Who's your favorite HP character... and has that changed?

Recent conversations with friends about how long we've been living with the Harry Potter series and how we've changed as people over the years and how that has changed our perspective on the books has led me to this post. Not quite a meme, but please do comment here with your answers to these questions:

1. How old were you when you discovered Harry Potter?
2. What was your "entry point"? (book 1, movie 1, book 4 release party but you started reading book 1 that night, etc)
3. Who was your favorite character right away?
4. Who is your favorite character now, if different?
5. If you changed favorites, why?

My own answers below the cut! ( Read more... )