stuff?' "

ANI