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{{Short description|Series of fantasy novels by J. K. Rowling}}
<!-- FAIR USE of Image:Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.jpg:see image description page at http://en.wikipedia.org/Image:Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.jpg for rationale -->
{{About|the novel series|the character|Harry Potter (character)|the film series|Harry Potter (film series){{!}}''Harry Potter'' (film series)|the franchise|Wizarding World|the universe|Fictional universe of Harry Potter|other uses|Harry Potter (disambiguation)}}
{{otheruses4|the Harry Potter series|the character|Harry Potter (character)}}
{{Pp|reason=Persistent ]|small=yes}}
{{Good article}}
{{Use British English|date=April 2012}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2017}}
{{Infobox book series
| name = ''Harry Potter''
| books = {{Plainlist|
* <!--Please do not change the title of the first book. It was published as "Philosopher's" first --> '']'' (1997)
* '']'' (1998)
* '']'' (1999)
* '']'' (2000)
* '']'' (2003)
* '']'' (2005)
* '']'' (2007)}}<!-- Please do not add "Cursed Child" to this list of the novels. It is primarily a theatrical play. Discuss on talk page if you disagree. -->
| image = ]
| alt = The ''Harry Potter'' logo first used for the American edition of the novel series (and some other editions worldwide), and then the film series.
| author = ]
| translator =
| cover_artist = <!--1st edition artist--> ]<!--book 1 -->, ]<!--books 2 and 3-->, Giles Greenfield<!--book 4-->, Jason Cockcroft<!--books 5, 6, 7-->
| country = United Kingdom
| language = English
| genre = ]
| publisher = <!--1st edition publisher-->]
| pub_date = 26 June 1997 – 21 July 2007
| media_type = {{Plainlist|
* Print (] and ])
* ]
* ]
}}
| number_of_books = 7
| website = {{URL|https://www.harrypotter.com/}}
}}


'''''Harry Potter''''' is a series of seven ] written by British author ]. The novels chronicle the lives of a young ], ], and his friends, ] and ], all of whom are students at ]. The main ] concerns Harry's conflict with ], a ] who intends to become immortal, overthrow the wizard governing body known as the ], and subjugate all wizards and ]s (non-magical people).
]'' (British/Canadian/Australian/Irish/ Japanese/Taiwanese/African version)]]


The series was originally published in English by ] in the United Kingdom and ] in the United States. A series of many genres, including ], ], ], and the British ] (which includes elements of ], ], ], ], and ]), the world of ''Harry Potter'' explores numerous themes and includes many cultural meanings and references.<ref name="meanings" /> Major themes in the series include prejudice, corruption, madness, love, and death.<ref name="Geordie Greig">{{cite news |first=Geordie |last=Greig |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1507438/There-would-be-so-much-to-tell-her....html |title=There would be so much to tell her... |newspaper=The Telegraph |access-date=4 April 2007 |date=11 January 2006 |location=London |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070311032026/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fnews%2F2006%2F01%2F10%2Fnrowl110.xml |archive-date=11 March 2007 }}</ref>
The '''''Harry Potter''''' books are a series of ]s by ] writer ]. Since the release of the first novel, '']'' (retitled ''Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone'' in the ]) in ], the books have gained immense popularity and commercial success worldwide, spawning ]s, ], and a wealth of other items.


Since the release of the first novel, '']'', on 26 June 1997, the books have found immense popularity and commercial success worldwide. They have attracted a wide adult audience as well as younger readers and are widely considered cornerstones of modern literature,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/2996578.stm|title=Potter's place in the literary canon|work=BBC News|last=Allsobrook|first='Marian|date=18 June 2003|access-date=15 October 2007|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080109162755/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/2996578.stm|archive-date=9 January 2008|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.chronicle.com/article/harry-potters-place-in-literature/|title=Harry Potter's place in literature|work=The Chronicle of Higher Education|last=Bartlett|first=Kellie|date=6 January 2005|df=dmy-all|access-date=18 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230313053821/https://www.chronicle.com/article/harry-potters-place-in-literature/|archive-date=13 March 2023|url-status=live}}</ref> though the books have received mixed reviews from critics and literary scholars. {{as of|2023|February}}, the books have sold more than 600&nbsp;million copies worldwide, making them the ], ]. The last four books all set records as the fastest-selling books in history, with the final instalment selling roughly 2.7 million copies in the United Kingdom and 8.3 million copies in the United States within twenty-four hours of its release.
The six books to date have collectively sold more than 300 million copies<ref>. Accessed ] ]. </span></ref><ref>{{cite web|publisher=Forbes| url=http://www.forbes.com/lists/2006/53/CRTT.html|title=J.K. Rowling}}</ref> and have been translated into more than 63 languages.<ref>{{cite news|publisher=Sunday Tribune|title="Wizard Revisited"|date=June 19, 2005|url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2005/20050619/spectrum/tv.htm}}</ref> The first volume has been translated into ] and even ],<ref><span class="plainlinks"> . Accessed ] ]. </span></ref> making it the longest work in that language since the novels of ] in the ] ].<ref><span class="plainlinks"> Accessed ] ]. </span></ref> Due to the tremendous success of the novels, Rowling has become the richest writer in literary history.<ref><span class="plainlinks"> Watson, Julie and Kellner, Tomas. . , ] ]. Accessed ] ].</span></ref> English language versions of the books are published by ] in the ] and internationally, and ] in the ], ] in ] and ] in ].


] adapted the original seven books into an eight-part ]. In 2016, the total value of the ''Harry Potter'' franchise was estimated at $25&nbsp;billion,<ref name="Time25">{{cite magazine |last1=Meyer |first1=Katie |date=6 April 2016 |title=Harry Potter's $25 Billion Magic Spell |url=https://money.com/billion-dollar-spell-harry-potter/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210514014809/https://money.com/billion-dollar-spell-harry-potter/ |archive-date=14 May 2021 |access-date=4 November 2016 |magazine=]}}</ref> making it one of the ]. '']'' is a play based on a story co-written by Rowling. A television series based on books is in production at ].
A large portion of the narrative takes place in ], and focuses on Harry Potter's struggles against the dark wizard ]. At the same time, the books explore the themes of friendship, ambition, choice, prejudice, courage, growing up, love, moral responsibility, and the complexities of death, and are set against the expansive backdrop of a hidden ] with its own complex history, diverse inhabitants, unique culture, and parallel societies.


The success of the books and films has allowed the ''Harry Potter'' franchise to expand with numerous derivative works, a travelling exhibition that premiered in Chicago in 2009, a studio tour in London that opened in 2012, ] on which J. K. Rowling updates the series with new information and insight, and a trilogy of ] films premiering in November 2016 with '']'', among many other developments. Themed attractions, collectively known as ], have been built at several ] amusement parks around the world.
Six of the seven planned books have been published, and the seventh will be titled '']'' <ref>{{cite news |url=http://books.guardian.co.uk/news/articles/0,,1977216,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=1
|publisher=The Guardian |title=Final 'Harry Potter' title revealed |date=December 21, 2006}}</ref>, although a publishing date is not yet known. The previous (sixth) book, '']'', was issued in an English language version on ] ].


{{TOC limit|limit=3}}
The first four books have been made into very successful ] by ]. The fifth, '']'' began filming in February 2006, and is scheduled for release on ] ].


== Plot ==
== Origins and publishing history ==
{{Further|Fictional universe of Harry Potter}}
In 1990, J.K Rowling was on a crowded train from ] to ] when the idea for Harry simply "walked" into her head. She wrote the ideas down on a spare napkin to keep them fresh in her mind. Rowling gives an account of the experience on her website saying, "I had been writing almost continuously since the age of six but I had never been so excited about an idea before. I simply sat and thought, for four (delayed train) hours, and all the details bubbled up in my brain, and this scrawny, black-haired, bespectacled boy who didn't know he was a wizard became more and more real to me".<ref name="Harry falls into author's head">{{cite web|publisher=JKRowling.com| url=http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/en/biography.cfm| title=Biography| first= J.K.| last=Rowling| accessdate=2006-05-21}}</ref> That evening, the author began the pre-writing for her first novel, ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', a semi-detailed plan that would include the plots of each of her seven envisioned books, in addition to an enormous amount of biographical and historical information on her ] and ].<ref name="J.K. Rowling interview transcript, The Connection">{{
<!-- Per ], "a novel is a primary source for its own plot summary", and citations are not needed for purely descriptive plot details. -->
cite news
|url=http://www.accio-quote.org/articles/1999/1099-connectiontransc2.htm
|publisher=Quick Quote Quill
|title=J.K. Rowling interview transcript, The Connection
|date=October 12, 1999}}</ref>


=== Early years ===
Over the course of the next six years that included the birth of her first child, divorce from her first husband, and a move to ], Rowling continued her writing of ''Philosopher's Stone''.<ref name=Barnes&Noble></ref> Eventually settling in ], Rowling wrote much of the ''Philosopher's Stone'' in local ]. Unable to secure a place in a ], her daughter would be a constant companion to her as she worked.
] was one of the cafés in ] where Rowling wrote the first part of ''Harry Potter''.|alt="The Elephant House", a small, painted red café where Rowling wrote a few chapters of ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'']]


The series follows the life of a boy named ]. In the first book, ''] (]'' in the US), Harry lives in a cupboard under the stairs in the house of the ], his aunt, uncle and cousin, who all treat him poorly. At the age of 11, Harry discovers that he is a ]. He meets a half-giant named ] who gives him a letter of acceptance to attend the ]. Harry learns that his parents, ] and ], also had magical powers and were murdered by the dark wizard ] when Harry was a baby. When Voldemort attempted to kill Harry, his curse rebounded, seemingly killing Voldemort, and Harry survived with a lightning-shaped scar on his forehead. The event made Harry famous among the community of wizards and ].
In 1996, ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'' was completed and the ] was sent off to prospective agents. The second agent she tried, Christopher Little, offered to represent her and sent the manuscript to Bloomsbury. After eight other publishers had rejected ''Philosopher's Stone'', Bloomsbury offered Rowling a £3,000 advance for the publication of ].<ref>{{cite web|publisher=BusinessWeek Online| url=http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_22/b3935414.htm| title=Nigel Newton | first=John| last=Lawless| accessdate=2006-09-09}}</ref>


Harry becomes a student at Hogwarts and is sorted into ]. He gains the friendship of ], a member of a large but poor wizarding family, and ], a witch of non-magical, or ], parentage. The trio develop an enmity with the rich ] student ]. Harry encounters the school's headmaster, ]; the ]s professor, ], who displays a dislike for him; and the ] teacher, ]. Quirrell turns out to be allied with Voldemort, who is still alive as a weak spirit. The first book concludes with Harry's confrontation with Voldemort, who, in his quest to regain a body, yearns to possess the ], a substance that bestows everlasting life.
Despite Rowling's statement that she did not have any particular age group in mind when she began to write the ''Harry Potter'' books, the publishers initially targeted them at children age nine to eleven. On the eve of publishing, Joanne Rowling was asked by her publishers to adopt a more gender-neutral ], in order to appeal to the male members of this age group, fearing that they would not be interested in reading a novel they knew to be written by a woman. She elected to use J. K. Rowling (Joanne Kathleen Rowling), omitting her first name and using her grandmother's as her second.<ref>{{cite web|publisher=The Daily Telegraph| url=http://www.quick-quote-quill.org/articles/2000/0700-savill-telegraph.html| title=Harry Potter and the mystery of J K's lost initial| first=Richard| last=Savill| accessdate=2006-09-09}}</ref>


'']'' describes Harry's second year at Hogwarts. Students are attacked and petrified by an unknown creature; wizards of Muggle parentage are the primary targets. The attacks appear related to the mythical ] and resemble attacks fifty years earlier. Harry discovers an ability to speak the snake language ], which he learns is rare and associated with the ]. When Hermione is attacked and Ron's younger sister, ], abducted, Harry and Ron uncover the chamber's secrets and enter it. Harry discovers that Ginny was possessed by an old diary, inside which the memory of ], Voldemort's younger self, resides. On Voldemort's behalf, Ginny opened the chamber and unleashed the ], an ancient monster that kills or petrifies those who make direct or indirect eye contact, respectively. With the help of Dumbledore's ], Fawkes, and the ], Harry slays the basilisk and destroys the diary.
The first ''Harry Potter'' book was published in the ] by Bloomsbury in July 1997 and in the ] by ] in September of 1998, but not before Rowling had received a six-figure sum for the American rights – an unprecedented amount for a children's book. Fearing that some of its intended readers would either not understand the word "philosopher" or not associate it with a magical theme (as a ] is alchemy-related), Scholastic insisted that the book be renamed ''Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone'' for the American market.<ref>{{cite web|publisher=Quick Quotes Quill| url=http://www.quick-quote-quill.org/articles/2000/fall00-etoys.html| title=eToys interview transcript| first=| last=eToys interview transcript| accessdate=2006-09-09}}</ref>


In the third novel, '']'', Harry learns that he is targeted by ], an escaped convict who allegedly assisted in his parents' murder. ], creatures that feed on happiness, search for Sirius and guard the school. As Harry struggles with his reaction to the dementors, he reaches out to ], a new professor who teaches him the ]. On a windy night, Ron is dragged by a black dog into the ], a haunted house, and Harry and Hermione follow. The dog is revealed to be Sirius Black. Lupin enters the shack and explains that Sirius was James Potter's best friend; he was framed by another friend of James, ], who hides as Ron's pet rat, Scabbers. As the full moon rises, Lupin transforms into a werewolf and bounds away, and the group chase after him. They are surrounded by dementors, but are saved by a figure resembling James who casts a stag Patronus. This is later revealed to be a future version of Harry, who traveled back in time with Hermione using a device called a ]. The duo help Sirius escape on a ], while Pettigrew escapes.
Over nearly a decade Harry Potter has achieved much success due in part to positive reviews, Rowling's publisher's marketing strategy, but also due to word-of-mouth buzz among average readers, especially young males. The latter is notable because for years, interest in literature among this demographic had lagged behind other pursuits like video games and the Internet. Rowling's publishers were able to capitalise on this fervour by the rapid, successive releases of the first three books that allowed neither Rowling's audience's excitement nor interest to wane, along with quickly solidifying a loyal readership. <ref name="Books' Hero Wins Young Minds">{{
cite news
|publisher=New York Times
|title=Books' Hero Wins Young Minds
|date=Jul 12, 1999


=== Voldemort returns ===
}}</ref> The series has also garnered adult fans, leading to two editions of each ''Harry Potter'' book being released, identical in text but with one edition's cover artwork aimed at children and the other aimed at adults.<ref name="OOTP is best seller in France - in English!">{{
]


In Harry's fourth year of school (detailed in '']''), Hogwarts hosts the ], a contest between Hogwarts and the schools Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. Harry is unwillingly entered into the contest, becoming Hogwarts' second participant after ], an unusual occurrence that causes his friends to distance themselves from him. Harry claims the Triwizard Cup with Cedric, but he is teleported to a graveyard where Pettigrew kills Cedric, then resurrects Voldemort using Harry's blood. Voldemort convenes his supporters, the ]s, and Harry manages to escape after a duel with Voldemort. Upon returning to Hogwarts, it is revealed that a Death Eater, ], in disguise as the new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, ], engineered Harry's entry into the tournament, secretly helped him, and had him teleported to Voldemort.
cite news
|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/world/newsid_3036000/3036350.stm
|publisher=BBC
|title=OOTP is best seller in France - in English!
|date=July 1, 2003


In the fifth book, '']'', the ] refuses to believe that Voldemort has returned. Dumbledore re-activates the ], a secret society to counter Voldemort; meanwhile, the Ministry tightens control of Hogwarts by appointing ] as High Inquisitor of Hogwarts, and she gradually increases her powers. When Umbridge bans practical teaching of Defence Against the Dark Arts, Harry, Ron and Hermione form "]", a secret group to continue the teachings. Harry has recurring dreams of a dark corridor in the Ministry of Magic, eventually dreaming that Sirius is being tortured there. He races to the Ministry with his friends, but it is a trap, planted in his head by Voldemort. The group are attacked by Death Eaters and saved by the Order of the Phoenix, but Sirius is killed in the battle. A duel between Dumbledore and Voldemort convinces the ministry of Voldemort's return. A prophecy concerning Harry and Voldemort is revealed: one must die at the hands of the other.
}}</ref> Moreover, the series is popular around the world in its many translations. Such was the global clamour to read the book that the ] edition of the series' fifth book, ''Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix'', became the first English-language book ever to top the bookseller list in ].<ref name="OOTP is best seller in France - in English!">{{


In the sixth book, '']'', Snape teaches Defence Against the Dark Arts while ] becomes the Potions master. Harry finds an old textbook with annotations by the Half-Blood Prince, due to which he achieves success in Potions class. Harry also takes lessons with Dumbledore, viewing memories about the early life of Voldemort in a device called a ]. Harry learns from a drunken Slughorn that he used to teach Tom Riddle, and that Voldemort divided his soul into pieces, creating a series of ]es. Harry and Dumbledore travel to a distant lake to destroy a Horcrux; they succeed, but Dumbledore weakens. On their return, they find Draco Malfoy and Death Eaters attacking the school. The book ends with the killing of Dumbledore by Professor Snape, the titular Half-Blood Prince.
cite news
|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/world/newsid_3036000/3036350.stm
|publisher=BBC
|title=OOTP is best seller in France - in English!
|date=July 1, 2003


In '']'', the seventh and final novel in the series, Lord Voldemort gains control of the Ministry of Magic. Harry, Ron and Hermione learn about the ], legendary items that lead to mastery over death. The group infiltrates the ministry, where they steal a locket Horcrux, and visit ], where they are attacked by Nagini, Voldemort's snake. A silver doe Patronus leads them to the Sword of Gryffindor, with which they destroy the locket. They steal a Horcrux from Gringotts and travel to Hogwarts, culminating in a battle with the Death Eaters. Snape is killed by Voldemort out of paranoia, but he lends Harry his memories before he dies. Harry learns that Snape was always loyal to Dumbledore, and that Harry is himself a Horcrux. Harry surrenders to Voldemort and is killed. The defenders of Hogwarts continue to fight on; Harry is resurrected, faces Voldemort and kills him.
}}</ref>


An epilogue titled "Nineteen Years Later" describes the lives of the surviving characters and the impact of Voldemort's death. Harry and Ginny are married with three ], and Ron and Hermione are married with ].
==Story==
===Plot summary===
{{spoiler}}
The story opens with the unrestrained celebration of a normally-secretive ] which for many years had been terrorised by ]. The previous night, Voldemort had discovered the refuge of the hidden Potter family, and killed ]. However, when he turned his wand against their infant son, Harry, his killing curse rebounded upon him. His body destroyed, Voldemort became a powerless spirit, seeking refuge in the undisturbed places of the world; Harry, meanwhile, was left with a distinctive lightning bolt scar on his forehead, the only physical sign of Voldemort's curse. Harry's mysterious defeat of Voldemort results in him being dubbed "The Boy Who Lived" by the wizarding world.


== Style and allusions ==
The orphaned Harry Potter is subsequently raised by his cruel, non-magical relatives, the ], in ignorance of his magical heritage. However, as his eleventh birthday approaches, Harry has his first contact with the magical world when he receives letters from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, which are stolen from him by his Aunt and Uncle before he has a chance to read them. On his eleventh birthday he is informed that he is in fact a wizard and has been invited to attend Hogwarts. He is told this by Hagrid, the gamekeeper of Hogwarts. Each book chronicles one year in Harry's life at Hogwarts, where he learns to use ] and brew ]. Harry also learns to overcome many magical, social, and emotional obstacles as he struggles through his adolescence and Voldemort's rise to power.
===Genre and style===
The novels fall into the genre of ], and qualify as a type of fantasy called "]", "contemporary fantasy", or "]". They are mainly dramas, and maintain a fairly serious and dark tone throughout, though they do contain some notable instances of ] and black humour. In many respects, they are also examples of the '']'', or ] novel,<ref>{{cite news |last=Anne Le Lievre |first=Kerrie |year=2003 |title=Wizards and wainscots: generic structures and genre themes in the Harry Potter series |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0OON/is_1_24/ai_107896944/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081206041643/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0OON/is_1_24/ai_107896944/ |archive-date=6 December 2008 |access-date=1 September 2008 |publisher=CNET Networks}}</ref> and contain elements of ], adventure, ], ], and ]. The books are also, in the words of ], "shrewd mystery tales",<ref name="Wild About Harry">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/books/00/07/23/reviews/000723.23kinglt.html|title=Wild About Harry|last=King|first=Stephen|date=23 July 2000|newspaper=The New York Times|quote=...the Harry Potter books are, at heart, satisfyingly shrewd mystery tales.|author-link=Stephen King|access-date=9 August 2010|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090417021723/http://www.nytimes.com/books/00/07/23/reviews/000723.23kinglt.html|archive-date=17 April 2009|df=dmy-all}}</ref> and each book is constructed in the manner of a ]-style ] adventure. The stories are told from a ] point of view with very few exceptions (such as the opening chapters of '']'', '']'' and '']'' and the first two chapters of '']'').


The series can be considered part of the British children's ], which includes ]'s '']'', ]'s '']'', '']'' and the '']'' series, and Frank Richards's '']'' novels: the ''Harry Potter'' books are predominantly set in ], a fictional British boarding school for wizards, where the curriculum includes the use of ].<ref name="Harry Potter Boarding">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/563232.stm|title=Harry Potter makes boarding fashionable|work=BBC News|access-date=1 September 2008|date=13 December 1999|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081228112231/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/563232.stm|archive-date=28 December 2008|df=dmy-all}}</ref> In this sense they are "in a direct line of descent from ]'s '']'' and other Victorian and Edwardian novels of ] life", though they are, as many note, more contemporary, grittier, darker, and more mature than the typical boarding school novel, addressing serious ] of death, love, loss, prejudice, coming-of-age, and the loss of innocence in a 1990s British setting.<ref>{{cite book |last= Ellen Jones |first= Leslie |title= JRR Tolkien: A Biography |publisher= Greenwood Press |year= 2003 |isbn= 978-0-313-32340-9 |page= |url= https://archive.org/details/jrrtolkienbiogra0000jone/page/16 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last= A Whited | first = Lana | title=The Ivory Tower and Harry Potter: Perspectives on a Literary Phenomenon | publisher=University of Missouri Press|year=2004|isbn=978-0-8262-1549-9|page=28}}</ref>{{Failed verification|date=October 2023}}
For a detailed synopsis of the novels, see the relevant article for ].


In ''Harry Potter'', Rowling juxtaposes the extraordinary against the ordinary.{{Sfn|Natov|2002|p=129}} Her narrative features two worlds: a contemporary world inhabited by non-magical people called ], and another featuring wizards. It differs from typical ] in that its magical elements stay grounded in the mundane.{{sfn|Butler|2012|pp=233–34}} Paintings move and talk; books bite readers; letters shout messages; and maps show live journeys, making the wizarding world both exotic and familiar.{{Sfn|Natov|2002|p=129}}{{sfn|Butler|2012|p=234}} This blend of realistic and romantic elements extends to Rowling's characters. Their names are often ]{{clarify|date=January 2024}}: Malfoy is difficult, Filch is unpleasant, and Lupin is a werewolf.{{sfn|Park|2003|p=183}}{{Sfn|Natov|2002|p=130}} Harry is ordinary and relatable, with down-to-earth features such as wearing broken glasses;{{sfn|Nikolajeva|2008|p=233}} the scholar Roni Natov terms him an "everychild".{{sfn|Ostry|2003|p=97}} These elements serve to highlight Harry when he is heroic, making him both an ] and a fairytale hero.{{sfn|Nikolajeva|2008|p=233}}{{sfn|Ostry|2003|pp=90, 97–98}}
===Universe===
] The ] in which Harry finds himself is both utterly separate from and yet intimately connected to our own world. While the fantasy world of ] functions as an alternate universe and the '']''’ ] as a mythic past, the world of ''Harry Potter'' exists alongside ours as a ], and many of its institutions and locations are in towns, such as London, that are recognisable in the primary world. It is a fragmented collection of hidden streets, overlooked and ancient pubs, lonely country manors and secluded castles that remain utterly invisible to the non-magical population (known as "]s"). Wizard ability is inborn, rather than learned, although one must attend schools such as Hogwarts in order to master and control it. Since one is either born a wizard or not, most wizards are unfamiliar with the Muggle world, which appears odder to them than their world to us. Despite this, the magical world and its many fantastic elements are depicted very matter-of-factly. One of the principal themes in the novels is the juxtaposition of the magical and the mundane; the characters in the stories live normal lives with "normal" problems, for all their magical surroundings.


Each of the seven books is set over the course of one school year. Harry struggles with the problems he encounters, and dealing with them often involves the need to violate some school rules. If students are caught breaking rules, they are often disciplined by Hogwarts professors. The stories reach their climax in the ], near or just after ], when events escalate far beyond in-school squabbles and struggles, and Harry must confront either ] or one of his followers, the ], with the stakes a matter of life and death—a point underlined, as the series progresses, by characters being killed in each of the final four books.<ref name="Harry Potter Last Adventure" /><ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/two-characters-to-die-in-last-harry-potter-book-j-k-rowling-1.598355 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20060630023326/http://www.cbc.ca/arts/story/2006/06/26/rowling-potter-deaths.html | archive-date=30 June 2006|title=Two characters to die in last 'Harry Potter' book: J.K. Rowling|publisher=CBC|access-date=1 September 2008 |url-status= live | date=26 June 2006}}</ref> In the aftermath, he learns important lessons through exposition and discussions with head teacher and mentor ]. The only exception to this school-centred setting is the final novel, '']'', in which Harry and his friends spend most of their time away from Hogwarts, and only return there to face Voldemort at the '']''.<ref name="Harry Potter Last Adventure">{{cite news|url=http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1637886_1637891,00.html|title=Harry Potter's Last Adventure|last=Grossman|first=Lev|magazine=]|access-date=1 September 2008|date=28 June 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080827145911/http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1637886_1637891,00.html|archive-date=27 August 2008|df=dmy-all}}</ref>
Fans who feel a personal connection to the characters often write ], which allows them to write their own events using the characters. Such a pasttime has become very popular with die-hard fans and there are hundreds of sites, in all languages, specifically dedicated to ] ].


===Recurrent elements=== ===Allusions===
The ''Harry Potter'' stories feature imagery and motifs drawn from ] and ]. Harry's ability to draw the ] from the ] resembles the Arthurian ] legend.{{sfn|Alton|2008|p=216}} His life with the Dursleys has been compared to ].{{sfn|Gallardo|Smith|2003|p=195}} Hogwarts resembles a medieval university-cum-castle with several professors who belong to an Order of Merlin; Old Professor Binns still lectures about the International Warlock Convention of 1289; and a real historical person, a 14th-century scribe, Sir ], is described as a holder of the Philosopher's Stone.<ref name="Scriptorium Press">{{cite journal|last1=Arden |first1=Heather |last2=Lorenz |first2=Kathryn |title=The Harry Potter Stories and French Arthurian Romance|journal=Arthuriana|volume=13 |issue=12|pages=54–68|date=June 2003|jstor=27870516|doi=10.1353/art.2003.0005 |s2cid=161603742 | issn=1078-6279}}</ref> Other medieval elements in Hogwarts include coats-of-arms and medieval weapons on the walls, letters written on parchment and sealed with wax, the Great Hall of Hogwarts, which is similar to the Great Hall of Camelot, the use of Latin phrases, the tents put up for Quidditch tournaments, which are similar to the "marvellous tents" put up for knightly tournaments, imaginary animals like dragons and unicorns that exist around Hogwarts, and the banners with heraldic animals for the four Houses of Hogwarts.<ref name="Scriptorium Press"/>
''']s''': Owls are perhaps the most visible aspect of the Wizarding world. They appear at the start of the first novel, presaging what is to come, and play a very visible role in every novel following. They act as the principal form of communication among wizards (somewhat like ]s) and also as pets. Harry Potter has a pet snowy owl named ].


Many of the motifs of the Potter stories, such as the hero's quest invoking objects that confer invisibility, magical animals and trees, a forest full of danger and the recognition of a character based upon scars, are drawn from medieval French Arthurian romances.<ref name="Scriptorium Press"/> Other aspects borrowed from French Arthurian romances include the use of owls as messengers, werewolves as characters, and white deer.<ref name="Scriptorium Press"/> The American scholars Heather Arden and Kathrn Lorenz in particular argue that many aspects of the Potter stories are inspired by a 14th-century French Arthurian romance, ''Claris et Laris'', writing of the "startling" similarities between the adventures of Potter and the knight Claris.<ref name="Scriptorium Press"/> Arden and Lorenz noted that Rowling graduated from the University of Exeter in 1986 with a degree in French literature and spent a year living in France afterwards.<ref name="Scriptorium Press"/>
'''The ]''': An old-fashioned train drawn by a scarlet steam locomotive that is the principal means by which a wizard in training can reach ]. It departs from ] at ], ].


Like C. S. Lewis's ''The Chronicles of Narnia'', ''Harry Potter'' also contains Christian symbolism and ]. The series has been viewed as a Christian moral fable in the ] tradition, in which stand-ins for good and evil fight for supremacy over a person's soul.{{Sfn|Singer|2016|pp= 26–27}} Children's literature critic Joy Farmer sees parallels between Harry and ].{{Sfn|Farmer|2001|p=58}} Comparing Rowling with Lewis, she argues that "magic is both authors' way of talking about spiritual reality".{{Sfn|Farmer|2001|p=55}} According to ], Christian imagery is particularly strong in the final scenes of the series: Harry dies in self-sacrifice and Voldemort delivers an "]" speech, after which Harry is ] and defeats his enemy.{{sfn|Nikolajeva|2008|pp=238–39}}
''']''': Like many boarding schools, Hogwarts is divided into four separate ], and students are ] into their respective houses at the start of their first year. They are ] (which favours courage), ], (which favours cleverness), ], (which favours fairness and equality) and ] (which favours ambition). Upon arrival, Harry, along with his friends (Ron Weasley, whos feelings are made clear to harry, when he confesses his love to him, via bum loving and later Hermione who has a penis), are sorted into Gryffindor.


Rowling stated that she did not reveal ''Harry Potter''{{'}}s religious parallels in the beginning because doing so would have "give too much away to fans who might then see the parallels".<ref name="Adler2007">{{cite web|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/1572107/harry-potter-author-jk-rowling-opens-up-about-books-christian-imagery/|title='Harry Potter' Author J.K. Rowling Opens Up About Books' Christian Imagery|last=Adler|first=Shawn|date=17 October 2007|publisher=]|language=en|access-date=3 April 2018|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171014091806/http://www.mtv.com/news/1572107/harry-potter-author-jk-rowling-opens-up-about-books-christian-imagery/|archive-date=14 October 2017|df=dmy-all}}</ref> In the final book of the series, '']'', Rowling makes the book's Christian imagery more explicit, quoting both ] and ] (]) when Harry visits his parents' ].<ref name="Adler2007"/> ] teaches Harry Potter that the meaning of these verses from the ] are "living beyond death. Living after death", which Rowling states "epitomize the whole series".<ref name="Adler2007"/><ref name="SedlmayrWaller2014">{{cite book|last1=Sedlmayr|first1=Gerold|last2=Waller|first2=Nicole|title=Politics in Fantasy Media: Essays on Ideology and Gender in Fiction, Film, Television and Games|date=28 October 2014|publisher=]|language=en|isbn=9781476617558|page=132|quote=During this press conference, Rowling stated that the Bible quotations in that novel "almost epitomize the whole series. I think they sum up all the themes in the whole series" (reported in Adler).}}</ref><ref name="Falconer2008">{{cite book|last=Falconer|first=Rachel|title=The Crossover Novel: Contemporary Children's Fiction and Its Adult Readership|date=21 October 2008|publisher=]|language=en|isbn=9781135865016|page=69|quote=These New Testament verses (Matthew 6:19 and 1 Corinthians 15:26) together denote the promise of resurrection through the Son of God's consent to die.52 In interview, Rowling has stressed that these two quotations 'sum up{{snd}}they almost epitomize the whole series'.}}</ref> Rowling also exhibits Christian values in developing Albus Dumbledore as a God-like character, the divine, trusted leader of the series, guiding the long-suffering hero along his quest. In the seventh novel, Harry speaks with and questions the deceased Dumbledore much like a person of faith would talk to and question God.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Cooke |first=Rachel |title=ProQuest Ebook Central |journal=] |doi=10.5260/cca.199425|doi-broken-date=1 November 2024 }} {{subscription required}}</ref>{{Full citation needed|date=August 2024}}
''']''': a spectator sport in the Wizard world, played up in the air on brooms. Similar in style to ] and ]. Harry is a great player at Hogwarts and has helped Gryffindor win a number of games. Harry Potter is the ] for his team whose role is to try and catch the ].


== Themes ==
''']''': Wizards tend to view ]s with a combination of condescension and suspicion, but for a few wizards this attitude, over the centuries, has descended into ]. Characters in the novels are classed either as "Muggle-born", (a wizard born to Muggles) "half-blood" (a wizard born to one wizard parent and one Muggle or Muggle-born parent) "pure-blood" (a wizard born to parents of purely wizarding lineage), or "Squib" (a Muggle born of two wizards). The maintenance of blood purity is a primary motivation for many of the series's darker characters.
] |alt=J.K. Rowling, a blond, blue-eyed woman, who is the author of the series]]


''Harry Potter''{{'s}} overarching theme is death.{{Sfn|Ciaccio|2008|pp=39–40}}{{Sfn|Groves|2017|pp=xxi–xxii, 135–136}} In the first book, when Harry looks into the Mirror of Erised, he feels both joy and "a terrible sadness" at seeing his desire: his parents, alive and with him.{{sfn|Natov|2002|pp= 134–36}} Confronting their loss is central to Harry's character arc and manifests in different ways through the series, such as in his struggles with ].{{sfn|Natov|2002|pp=134–36}}{{sfn|Taub|Servaty-Seib|2008|pp=23–27}} Other characters in Harry's life die; he even faces his own death in ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows''.{{Sfn|Pharr|2016|pp=20–21}} The series has an ] perspective—Harry must grow mature enough to accept death.{{Sfn|Los|2008|pp=32–33}} In Harry's world, death is not binary but mutable, a state that exists in degrees.{{Sfn|Stojilkov|2015|p=135}} Unlike Voldemort, who evades death by separating and hiding his soul in seven parts, Harry's soul is whole, nourished by friendship and love.{{Sfn|Los|2008|pp=32–33}}
=== Characters ===
{{seealso|List of characters in the Harry Potter books}}


Love distinguishes Harry and Voldemort. Harry is a hero because he loves others, even willing to accept death to save them; Voldemort is a villain because he does not.{{Sfn|Pharr|2016|pp= 14–15, 20–21}} Harry carries the protection of his mother's sacrifice in his blood; Voldemort, who wants Harry's blood and the protection it carries, does not understand that love vanquishes death.{{Sfn|Farmer|2001|p=58}}
*''']''': The only child of ], from whom he inherited distinct characteristics: He has a remarkable resemblance to James including his untidy black hair and shares occasional lack of regard for rules and has Lily's almond-shaped green eyes. He was born on ], ]. He achieved fame at the age of one when ], the most feared dark wizard in the world, attacked his home and murdered his parents but failed to kill him. Voldemort was left nearly dead and Harry was left with an instantly recognisable ]-shaped scar on his forehead. After his parent's murder, Harry is taken by the Wizard Professor Dumbledore and given to his Muggle aunt ( his mother's sister) and uncle who have an extreme distaste for all that is 'abnormal' to raise until ] comes to fetch Harry to attend Hogwarts.


Rowling has spoken about thematising death and loss in the series. Soon after she started writing ''Philosopher's Stone'', her mother died; she said that "I really think from that moment on, death became a central, if not the central theme of the seven books".{{sfn|Groves|2017|p=138}} Rowling has described Harry as "the prism through which I view death", and further stated that "all of my characters are defined by their attitude to death and the possibility of death".{{sfn|Groves|2017|p=135}}
*''']''': Harry's best friend and the sixth of seven children of the ]. Ron befriended Harry almost immediately upon meeting him during their first journey on the ]. However, a rift developed between them in their fourth year, due in part to Ron's frustration at being forced to live in Harry's shadow – no doubt magnified by his position as the youngest son in his large and talented family. Despite this, he and Harry have remained close through the years, with Ron being a constant companion through Harry's trials and adventures. '']'' shows a budding relationship between Ron and Hermione Granger.


While ''Harry Potter'' can be viewed as a story about good vs. evil, its moral divisions are not absolute.{{sfn|Shanoes|2003|pp=131–32}}{{sfn|McEvoy|2016|p=207}} First impressions of characters are often misleading. Harry assumes in the first book that Quirrell is on the side of good because he opposes Snape, who appears to be malicious; in reality, Quirrell is an agent of Voldemort, while Snape is loyal to Dumbledore. This pattern later recurs with Moody and Snape.{{sfn|Shanoes|2003|pp= 131–32}} In Rowling's world, good and evil are choices rather than inherent attributes: second chances and the possibility of redemption are key themes of the series.{{sfn|Doughty|2002|pp= 247–49}}{{Sfn|Berberich|2016|p=153}} This is reflected in Harry's self-doubts after learning his connections to Voldemort, such as Parseltongue;{{sfn|Doughty|2002|pp=247–49}} and prominently in Snape's characterisation, which has been described as complex and multifaceted.{{sfn|Birch|2008|pp=110–13}} In some scholars' view, while Rowling's narrative appears on the surface to be about Harry, her focus may actually be on Snape's morality and character arc.{{sfn|Nikolajeva|2016|p=204}}{{sfn|Applebaum|2008|pp=84–85}}
*''']''': The best friend of Harry and Ron who is generally held to be the top student in Harry's year at Hogwarts. She is very clever and extremely bookish and reads voraciously, far more than her studies call for. In times of challenge, Hermione is often likely to make a bee-line for the library. As Ronald Weasley put it in ''Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets'', "that's what Hermione does. When in doubt, go to the library." Her high ] coupled with her ] and ] way of tackling challenges have often been a great asset to Harry and Ron throughout their Hogwarts careers and other adventures, though her sometimes bossy and interfering manner has at times been a source of contention between them. Hermione is Muggle-born, being the daughter of two ], neither of whom has a magical history. ''Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince'' shows a budding relationship between Hermione and Ron.


Rowling said that, to her, the moral significance of the tales seems "blindingly obvious". In the fourth book, Dumbledore speaks of a "choice between what is right and what is easy"; Rowling views this as a key theme, "because that ... is how tyranny is started, with people being apathetic and taking the easy route and suddenly finding themselves in deep trouble".<ref>{{cite news |first=Wyman |last=Max |title="You can lead a fool to a book but you cannot make them think": Author has frank words for the religious right |newspaper=] |date=26 October 2000 |page=A3 |id={{ProQuest|242655908}}}}</ref>
*''']''': Harry's most trusted advisor and Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He is perhaps one of the most respected men in the wizarding world, holding high ranking positions in both national and international magical government, along with being an accomplished ] and master of an assortment of magical disciplines. Dumbledore was three times offered the position of ] but turned it down every time. He is also said to be the only known person whom Lord Voldemort ever feared, and also one of the few who does not fear Voldemort and openly speaks his name, often calling him by his given name of Tom (Riddle). Near the end of ''Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince'', Dumbledore is murdered by ].


Academics and journalists have developed many other interpretations of themes in the books, some more complex than others, and some including ]. Themes such as ], oppression, survival, and overcoming imposing odds have all been considered as prevalent throughout the series.<ref name="Greenwald2005">{{cite journal|last1=Greenwald|first1=Janey|title=Understanding Harry Potter: Parallels to the Deaf World|journal=The Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education|volume=10|issue=4|pages=442–450|date=Fall 2005|doi=10.1093/deafed/eni041|pmid=16000691|last2=Greenwald|first2=J |format=Free full text|doi-access=free}}</ref> Similarly, the theme of making one's way through adolescence and "going over one's most harrowing ordeals—and thus coming to terms with them" has also been considered.<ref name="Duffy2002">{{cite journal|last=Duffy|first=Edward|title=Sentences in Harry Potter, Students in Future Writing Classes|journal=Rhetoric Review|volume=21|issue=2|year=2002|page=177|doi=10.1207/S15327981RR2102_03|s2cid=144654506}}</ref> Rowling has stated that the books comprise "a prolonged argument for tolerance, a prolonged plea for an end to ]" and that they also pass on a message to "question authority and... not assume that the establishment or the press tells you all of the truth".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7053982.stm|title=JK Rowling outs Dumbledore as gay|access-date=21 October 2007|date=21 October 2007|work=BBC News|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071022052510/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7053982.stm|archive-date=22 October 2007|df=dmy-all}}</ref>
*''']''': Born on ], ], he is the dark wizard and chief ] of the series bent on securing unmatched power and ] through the practice of the ]. His given name is Tom Marvolo Riddle. Rearranged, the letters spell "I am Lord Voldemort." He is a half-blood, the son of a Muggle father and witch mother. He attended Hogwarts more than 50 years before Harry's time, beginning in ]. After years of slaughter in pursuit of his goals to become the greatest wizard of all time, Voldemort was ripped from his body and forced into hiding after his failed attempt on the life of the young Harry Potter. So feared was he at the height of his prodigious powers that even following his downfall most wizards feared to speak his name, referring to him instead as "You-Know-Who", "He Who Must Not Be Named", or "The Dark Lord", the latter of which is used primarily by his followers, the ]s.


== Development history ==
*''']''': A gifted wizard, Hogwarts staff member, and since his youth, a bitter enemy of ] and ]. As Hogwarts' ] master, he sought to exact his revenge on the deceased James Potter by verbally abusing his son Harry from the moment Harry arrived at the school. A former ], he was later taken on as a teacher by Professor Dumbledore. Snape's loyalty is constantly under question though Dumbledore maintains that he unequivocally trusts him for reasons partially revealed in ''Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince''.
{{Main|Harry Potter influences and analogues}}


In 1990, Rowling was on a crowded train from ] to ] when the idea for Harry suddenly "fell into" her head. Rowling gives an account of the experience on her website saying:<ref name="Harry falls into author's head">{{cite web|publisher=JKRowling.com|url=http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/en/biography.cfm|title=Biography|first= JK |last = Rowling |access-date=21 May 2006|year=2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060421032312/http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/en/biography.cfm <!--Added by H3llBot-->|archive-date=21 April 2006}}</ref>
*''']''': Best friend of James Potter and former rebellious youth who fled his ] supremacist parents' home at an early age. Following the murders of James and Lily, he was arrested for supposed involvement. He later escaped ] prison and was only officially declared innocent posthumously in the sixth book, ''Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince'', though his innocence was already established to Harry, Ron, Hermione and certain members of the ]. Sirius is also Harry's godfather.


{{blockquote|I had been writing almost continuously since the age of six but I had never been so excited about an idea before. I simply sat and thought, for four (delayed train) hours, and all the details bubbled up in my brain, and this scrawny, black-haired, bespectacled boy who did not know he was a wizard became more and more real to me.}}
*''']''': The only daughter and seventh child of the ]. She is a talented witch, especially noted for her skill with the ]. Ginny is the first female born into the Weasley line in several generations. Potions professor ] sees great potential in the youngest Weasley and respects her formidable magical abilities. She had a long-standing crush on Harry and a romance between them starts in ''Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince''.


Rowling completed ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'' in 1995 and the ] was sent off to several prospective ].{{sfn|Kirk|2003|p=73}} The second agent she tried, ], offered to represent her and sent the manuscript to several publishers.{{sfn|Smith|2002|pp=156, 159–161}}
*''']''': Son of a wizard and a ], he is both surprisingly gentle and nurturing. One of Harry's biggest supporters and most steadfast friends, he is also the Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts, as well as ] and professor of ]. Hagrid was sent to fetch Harry after the Dursleys refused to give him his welcoming letter to Hogwarts and told him he was a wizard. Hagrid also went to school at Hogwarts, but was expelled in his third year for an offence he did not commit and is thus unable to legally perform magic.


=== Publishing history ===
*''']''': A pure-blood supremacist and member of ] house, known for his sharp tongue that often targets Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger. As Harry and Ron became fast friends, Harry and Malfoy quickly became enemies, with the two facing off in various confrontations, including ], on numerous occasions throughout the series. He is almost always accompanied by ] and ]. In ''Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince'' Malfoy joins the Death Eaters and is assigned to kill Albus Dumbledore, a task with which he does not follow through.
]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bloomsbury.com/media/bookseller_image_tandcs.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070710055833/http://www.bloomsbury.com/media/bookseller_image_tandcs.pdf |archive-date=10 July 2007 |title=Harry Potter Books (UK Editions) Terms and Conditions for Use of Images for Book Promotion |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing Plc |date=10 July 2007 |access-date=7 September 2012}}</ref>]]


After twelve other publishers had rejected ''Philosopher's Stone'', ] agreed to publish the book.{{sfn|Smith|2002|pp=159–160}} Despite Rowling's statement that she did not have any particular ] in mind when beginning to write the ''Harry Potter'' books, the publishers initially targeted children aged nine to eleven.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.newsobserver.com/308/story/637623.html |title=The magic years |last=Huler |first=Scott |work=The News & Observer |access-date=28 September 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081218170339/http://www.newsobserver.com/308/story/637623.html |archive-date=18 December 2008 }}</ref> On the eve of publishing, Rowling was asked by her publishers to adopt a more ] pen name in order to appeal to the male members of this age group, fearing that they would not be interested in reading a novel they knew to be written by a woman. She elected to use J. K. Rowling (Joanne Kathleen Rowling), using her grandmother's name as her second name because she has no ].{{sfn|Kirk|2003|p=76}}<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1349288/Harry-Potter-and-the-mystery-of-J-Ks-lost-initial.html|title=Harry Potter and the mystery of J K's lost initial|last=Savill|first=Richard|date=21 June 2001|work=The Daily Telegraph|access-date=27 September 2008|location=London|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081220012350/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1349288/Harry-Potter-and-the-mystery-of-J-Ks-lost-initial.html|archive-date=20 December 2008|df=dmy-all}}</ref>
* ''']''': The Dursleys are Harry's ] (non-magical) abusive relatives, and, along with another abusive aunt (whom Harry blows up into a balloon in retaliation for speaking ill of his father in '']'') the only remaining family he has. His uncle Vernon is the manager of Grunning's, a ] company, while his aunt Petunia is a housewife. His cousin Dudley is utterly spoiled by his parents, and in the fifth book, Dudley is transformed into a more menacing presence when he takes up ] and proves good at it. Throughout Harry's entire life they had mistreated him, but despite this, Harry must return to their home every summer, for a reason unknown to him until '']''.


''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'' was published by Bloomsbury, the publisher of all ''Harry Potter'' books in the United Kingdom, on 26 June 1997.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/harry-potter-and-the-philosophers-stone-9780747532699/|title=Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|access-date=27 November 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150626181223/http://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/harry-potter-and-the-philosophers-stone-9780747532699/|archive-date=26 June 2015|df=dmy-all}}</ref> It was released in the United States on 1 September 1998 by ]—the American publisher of the books—as ''Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone'',<ref>{{cite news|url= http://www.nypost.com/seven/07022007/news/nationalnews/wild_about_harry_nationalnews_.htm|title=Wild about Harry|publisher=NYP Holdings, Inc.|access-date=27 September 2008 | date=2 July 2007|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090821084927/http://www.nypost.com/seven/07022007/news/nationalnews/wild_about_harry_nationalnews_.htm |archive-date=21 August 2009}}</ref> after the American rights sold for US$105,000—a record amount for a children's book by an unknown author.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/21/business/web21interview.html|title=A Brief Walk Through Time at Scholastic|last=Rozhon|first=Tracie|work=The New York Times|date=21 April 2007|access-date=21 April 2007|page=C3|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090416133919/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/21/business/web21interview.html|archive-date=16 April 2009|df=dmy-all}}</ref> Scholastic feared that American readers would not associate the word "philosopher" with magic, and Rowling suggested the title ''Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone'' for the American market.{{sfn|Errington|2017|p=145}} Rowling has later said that she regrets the change.{{sfn|Whited|2015|pp=75}}
===Structure===
The novels are very much in the ] genre; however, in many respects they are also a ], a novel of education, set in ], a British boarding school for wizards, where the curriculum includes the use of ]. In this sense they are "in a direct line of descent from ]'s '']'' and other Victorian and Edwardian novels of British public school life".<ref>"J. K. Rowling" by Leslie Ellen Jones, ''NoveList/EBSCO Publishing'', 2003, retrieved September 9, 2005</ref> They are also, in the words of ], a "shrewd mystery tale".<ref name="Wild About Harry">{{cite news|publisher=New York Times|title="Wild About Harry"|date=July 23, 2000}}</ref>, and each book is constructed in the manner of a ]-style ] adventure; the books leave a number of clues hidden in the narrative, while the characters pursue a number of suspects through various exotic locations, leading to a twist ending that often reverses what the characters had been led to believe. The stories are told from a ] point of view; with very few exceptions (such as the opening chapters of '']'' and '']'' and the first two chapters of '']''), the reader learns the secrets of the story when Harry does. The thoughts and plans of other characters, even central ones like Hermione and Ron, are kept hidden until revealed to Harry.


The second book, ''Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets'', was originally published in the UK on 2 July 1998 and in the US on 2 June 1999. ''Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban'' was published a year later in the UK on 8 July 1999 and in the US on 8 September 1999.<ref name="Harry Potter UK Release Dates">{{cite news|url=https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/235354|title=A Potter timeline for muggles|date=14 July 2007|work=Toronto Star|access-date=27 September 2008|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081220001353/http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/235354|archive-date=20 December 2008|df=dmy-all}}</ref> ''Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire'' was published on 8 July 2000 at the same time by Bloomsbury and Scholastic.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2000/jul/19/jkjoannekathleenrowling|title=Speed-reading after lights out|date=19 July 2000|publisher=Guardian News and Media Limited|access-date=27 September 2008|location=London|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131231101931/http://www.theguardian.com/books/2000/jul/19/jkjoannekathleenrowling|archive-date=31 December 2013|df=dmy-all}}</ref> ''Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix'' is the longest book in the series, at 766 pages in the UK version and 870 pages in the US version.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/14/business/harry-potter-and-the-internet-pirates.html |title=Harry Potter and the Internet Pirates |work=The New York Times |access-date=21 August 2008 |first=Amy |last=Harmon |date=14 July 2003 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090403074718/http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/14/business/harry-potter-and-the-internet-pirates.html |archive-date=3 April 2009 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> It was published worldwide in English on 21 June 2003.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2003/jan/16/harrypotter.books|title=Harry Potter and the hottest day of summer|last=Cassy|first=John|date=16 January 2003|work=The Guardian|publisher=Guardian News and Media Limited|access-date=27 September 2008|location=London|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131231091101/http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2003/jan/16/harrypotter.books|archive-date=31 December 2013|df=dmy-all}}</ref> ''Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince'' was published on 16 July 2005.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts/4113663.stm|title=July date for Harry Potter book|date=21 December 2004|work=BBC News|access-date=27 September 2008|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081229024606/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts/4113663.stm|archive-date=29 December 2008|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref name="finale sales">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6912529.stm|title=Harry Potter finale sales hit 11&nbsp;m|work=BBC News|access-date=21 August 2008|date=23 July 2007|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081225034725/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6912529.stm|archive-date=25 December 2008|df=dmy-all}}</ref> The seventh and final novel, ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows'', was published on 21 July 2007.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6320733.stm|title=Rowling unveils last Potter date|date=1 February 2007|work=BBC News|access-date=27 September 2008|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081228101051/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6320733.stm|archive-date=28 December 2008|df=dmy-all}}</ref> Rowling herself has stated that the last chapter of the final book (in fact, the epilogue) was completed "in something like 1990".<ref name="last chapter">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/5119836.stm|title=Rowling to kill two in final book|work=BBC News|date=27 June 2006|access-date=25 July 2007|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090803133633/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/5119836.stm|archive-date=3 August 2009}}</ref>
{{spoilers}}
The books tend to follow a very strict formula. Set over the course of consecutive years, they each can be split into 6 general sections:


Rowling retained rights to digital editions and released them on the Pottermore website in 2012. Vendors such as Amazon displayed the ebooks in the form of links to Pottermore, which controlled pricing.{{sfn|Clark|Phillips|2019|p=47}} All seven ''Harry Potter'' novels have been released in unabridged ] versions, with ] reading the British editions and ] voicing the series for the American editions.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Rich |first1=Mokoto |title=The Voice of Harry Potter Can Keep a Secret |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/17/books/17dale.html |work=The New York Times |date=17 July 2007 |access-date=6 September 2019 |archive-date=6 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190906002232/https://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/17/books/17dale.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Harry Potter Audiobooks and E-Books |url=http://www.mugglenet.com/harry-potter/harry-potter-series/audiobooks-and-e-books/ |website=Mugglenet |publisher=Dose Media |access-date=6 September 2019 |archive-date=6 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190906002235/http://www.mugglenet.com/harry-potter/harry-potter-series/audiobooks-and-e-books/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> On ], the series has been listened, as of November 2022, for over a billion hours.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/63794444 |title=Harry Potter: Fans have listened to books for one billion hours |work=BBC Newsround |date=30 November 2022 |access-date=8 February 2023 |archive-date=6 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230206180533/https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/63794444 |url-status=live }}</ref>
* Summer at the ] house: Harry spends most of the summer holiday from school with the Dursleys, in the ] world, enduring their ill treatment. This section ends with Harry going to a different location.
* End of summer: Just before school begins in the autumn: Harry goes to ], the ] or ]. It ends with the boarding of the ] at ].
* New school session: New or redefined characters take shape, and Harry overcomes new everyday school issues, such as difficult essays, awkward crushes, and unsympathetic teachers; this usually ends around ].
* Conflicts arise: Harry and his friends and classmates start to sense that something is going wrong, and begin to respond.
* Climax: Harry and his friends make an important discovery, and Harry makes a mad dash to a particular location for a major conflict, involving a battle against the villains. This tends to occur near or just after final exams.
* Aftermath: Harry begins recovering from the battle, and learns important lessons through exposition and discussions with ]. It ends with Harry boarding the ], and heading back home with the Dursleys.
{{endspoilers}}


===Themes and motifs=== === Translations ===
{{main|Themes and motifs in Harry Potter}} {{Main|Harry Potter in translation}}
], 2007]]
One of the most enduring themes throughout the series is that of love, portrayed as a powerful form of magic in and of itself. It is Dumbledore's belief that it was this power that allowed Harry to resist Voldemort's temptations of power during their second encounter, prevented Voldemort from being able to possess him during their fifth encounter, and will eventually lead to Voldemort's downfall.<ref>{{cite book|last=Rowling|first=J.K.|title=Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (US Hardback)| year=2003| pages=844}}</ref> <ref>{{cite book|last=Rowling|first=J.K.|title=Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (US Hardback)| year=2005| pages=511}}</ref>


The series has been translated into more than 80 languages,<ref name="Harry Potter copies">{{cite press release |author=<!--Not stated--> |title=Scholastic Marks 25 Year Anniversary of The Publication of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone |url=http://mediaroom.scholastic.com/press-release/scholastic-marks-25-year-anniversary-publication-jk-rowling-s-harry-potter-and-sorcere |location=New York, New York |publisher=Scholastic |agency= |date=2023-02-06 |access-date=2023-02-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230313054050/http://mediaroom.scholastic.com/press-release/scholastic-marks-25-year-anniversary-publication-jk-rowling-s-harry-potter-and-sorcere|archive-date=13 March 2023|url-status=live}}</ref> placing Rowling among the most translated authors in history. The books have seen translations to diverse languages such as ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ] and ]. The first volume has been translated into ] and even ],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~loxias/harry_potter.htm|title=Harry Potter in Greek|last=Wilson|first=Andrew|year=2006|publisher=Andrew Wilson|access-date=28 July 2008|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080621122227/http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~loxias/harry_potter.htm|archive-date=21 June 2008|df=dmy-all}}</ref> making it the longest published work in Ancient Greek since the novels of ] in the 3rd century AD.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://playalicious.com/reference/news/greek_harry.html |title=Harry Potter? It's All Greek to Me |last=Castle |first=Tim |date=2 December 2004|agency=Reuters |access-date=28 July 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080119214752/http://playalicious.com/reference/news/greek_harry.html |archive-date= 19 January 2008}}</ref> The second volume has also been translated into Latin.<ref>{{cite web|title = Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Latin)|url = http://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/harry-potter-and-the-chamber-of-secrets-latin-9780747588771/|website = Bloomsbury Publishing|access-date = 13 August 2015|first = Skyron|last = LTD|url-status=live|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150905162802/http://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/harry-potter-and-the-chamber-of-secrets-latin-9780747588771/|archive-date = 5 September 2015|df = dmy-all}}</ref>
In contrast, another major theme of the series is that of death. "My books are largely about death. They open with the death of Harry's parents. There is Voldemort's obsession with conquering death and his quest for immortality at any price, the goal of anyone with magic. I so understand why Voldemort wants to conquer death. We're all frightened of it," said Rowling. <ref><span class="plainlinks"> ''The Daily Telegraph.'' Accessed ] ].</span></ref> In fact, Voldemort's name contains several possible meanings - 'mort' means 'death' in French, Catalan and Latin, and the term 'vol' could be related to the French and Catalan word for 'flight' or the Catalan word for 'steal'; 'volde' also looks or sounds a bit like certain Germanic words such as 'Volk' ("people"), and "Wald" ("forest"). Most tempting is the notion that "vol" is somehow related to the word "Will" (as in the word ''volition'', "The capability of conscious choice and decision and intention"), which in Germanic languages is pronounced with a V; thus the word Voldemort could also contain the meaning "will to death", "death wish", or "being able to choose who lives and who dies". Note also that the Dark Lord deliberately renamed himself, replacing his birth name 'Tom Riddle'; choosing a name with so many possible meanings, all sinister, must have been just as satisfying for Rowling as it seems to have been for Voldemort himself.


Some of the translators hired to work on the books were well-known authors before their work on ''Harry Potter'', such as ], who oversaw the Russian translation of the series' fifth book. The ] translation of books two to seven was undertaken by ], a popular literary critic and cultural commentator.<ref>{{cite web|title=Not lost in translation: Harry Potter in Turkish |last=Güler |first=Emrah |url=http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=29054|year=2005|work=The Turkish Daily News|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930171135/http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=29054|archive-date=30 September 2007 |access-date =9 May 2007}}</ref> For reasons of secrecy, translation on a given book could only start after it had been released in English, leading to a lag of several months before the translations were available. This led to more and more copies of the English editions being sold to impatient fans in non-English speaking countries; for example, such was the clamour to read ''Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix'' that its English language edition became the first English-language book ever to top the best-seller list in France.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/world/newsid_3036000/3036350.stm|work=BBC News|title=OOTP is best seller in France—in English!|date=1 July 2003|access-date=28 July 2008|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170613202533/http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/world/newsid_3036000/3036350.stm|archive-date=13 June 2017|df=dmy-all}}</ref>
The series pits good against evil, and love against death. Voldemort's pursuit to avoid death, seen by his drinking unicorn blood for a half-life and splitting his soul through the use of ], contrasts with ] sacrificial love for Harry and the extraordinary magic her act leaves to him, that Voldemort can never understand or appreciate.


The United States editions were adapted into ] to make them more understandable to a young American audience.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.uta.fi/FAST/US1/REF/potter.html |title=Differences in the UK and US Versions of Four Harry Potter Books |date=21 January 2008 |publisher=FAST US-1 |access-date=17 August 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150319041313/http://www15.uta.fi/FAST/US1/REF/potter.html |archive-date=19 March 2015}}</ref>
] and ] also feature prominently throughout the series. As Harry's education in the magical world continues he learns that there are wizards and witches who hate Muggles and view them as inferior because of their lack of magical ability. Furthermore, the magical world uses a system of designations, Muggle-born, half-blood, and pure-blood, to indicate a wizard's heritage. The more prejudiced within the magical community take these designations a step further, viewing them as a system of ranking to illustrate a wizard's worth, pure-bloods being the preferred wizards, and ]s (alternatively known by the slur "Mudblood") as the most despised. In addition to prejudices held for fellow humans, there is also discrimination against non-humans and even part-humans (commonly known by the offensive ], "half-breeds").


=== Cover art ===
Another significant recurring theme is that of choice. In ''Chamber of Secrets'', Dumbledore makes perhaps his most famous statement on this issue: "It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities."<ref name="pg333">{{cite book|last=Rowling|first=J.K.|title=Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (US Hardback)| year=1999| pages=333}}</ref> He confronts the issue again in ''Goblet of Fire'', when he tells Cornelius Fudge that what one grows up to be is far more important than what one is born. <ref>{{cite book|last=Rowling|first=J.K.|title=Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (US Hardback)| year=2000| pages=708}}</ref>
For cover art, Bloomsbury chose painted art in a classic style of design, with the first cover a watercolour and pencil drawing by illustrator ] showing Harry boarding the Hogwarts Express, and a title in the font ].<ref name="Me and Harry Potter">{{cite web|last1=Taylor|first1=Thomas|title=Me and Harry Potter|url=http://www.thomastaylor-author.com/me-and-harry-potter/|website=Thomas Taylor (author site)|date=26 July 2012|access-date=23 September 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923144627/http://www.thomastaylor-author.com/me-and-harry-potter/|archive-date=23 September 2015|df=dmy-all}}</ref> The first releases of the successive books in the series followed in the same style but somewhat more realistic, illustrating scenes from the books. These covers were created by first ] and then Jason Cockroft.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2002/jan/20/books.booksnews|title=Harry Potter beats Austen in sale rooms|last=Thorpe|first=Vanessa|date=20 January 2002|work=The Observer|publisher=Guardian News and Media Limited|access-date=21 November 2010|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140613021140/http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2002/jan/20/books.booksnews|archive-date=13 June 2014|df=dmy-all}}</ref>


Due to the appeal of the books among an adult audience, Bloomsbury commissioned a second line of editions in an 'adult' style. These initially used black-and-white photographic art for the covers showing objects from the books (including a very American Hogwarts Express) without depicting people, but later shifted to partial colourisation with a picture of Slytherin's locket on the cover of the final book.{{citation needed|date=June 2021}}
As it has been for many characters throughout the series, what Dumbledore termed the "choice between what is right and what is easy" has been a staple of Harry Potter's career at Hogwarts and his choices are among his character's most distinguishing traits from Voldemort's. Both he and Voldemort were orphans raised in difficult environments, in addition to sharing characteristics including, as Dumbledore points out, Voldemort's "own very rare gift, ] — resourcefulness, determination" and "a certain disregard for rules".<ref name="pg333"/> However, Harry, unlike Voldemort, has consciously elected to embrace friendship, kindness, and love, where Voldemort knowingly chose to reject them.


International and later editions have been created by a range of designers, including ] for US audiences and ] in Finland.<ref>Rowling, J.K. '']''; American edition; ]; 2007; Final credits page</ref><ref name=msnbc>{{cite news|agency=Associated Press|title=Illustrator puts a bit of herself on Potter cover: GrandPré feels pressure to create something special with each book|publisher=Today.com|date=8 March 2005|url=https://www.today.com/popculture/illustrator-puts-bit-herself-potter-cover-wbna7127158|access-date=12 February 2007|df=dmy-all|archive-date=7 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200407112748/https://www.today.com/popculture/illustrator-puts-bit-herself-potter-cover-wbna7127158|url-status=live}}</ref> For a later American release, ] created covers in a somewhat anime-influenced style.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://archive.wired.com/geekdad/2013/02/new-harry-potter-covers/ |title=New Harry Potter Covers by Kazu Kibuishi |last=Liu |first=Jonathan H. |date=13 February 2013 |magazine=Wired |access-date=6 July 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150712183204/http://archive.wired.com/geekdad/2013/02/new-harry-potter-covers/ |archive-date=12 July 2015 |df=dmy-all }}</ref><ref name='reading'>{{cite web|url=http://www.reading.org/literacy-daily/literature/post/books/2014/08/15/5-questions-with-kazu-kibuishi-(amulet-series) |title=5 Questions With... Kazu Kibuishi (Amulet series) |last=Hall |first=April |date=15 August 2014 |website=www.reading.org |access-date=6 July 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150418145444/http://reading.org/literacy-daily/literature/post/books/2014/08/15/5-questions-with-kazu-kibuishi-%28amulet-series%29 |archive-date=18 April 2015 }}</ref>
While ideas such as love, prejudice, and choice are, as J.K. Rowling states, "deeply entrenched in the whole plot", the writer prefers to let themes "grow organically", rather than sitting down and consciously attempting to impart such ideas to her readers.<ref name="Mzimba, Lizo, moderator. Interview with Steve Kloves and J.K. Rowling">{{


== Reception ==
cite news
=== Commercial success ===
|url=http://www.quick-quote-quill.org/articles/2003/0302-newsround-mzimba.htm
{{See also|List of best-selling books}}
|publisher= Quick Quotes Quill
]''|alt=A large crowd of fans wait outside of a Borders store in Delaware, waiting for the release of ''Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince'']]
|title=Mzimba, Lizo, moderator. Interview with Steve Kloves and J.K. Rowling
|date= February 2003}}</ref> Friendship and loyalty are perhaps the most "organic" of these, with their main conduit being the relationship between Harry, Ron, and Hermione, which allows these motifs to naturally develop as the three age, their relationship matures, and their accumulated experiences at Hogwarts test their trueness to each other. These ordeals become progressively difficult, keeping in line with the series' increasingly darker tone, and the general nature of adolescence. Along the same lines is the ever-present theme of adolescence, in whose depiction the author has been purposeful in her refusal to ignore her characters' sexualities and leave Harry, as she put it, "stuck in a state of permanent pre-pubescence".<ref name="Favorite chapter">{{
cite news
|url=http://www.quick-quote-quill.org/articles/1999/0299-guardian-carey.htm
|publisher=Scholastic.com
|title=About the Books: transcript of J.K. Rowling's live interview on Scholastic.com
|date=16 October 2000}}</ref>


The popularity of the ''Harry Potter'' series has translated into substantial financial success for Rowling, her publishers, and other ''Harry Potter'' related license holders. This success has made Rowling the first and thus far only billionaire author.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.forbes.com/2004/02/26/cx_jw_0226rowlingbill04.html|title=J. K. Rowling and the Billion-Dollar Empire|last=Watson|first=Julie|date=26 February 2004|work=Forbes|access-date=3 December 2007|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071211114104/http://www.forbes.com/2004/02/26/cx_jw_0226rowlingbill04.html|archive-date=11 December 2007|df=dmy-all}}</ref> The books have sold more than 600&nbsp;million copies worldwide and have also given rise to the popular ]s produced by ], ].<ref name="boxofficemojo">{{cite web|url=https://boxofficemojo.com/alltime/world/|website=Box Office Mojo|title=All Time Worldwide Box Office Grosses|date=1998–2008|access-date=29 July 2008|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101103063039/http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/world|archive-date=3 November 2010|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref name="Harry Potter copies" /> The total revenue from the book sales is estimated, as of November 2018, to be around $7.7 billion.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Billion Dollar Business Behind 'Harry Potter' Franchise|url=https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/323363|website=entrepreneur|date=18 November 2018|access-date=22 December 2020|archive-date=28 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201028235753/https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/323363|url-status=live}}</ref> The first novel in the series, ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', has sold in excess of 120 million copies, making it one of the bestselling books in history.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Chalton|first1=Nicola|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eF8HDgAAQBAJ&q=philosopher%27s+stone+120+million&pg=PA129|title=20th Century in Bite-Sized Chunks|last2=Macardle|first2=Meredith|date=2017-03-15|publisher=Book Sales|isbn=978-0-7858-3510-3|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2018-09-05|title=Burbank Public Library offering digital copies of first 'Harry Potter' novel to recognize the book's 20th anniversary|url=https://www.latimes.com/socal/burbank-leader/news/tn-blr-me-burbank-library-harry-potter-20180831-story.html|access-date=2020-09-03|website=Burbank Leader|language=en-US|archive-date=9 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201009114803/https://www.latimes.com/socal/burbank-leader/news/tn-blr-me-burbank-library-harry-potter-20180831-story.html/|url-status=live}}</ref> The films have in turn spawned eight video games and have led to the licensing of more than 400 additional ''Harry Potter'' products. The ''Harry Potter'' brand has been estimated to be worth as much as $25&nbsp;billion.<ref name="Time25" />
Also recurring throughout ''Harry Potter'' are literary motifs, namely Rowling's frequent use of irony, satire, wordplay, and folklore. Discussing Rowling's use of names could occupy its own book. From the first page onward her writing has displayed an ingenuity in finding the absolutely right name for people, places, things, spells, etc., a strong grasp of irony. From the multilayered sobriquet "Voldemort" through the onomatopoetic "Grawp" (Hagrid's bestial giant half-brother) through the very knowing pun hidden in the killing spell ], Rowling creates names that usually contain several meanings. All the books are stuffed with these names and they provide some of the series' greatest pleasures for adult readers.


The great demand for ''Harry Potter'' novels motivated '']'' to create a separate best-seller list for children's literature in 2000, just before the release of ''Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire''. By 24 June 2000, Rowling's novels had been on the list for 79 straight weeks; the first three novels were each on the hardcover best-seller list.<ref name="NYT_2000/06/24">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/06/24/books/the-times-plans-a-children-s-best-seller-list.html|title=The Times Plans a Children's Best-Seller List|last=Smith|first=Dinitia|date=24 June 2000|work=The New York Times|access-date=30 September 2008|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090621233421/http://www.nytimes.com/2000/06/24/books/the-times-plans-a-children-s-best-seller-list.html|archive-date=21 June 2009|df=dmy-all}}</ref> On 12 April 2007, ] declared that ''Deathly Hallows'' had broken its ] record, with more than 500,000 copies pre-ordered through its site.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.rte.ie/arts/2007/0413/potterh.html|title=New Harry Potter breaks pre-order record|date=13 April 2007|publisher=RTÉ.ie Entertainment|access-date=23 April 2007|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070418090204/http://www.rte.ie/arts/2007/0413/potterh.html|archive-date=18 April 2007|df=dmy-all}}</ref> For the release of ''Goblet of Fire'', 9,000 ] trucks were used with no other purpose than to deliver the book.<ref name=ew-gof-midnight>{{cite magazine |url=https://ew.com/article/2000/07/21/harry-potter-craze/ |title=Wild About Harry|date=21 July 2000 |access-date=26 October 2019 |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |last=Fierman |first=Daniel |quote=When I buy the books for my grandchildren, I have them all gift wrapped but one...that's for me. And I have not been 12 for over 50 years. |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070331142859/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,276735_2,00.html |archive-date=31 March 2007}}</ref> Together, Amazon.com and ] pre-sold more than 700,000 copies of the book.<ref name=ew-gof-midnight /> In the United States, the book's initial printing run was 3.8&nbsp;million copies.<ref name=ew-gof-midnight /> This record statistic was broken by ''Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix'', with 8.5&nbsp;million, which was then shattered by ''Half-Blood Prince'' with 10.8&nbsp;million copies.<ref name=cnn-hbp>{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/books/07/14/harry.potter/index.html|title=Harry Potter hits midnight frenzy|date=15 July 2005|publisher=CNN|access-date=15 January 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20061221021913/http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/books/07/14/harry.potter/index.html |archive-date = 21 December 2006}}</ref> Within the first 24 hours of its release, 6.9&nbsp;million copies of ''Prince'' were sold in the US; in the UK more than two million copies were sold on the first day.<ref name=bbc-hbp-record>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_4700000/newsid_4701400/4701409.stm|title=Worksheet: Half-Blood Prince sets UK record|date=20 July 2005|work=BBC News|access-date=19 January 2007|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070204111225/http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_4700000/newsid_4701400/4701409.stm|archive-date=4 February 2007|df=dmy-all}}</ref> The initial US print run for ''Deathly Hallows'' was 12&nbsp;million copies, and more than a million were pre-ordered through Amazon and Barnes & Noble.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6452987.stm|title=Record print run for final Potter|date=15 March 2007|work=BBC News|access-date=22 May 2007|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070325235438/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6452987.stm|archive-date=25 March 2007|df=dmy-all}}</ref>
==Criticism and praise==
Early in its history, ''Harry Potter'' received overwhelmingly positive reviews, which helped the series to quickly grow a large readership. Following the 2003 release of ''Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix'' however, the books received strong criticisms from a number of distinguished authors and academics. ] authored a ] editorial calling Rowling's universe a “], made up of intelligently patchworked derivative motifs from all sorts of children's literature written for people whose imaginative lives are confined to TV cartoons, and the exaggerated (more exciting, not threatening) mirror-worlds of soaps, reality TV and celebrity gossip". Byatt went on to analyse the series' widespread appeal and concluded that this "derivative manipulation of past motifs" is for adult readers driven by a desire to regress to their "own childish desires and hopes" and for younger readers, "the powerful working of the fantasy of escape and empowerment, combined with the fact that the stories are comfortable, funny, just frightening enough". The end result being the levelling "of cultural studies, which are as interested in hype and popularity as they are in literary merit".<ref name="Harry Potter and the Childish Adult">{{cite news|publisher=New York Times|title=Harry Potter and the Childish Adult|date=July 7, 2003}}</ref> Likewise, author ] took issue with the series saying that it was "not what the poets hoped for, but this is not poetry, it is readable, saleable, everyday, useful prose". <ref name="Rowling books 'for people with stunted imaginations'">{{cite news|url=http://books.guardian.co.uk/harrypotter/story/0,,996243,00.html|publisher=The Guardian|title=Rowling books 'for people with stunted imaginations' |date=July 11, 2003}}</ref> Literary critic ] also attacked the literary worth of Potter, saying “Rowling's mind is so governed by clichés and dead metaphors that she has no other style of writing." Moreover, Bloom disagreed with the common notion that ''Harry Potter'' has been good for literature by encouraging children to read, contending that "''Harry Potter'' will not lead our children on to ]'s '']'' or his '']''. It will not lead them to ]'s '']'' or ]'s '']'' or ]'s '']''."<ref>{{cite web|publisher=Boston.com| url=http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2003/09/24/dumbing_down_american_readers/| title=Dumbing down American readers| first= Harold| last=Bloom| accessdate=2006-06-20}}</ref>


Fans of the series were so eager for the latest instalment that bookstores around the world began holding events to coincide with the midnight release of the books, beginning with the 2000 publication of ''Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire''. The events, commonly featuring mock sorting, games, face painting, and other live entertainment have achieved popularity with Potter fans and have been highly successful in attracting fans and selling books with nearly nine million of the 10.8 million initial print copies of ''Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince'' sold in the first 24 hours.<ref name="Harry Potter casts spell at checkouts">{{cite news|url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article545338.ece|work=The Times|title=Harry Potter casts spell at checkouts|date=18 July 2005|access-date=29 July 2008|last=Freeman|first=Simon|location=London|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110615074030/http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article545338.ece|archive-date=15 June 2011|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref name="Potter book smashes sales records">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts/4692093.stm|work=BBC News|title=Potter book smashes sales records|date=18 July 2005|access-date=29 July 2008|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081227212208/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts/4692093.stm|archive-date=27 December 2008|df=dmy-all}}</ref> The final book in the series, ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows'' became the fastest selling book in history, moving 11&nbsp;million units in the first twenty-four hours of release.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/23/business/worldbusiness/23iht-potter.4.6789605.html | work=The New York Times | date=23 July 2007 | access-date=30 March 2010 | title='Harry Potter' tale is fastest-selling book in history | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111208091143/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/23/business/worldbusiness/23iht-potter.4.6789605.html | archive-date=8 December 2011 | url-status=live }}</ref> The book sold 2.7&nbsp;million copies in the UK and 8.3&nbsp;million in the US.<ref name="finale sales" /> The series has also gathered adult fans, leading to the release of two editions of each ''Harry Potter'' book, identical in text but with one edition's cover artwork aimed at children and the other aimed at adults.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bloomsbury.com/harrypotter/default.aspx?sec=2 |title=Harry Potter at Bloomsbury Publishing&nbsp;– Adult and Children Covers |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |access-date=18 August 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080828054035/http://www.bloomsbury.com/harrypotter/default.aspx?sec=2 |archive-date=28 August 2008 }}</ref>
Charles Taylor of ] took issue with Byatt's critcisms in particular. While he conceded that she may have "a valid cultural point — a teeny one — about the impulses that drive us to reassuring pop trash and away from the troubling complexities of art", he rejected her claims that the series is lacking in serious literary merit and that it owes its success merely to the childhood reassurances it offers; Taylor stressed the progressively darker tone of the books, shown by the murder of a classmate and close friend and the resulting psychological wounds and social isolation each causes. Taylor also pointed out that ''Philosopher's Stone'', said to be the most lighthearted of the six published books, disrupts the childhood reassurances that Byatt claims spurs the series' success: the book opens with news of a double murder, for example. Taylor specifically cites "the devastating scene where Harry encounters a mirror that reveals the heart's truest desire and, looking into it, sees himself happy and smiling with the parents he never knew, a vision that lasts only as long as he looks into the glass, and a metaphor for how fleeting our moments of real happiness are", then asks rhetorically if "this is Byatt's idea of reassurance?" Taylor concludes that Rowling's success among children and adults is "because J.K. Rowling is a master of narrative". <ref name="A.S. Byatt and the goblet of bile">{{cite news| title=www.purevolume.com/rendermn|url=http://archive.salon.com/books/feature/2003/07/08/byatt_rowling/index_np.html|publisher=Salon.com|title=A. S. Byatt and the goblet of bile|date=July 8, 2003}}</ref>


{| class="wikitable"
] agreed with Taylor calling the series "a feat of which only a superior imagination is capable", along with declaring "Rowling's punning, one-eyebrow-cocked sense of humour" to be "remarkable". However, he does write that despite the story being "a good one", he is "a little tired of discovering Harry at home with his horrible aunt and uncle", the formulaic beginning of each of the six books published to date.<ref name="Wild About Harry">{{cite news|publisher=New York Times|title="Wild About Harry"|date=July 23, 2000}}</ref> King has also joked that "'s never met an ] she didn't like!" He does however predict that Harry Potter "will indeed stand time's test and wind up on a shelf where only the best are kept; I think ] will take his place with ], ], ], and ] and this is one series not just for the decade, but for the ages."{{Fact|date=January 2007}}
|+
!Book
!Sales<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-10-19 |title=Harry Potter books stats and facts |publisher=WordsRated |url=https://wordsrated.com/harry-potter-stats/ |access-date=2023-06-11 |language=en-US |archive-date=15 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230515153907/https://wordsrated.com/harry-potter-stats/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
|-
|''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone''
|120 million
|-
|''Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets''
|77 million
|-
|''Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban''
|65 million
|-
|''Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire''
|65 million
|-
|''Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix''
|65 million
|-
|''Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince''
|65 million
|-
|''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows''
|65 million
|}


=== Literary criticism ===
Yet another vein of criticism comes from some feminist circles, Christine Schoefer prominent among them, who contend that the novels are ] and ]. According to Schoefer the series presents a world filled with stereotypes and adherence to "the conventional assumption that men do and should run the world." Schoefer cites Harry's courage in dangerous situations in contrast to Hermione's apparent emotional frailty when confronting the same, along with her need for Harry and Ron's approval. Similarly, she contrasts the female ] and her similar frailty under stress compared to the composed and farsighted Dumbledore. In addition to this is the attachment of fraud to females (], ]), immaturity (constantly giggling, ] and catty school girls), and a general lack of daring, bold heroines. <ref>{{cite web|publisher=Salon.com| url=http://archive.salon.com/books/feature/2000/01/13/potter/index.html| title=Harry Potter's girl trouble| first= Christine| last=Schoeffer| accessdate=2006-06-20}}</ref>
Early in its history, ''Harry Potter'' received positive reviews. On publication, the first book, ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', attracted attention from the Scottish newspapers, such as '']'', which said it had "all the makings of a classic",<ref name="newspaper-reviews-hp-ps">{{harvnb|Eccleshare|2002|p=10}}</ref> and '']'', which called it "Magic stuff".<ref name="newspaper-reviews-hp-ps" /> Soon the English newspapers joined in, with '']'' comparing it to ]'s work ("comparisons to Dahl are, this time, justified"),<ref name="newspaper-reviews-hp-ps" /> while '']'' called it "a richly textured novel given lift-off by an inventive wit".<ref name="newspaper-reviews-hp-ps" />


By the time of the release of the fifth book, ''Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,'' the books began to receive strong criticism from a number of literary scholars. Yale professor, literary scholar, and critic ] raised criticisms of the books' literary merits, saying, "Rowling's mind is so governed by clichés and dead metaphors that she has no other style of writing."<ref>{{cite news|work=The Boston Globe|date=24 September 2003|url=https://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2003/09/24/dumbing_down_american_readers/|title=Dumbing down American readers|first=Harold|last=Bloom|access-date=20 June 2006|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060617015302/http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2003/09/24/dumbing_down_american_readers/|archive-date=17 June 2006|df=dmy-all}}</ref> ] authored an op-ed article in ''The New York Times'' calling Rowling's universe a "secondary secondary world, made up of intelligently patchworked derivative motifs from all sorts of children's literature&nbsp;... written for people whose imaginative lives are confined to TV cartoons, and the exaggerated (more exciting, not threatening) mirror-worlds of soaps, reality TV and celebrity gossip."<ref name="Harry Potter and the Childish Adult">{{cite news|work=The New York Times|title=Harry Potter and the Childish Adult|date=7 July 2003|access-date=1 August 2008|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/07/opinion/harry-potter-and-the-childish-adult.html|first=A. S.|last=Byatt|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090417131152/http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/07/opinion/harry-potter-and-the-childish-adult.html|archive-date=17 April 2009|df=dmy-all}}</ref>
==Controversy==
=== Allegations of copyright and trademark infringement===
{{main|Works analogous to Harry Potter}}
In 1999 ] quietly began to allege ] and ] infringement by J.K. Rowling of her 1984 works '']'' and '']''.<ref name="Potter author zaps court rival">{{
cite news
|url=http://archives.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/europe/UK/09/19/rowling.court/index.html
|publisher=CNN
|title="Potter author zaps court rival"
|date= September 19, 2002
}}</ref>


], a novelist and poet, held the opinion that the books were not suited for children, as they would be unable to grasp the complex themes. Rosen also stated that "J. K. Rowling is more of an adult writer."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article3958599.ece|work=The Times|title=Harry Potter 'is too boring and grown-up for young readers'|date=19 May 2008|access-date=15 January 2011|last=Sweeney|first=Charlene|location=London|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110615234710/http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article3958599.ece|archive-date=15 June 2011|df=dmy-all}}</ref> The critic ] wrote in '']'' on his experience of judging '']'' for the ]. His overall view of the series was negative—"the Potter saga was essentially patronising, conservative, highly derivative, dispiritingly nostalgic for a bygone Britain", and he speaks of "a pedestrian, ungrammatical prose style".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2000/jun/25/booksforchildrenandteenagers.guardianchildrensfictionprize2000|work=The Observer|title=Why Harry Potter does not cast a spell over me|date=25 June 2000|access-date=1 August 2008|last=Holden|first=Anthony|location=London|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130824155219/http://www.theguardian.com/books/2000/jun/25/booksforchildrenandteenagers.guardianchildrensfictionprize2000|archive-date=24 August 2013|df=dmy-all}}</ref> ] said, "I have no great opinion of it it seemed a lively kid's fantasy crossed with a '],' good fare for its age group, but stylistically ordinary, imaginatively derivative, and ethically rather mean-spirited."<ref>{{cite news|title=Chronicles of Earthsea|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2004/feb/09/sciencefictionfantasyandhorror.ursulakleguin|access-date=2 October 2009|location=London|date=9 February 2004|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131002164434/http://www.theguardian.com/books/2004/feb/09/sciencefictionfantasyandhorror.ursulakleguin|archive-date=2 October 2013|df=dmy-all}}</ref> By contrast, author ], while admitting that the series is "not what the poets hoped for", nevertheless goes on to say, "but this is not poetry, it is readable, saleable, everyday, useful prose".<ref name="Rowling books 'for people with stunted imaginations'">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2003/jul/11/books.harrypotter|work=The Guardian|title=Rowling books 'for people with stunted imaginations'|date=11 July 2003|access-date=1 August 2008|last=Allison|first=Rebecca|location=London|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140518003516/http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2003/jul/11/books.harrypotter|archive-date=18 May 2014|df=dmy-all}}</ref>
The primary basis for Stouffer's claims lie in her own invention of Muggles, non-magical elongated ] of sorts and the title character of the second work, Larry Potter, a bespectacled boy with dark, wavy hair (Rowling's Potter is characterised as having all of those, though with unruly instead of wavy hair). Stouffer contended (and still does to this day) that it is not just these examples and similar names but that it is "the cumulative effect of all of it combined" with the other comparisons she lists on her website.<ref name="Muggle Versus Wizard">{{ cite news
|url=http://discuss.washingtonpost.com/zforum/01/author_stouffer032801.htm
|publisher=Washington Post
|title="Muggle Versus Wizard"
|date= March 28, 2001 }}</ref>


The literary critic A. N. Wilson praised the ''Harry Potter'' series in '']'', stating, "There are not many writers who have JK's ] ability to make us turn the pages, to weep—openly, with tears splashing—and a few pages later to laugh, at invariably good jokes&nbsp;... We have lived through a decade in which we have followed the publication of the liveliest, funniest, scariest and most moving children's stories ever written."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/children/article2139573.ece|title=Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling|last=Wilson|first=A. N.|date=29 July 2007|work=The Times|access-date=28 September 2008|location=London|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080706162943/http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/children/article2139573.ece|archive-date=6 July 2008|df=dmy-all}}</ref> Charles Taylor of ], who is primarily a movie critic,<ref>{{cite news|year=2000 |work=Salon.com |url=http://www.salon.com/col/bios/tayl/index.html |title=Salon Columnist |access-date=3 August 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080616165227/http://www.salon.com/col/bios/tayl/index.html |archive-date=16 June 2008 }}</ref> took issue with Byatt's criticisms in particular. While he conceded that she may have "a valid cultural point—a teeny one—about the impulses that drive us to reassuring pop trash and away from the troubling complexities of art",<ref name="A.S. Byatt and the goblet of bile" /> he rejected her claims that the series is lacking in serious ] and that it owes its success merely to the childhood reassurances it offers.<ref name="A.S. Byatt and the goblet of bile">{{cite news|title=A. S. Byatt and the goblet of bile |url=http://archive.salon.com/books/feature/2003/07/08/byatt_rowling/index.html |work=Salon.com |date=8 July 2003 |access-date=3 August 2008 |first=Charles |last=Taylor |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080616143458/http://archive.salon.com/books/feature/2003/07/08/byatt_rowling/index.html |archive-date=16 June 2008 }}</ref> ] called the series "a feat of which only a superior imagination is capable", and declared "Rowling's punning, one-eyebrow-cocked sense of humor" to be "remarkable". However, he wrote that he is "a little tired of discovering Harry at home with his horrible aunt and uncle", the formulaic beginning of all seven books.<ref name="Wild About Harry" /><ref>{{cite news| work=The Guardian| url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2006/dec/31/harrypotter.jkjoannekathleenrowling| title=JK Rowling: The mistress of all she surveys| first=Killian| last=Fox| date=31 December 2006| access-date=10 February 2007| location=London| url-status=live| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140928204220/http://www.theguardian.com/books/2006/dec/31/harrypotter.jkjoannekathleenrowling| archive-date=28 September 2014| df=dmy-all}}</ref>
Rowling, along with ] (her American publisher) and ] (holders of the series' film rights), pre-empted Stouffer with a suit of their own seeking a declaratory judgment that they had not infringed on any of Stouffer's works. Rowling, through the use of expert witnesses who brought into question the authenticity of Stouffer's evidence, won the case with Stouffer's claims being dismissed with prejudice and Stouffer herself being fined $50,000 for her "pattern of intentional bad faith conduct" in relation to her employment of fraudulent submissions, along with being ordered to pay a portion of the plaintiffs' legal fees.<ref name="Stouffer v. Rowling">{{cite news
|url=http://www.eyrie.org/~robotech/stouffer.htm
|publisher=eyrie.org
|title="Stouffer v. Rowling"
|date=Accessed May 26, 2006}}</ref> Stouffer is currently appealing the ruling. <ref name="Stouffer v. Rowling appeal"></ref>


Sameer Rahim of '']'' disagreed, saying "It depresses me to see 16- and 17-year-olds reading the series when they could be reading the great novels of childhood such as '']'' or '']''."<ref>{{cite news| work=The Telegraph| url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/9202484/The-Casual-Vacancy-why-Im-dreading-JK-Rowlings-adult-novel.html| title=The Casual Vacancy: why I'm dreading JK Rowling's adult novel| first=Sameer| last=Rahim| date=13 April 2012| access-date=28 March 2017| location=London| url-status=live| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180102191526/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/9202484/The-Casual-Vacancy-why-Im-dreading-JK-Rowlings-adult-novel.html| archive-date=2 January 2018| df=dmy-all}}</ref> '']'' book critic ] opined in July 2007 that "through no fault of Rowling's", the cultural and marketing "hysteria" marked by the publication of the later books "trains children and adults to expect the roar of the coliseum, a mass-media experience that no other novel can possibly provide".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/13/AR2007071301730_pf.html|title=Harry Potter and the Death of Reading|date=15 July 2007|last=Charles|first=Ron|access-date=16 April 2008|newspaper=The Washington Post|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080725212731/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/13/AR2007071301730_pf.html|archive-date=25 July 2008|df=dmy-all}}</ref> Jenny Sawyer wrote in '']'' on 25 July 2007 that Harry Potter neither faces a "moral struggle" nor undergoes any ethical growth and is thus "no guide in circumstances in which right and wrong are anything less than black and white".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0725/p09s02-coop.html|title=Missing from 'Harry Potter"&nbsp;– a real moral struggle|last=Sawyer|first=Jenny|access-date=16 April 2008|work=]|date=25 July 2007|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927193238/http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0725/p09s02-coop.html|archive-date=27 September 2007|df=dmy-all}}</ref> In contrast Emily Griesinger described Harry's first passage through to ] as an application of faith and hope, and his encounter with the ] as the first of many in which Harry is shaped by the choices he makes.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Griesinger |first=E. |year=2002 |title=Harry Potter and the "deeper magic": narrating hope in children's literature |journal=Christianity and Literature |volume=51 |issue=3 |pages=455–480 |doi=10.1177/014833310205100308 }}</ref>
In 2002, an unauthorized ] "sequel" entitled ] appeared for sale in the ]. The work of a Chinese ghost writer, the book contains characters from the works of other authors, including Gandalf from ]'s ''Lord of the Rings'', and the title character from ]'s ''The Wizard of Oz''. Rowling's lawyers successfully took legal action against the publishers who were forced to pay damages. <ref></ref>


In an 8 November 2002, '']'' article, Chris Suellentrop likened Potter to a "trust-fund kid whose success at school is largely attributable to the gifts his friends and relatives lavish upon him".<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.slate.com/?id=2073627 | title=Harry Potter: Fraud | last=Suellentrop | first=Chris | access-date=16 April 2008 | work=] | date=8 November 2002 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080327002437/http://www.slate.com/?id=2073627 | archive-date=27 March 2008 | df=dmy-all }}</ref> In a 12 August 2007 review of ''Deathly Hallows'' in ''The New York Times'', however, ] praised Rowling for "unmooring" her "English school story" from literary precedents "bound up with dreams of wealth and class and snobbery", arguing that she had instead created "a world of youthful democracy and diversity".<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/12/books/review/Hitchens-t.html| title=The Boy Who Lived| last=Hitchens| first=Christopher| access-date=1 April 2008| newspaper=The New York Times| author-link=Christopher Hitchens| date=12 August 2007| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090416024446/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/12/books/review/Hitchens-t.html| archive-date=16 April 2009| url-status=live}}</ref>
===Religious opposition to witchcraft themes===
In 2016, an article written by ] compared the politics of Harry Potter to the 2016 Donald Trump presidential campaign. She suggests that these themes are also present in the presidential election and it may play a significant role in how Americans have responded to the campaign.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=C. Mutz|first=Diana|year=2016|title=Harry Potter and the Deathly Donald|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/ps-political-science-and-politics/article/harry-potter-and-the-deathly-donald/84B3BED39ACA703DC7B8BE2D5486B185/core-reader|journal=Elections in Focus|volume=49|access-date=29 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180921153343/https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/ps-political-science-and-politics/article/harry-potter-and-the-deathly-donald/84B3BED39ACA703DC7B8BE2D5486B185/core-reader|archive-date=21 September 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>


There is ongoing discussion regarding the extent to which the series was inspired by ]'s ''Lord of the Rings'' books.<ref>Wetherill, Louise. "Harry Potter: Merely Frodo Baggins with a Wand?", in ''Ampthill Literary Festival Yearbook 2015''. Ampthill: Literary Festival Committee, 2015. {{ISBN|978-1-5175506-8-4}}, pp. 85–92.</ref>
] produced a comic book tract called ''"The Nervous Witch"'' about two teenage girls who get seriously involved in occult witchcraft and become demonically possessed as a direct result of reading Harry Potter books.]]


=== Thematic critique ===
Rowling has had to contend with considerable backlash over its themes of magic and witchcraft. Since 1999, the Harry Potter books have sat atop the ]’s list of most protested books, with some American churches banning the books altogether.
<!-- This section heading is linked above in the Religion, wealth and remarriage section-->
The portrayal of women in ''Harry Potter'' has been described as complex and varied, but nonetheless conforming to stereotypical and ] depictions of gender.<ref>{{Harvnb|Heilman|Donaldson|2008|pp=139–41}}; {{Harvnb|Pugh|Wallace|2006}}; {{Harvnb|Eberhardt|2017}}.</ref> Gender divides are ostensibly absent in the books: Hogwarts is ] and women hold positions of power in wizarding society. However, this setting obscures the typecasting of female characters and the general depiction of conventional gender roles.{{sfn|Pugh|Wallace|2006}} According to scholars Elizabeth Heilman and Trevor Donaldson, the subordination of female characters goes further early in the series. The final three books "showcase richer roles and more powerful females": for instance, the series' "most matriarchal character", Molly Weasley, engages substantially in the final battle of ''Deathly Hallows'', while other women are shown as leaders.{{sfn|Heilman|Donaldson|2008|pp=139–41}} Hermione Granger, in particular, becomes an active and independent character essential to the protagonists' battle against evil.{{sfn|Berents|2012|pp= 144–49}} Yet, even particularly capable female characters such as Hermione and ] are placed in supporting roles,{{sfn|Heilman|Donaldson|2008|pp= 142–47}} and Hermione's status as a feminist model is debated.{{sfn|Bell|Alexander|2012|pp=1–8}} Girls and women are more frequently shown as emotional, more often defined by their appearance, and less often given agency in family settings.{{sfn|Pugh|Wallace|2006}}{{sfn|Heilman|Donaldson|2008|pp=149–55}}


The social hierarchy of wizards in Rowling's world has drawn debate among critics. "Purebloods" have two wizard parents; "half-bloods" have one; and "Muggle-born" wizards have magical abilities, although neither of their parents is a wizard.{{Sfn|Barratt|2012|p=64}} Lord Voldemort and his followers believe that blood purity is paramount and that Muggles are subhuman.{{Sfn|Barratt|2012|pp=63, 67}} According to the literary scholar Andrew Blake, ''Harry Potter'' rejects blood purity as a basis for social division;{{Sfn|Blake|2002|p=103}} Suman Gupta agrees that Voldemort's philosophy represents "absolute evil";{{sfn|Gupta|2009|p=104}} and Nel and Eccleshare agree that advocates of racial or blood-based hierarchies are antagonists.{{Sfn|Nel|2001|p=44}}{{Sfn|Eccleshare|2002|p=78}} Gupta, following Blake,{{Sfn|Gupta|2009|p=105}} suggests that the essential superiority of wizards over Muggles—wizards can use magic and Muggles cannot—means that the books cannot coherently reject anti-Muggle prejudice by appealing to equality between wizards and Muggles. Rather, according to Gupta, ''Harry Potter'' models a form of tolerance based on the "charity and altruism of those belonging to superior races" towards lesser races.{{sfn|Gupta|2009|pp=108–10}}
In response to the question, "Do you believe Harry Potter promotes Wicca," JKR replied in a 2001 interview with this: "That's not true. Not once has a child come up to me and said, 'Due to you I've decided to devote my life to the occult.' People underestimate children so hugely. They know it's fiction."<ref> - BBC Christmas Special, 2001 - accio-quote.org</ref>


''Harry Potter's''{{'s}} depiction of race, specifically the slavery of ], has received varied responses. Scholars such as ] have praised the books' ] sentiments, viewing Hermione's ] as a model for younger readers' political engagement.{{sfn|Carey|2003|pp=105–107, 114}}{{sfn|Horne|2010|p=76}} Other critics including ] find the portrayal of house-elves "most difficult to accept": the elves are denied the right to free themselves and rely on the benevolence of others like Hermione.{{sfn|Mendlesohn|2002|pp=178–181}}{{sfn|Horne|2010|p=81}} Pharr terms the house-elves a disharmonious element in the series, writing that Rowling leaves their fate hanging;{{sfn|Pharr|2016|pp=12–13}} at the end of ''Deathly Hallows'', the elves remain enslaved and cheerful.{{sfn|Barratt|2012|p=52}} The goblins of the world of Harry Potter have also received criticism for following antisemitic caricatures{{snd}}particularly for their grotesque "hook-nosed" portrayal in the films, an appearance associated with ].<ref>{{cite web |last=Levy |first=Marianne |title=Is this picture of Harry Potter's goblin bankers offensive? |url=https://www.thejc.com/comment/comment/harry-potter-is-gringotts-picture-antisemitic-1.482785 |website=The Jewish Chronicle |access-date=30 September 2022 |archive-date=30 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220930030859/https://www.thejc.com/comment/comment/harry-potter-is-gringotts-picture-antisemitic-1.482785 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Richer |first=Stephen |title=Debunking the Harry Potter Antisemitism Myth |url=https://momentmag.com/debunking-the-harry-potter-anti-semitism-myth/ |website=Moment Magazine |access-date=30 September 2022 |date=14 July 2011 |archive-date=27 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221127175405/https://momentmag.com/debunking-the-harry-potter-anti-semitism-myth/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Berlatsky |first=Noah |title=Opinion {{!}} Why most people still miss these antisemitic tropes in "Harry Potter" |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/j-k-rowling-s-harry-potter-goblins-echo-jewish-caricatures-ncna1287043 |website=NBC News |date=6 January 2022 |access-date=30 September 2022 |language=en |archive-date=28 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220328185424/https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/j-k-rowling-s-harry-potter-goblins-echo-jewish-caricatures-ncna1287043 |url-status=live }}</ref>
====From Protestants====
One of the main sources of the backlash is ] groups who believe the series’ supposed pagan imagery is dangerous to their children.


=== Controversies ===
"It contains some powerful and valuable lessons about love and courage and the ultimate victory of good over evil," said Paul Hetrick, spokesman for ], an ] ] Christian group based in ]. "However, the positive messages are packaged in a medium — witchcraft — that is directly denounced in Scripture." <ref name="Harry Potter expelled from school">{{
{{Main|Legal disputes over the Harry Potter series|Religious debates over the Harry Potter series|Politics of Harry Potter|Tanya Grotter}}


The books have been the subject of a number of ], stemming from various conflicts over copyright and trademark infringements. The popularity and high ] of the series has led Rowling, her publishers, and film distributor ] to take legal measures to protect their copyright, which have included banning the sale of ''Harry Potter'' imitations, targeting the owners of websites over the "Harry Potter" ], and suing author ] to counter her accusations that Rowling had plagiarised her work.<ref>{{cite web|title=Scholastic Inc, J.K. Rowling and Time Warner Entertainment Company, L.P, Plaintiffs/Counterclaim Defendants, -against- Nancy Stouffer: United States District Court for the Southern District of New York|url=http://www.eyrie.org/~robotech/stouffer.htm|date=17 September 2002|access-date=12 June 2007|publisher=ICQ|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070607163634/http://www.eyrie.org/~robotech/stouffer.htm|archive-date=7 June 2007|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Warner Brothers bullying ruins Field family Xmas|last=McCarthy|first=Kieren|url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2000/12/21/warner_brothers_bullying_ruins_field/|year=2000|work=The Register|access-date=3 May 2007|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151103090134/http://www.theregister.co.uk/2000/12/21/warner_brothers_bullying_ruins_field/|archive-date=3 November 2015|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/film/2092661.stm|work=BBC News|title=Fake Harry Potter novel hits China|date=4 July 2002|access-date=11 March 2007|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070901094955/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/film/2092661.stm|archive-date=1 September 2007|df=dmy-all}}</ref>
cite news
|url=http://www.cesnur.org/recens/potter_06.htm
|publisher=Denver Rocky Mountain News
|title="Harry Potter expelled from school"
|date=November 6, 1999


Various religious fundamentalists have claimed that the books promote witchcraft and religions such as ] and are therefore unsuitable for children,<ref>O'Kane, Caitlin. . ]. Retrieved on 3 September 2019. "Rev. Reehil believes, 'The curses and spells used in the books are actual curses and spells; which when read by a human being risk conjuring evil spirits into the presence of the person reading the text.' It is unclear if the movies have been banned, since they don't require children to read spells." Archived from the </ref><ref>Anatol, Giselle Liza (2003). ''Reading Harry Potter: Critical Essays''. p. 54.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/12052212/Religious-parents-want-Harry-Potter-banned-from-the-classroom-because-it-glorifies-witchcraft.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/12052212/Religious-parents-want-Harry-Potter-banned-from-the-classroom-because-it-glorifies-witchcraft.html |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Religious parents want Harry Potter banned from the classroom because it 'glorifies witchcraft'|first=Javier|last=Espinoza|date=16 December 2015|via=The Telegraph }}{{cbignore}}</ref> while a number of critics have criticised the books for promoting various political agendas.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Tolkien's Timeless Tale |last=Bonta |first=Steve |magazine=The New American |date=28 January 2002 |volume=18 |issue=2}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/rod_liddle/article2116237.ece|title=Hogwarts is a winner because boys will be sexist neocon boys|last=Liddle|first=Rod|date=21 July 2007|work=The Times|access-date=17 August 2008|location=London|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100604212652/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/rod_liddle/article2116237.ece|archive-date=4 June 2010|df=dmy-all}}</ref> The series has landed the ]s' Top 10 Banned Book List in 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2019 with claims it was anti-family, discussed magic and witchcraft, contained actual spells and curses, referenced the occult/Satanism, violence, and had characters who used "nefarious means" to attain goals, as well as conflicts with religious viewpoints.<ref>{{Cite web|last=American Library Association|date=26 March 2013|title=Top 10 Most Challenged Books Lists|url=http://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/top10|access-date=2021-03-05|website=Advocacy, Legislation & Issues|language=en|archive-date=24 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170724195723/http://www.ala.org/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/top10|url-status=live}}</ref>
}}</ref> Accordingly, Harry Potter has been the subject of at least one book burning.<ref name="'Satanic' Harry Potter books burnt">{{


The books also aroused controversies in the literary and publishing worlds. From 1997 to 1998, ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'' won almost all the United Kingdom awards judged by children, but none of the children's book awards judged by adults,{{sfn|Eccleshare|2002|pp=7–14}} and Sandra Beckett suggested the reason was ] towards books that were popular among children.<ref name="Beckett2008Crossover" /> In 1999, the winner of the ] children's division was entered for the first time on the shortlist for the main award, and one judge threatened to resign if ''Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban'' was declared the overall winner; it finished second, very close behind the winner of the poetry prize, ]'s translation of the ] epic '']''.<ref name="Beckett2008Crossover">{{cite book|last=Beckett|first=S.L.|title=Crossover Fiction|publisher=Taylor & Francis|year=2008|pages=112–115|chapter=Child-to-Adult Crossover Fiction|isbn=978-0-415-98033-3|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9ipnQ2ryU7IC&q=%22Harry+Potter+and+the+Philosopher%27s+Stone%22+book+sales+bestseller&pg=PA114|access-date=16 May 2009|archive-date=16 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230316064618/https://books.google.com/books?id=9ipnQ2ryU7IC&q=%22Harry+Potter+and+the+Philosopher%27s+Stone%22+book+sales+bestseller&pg=PA114|url-status=live}}</ref>
cite news
|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts/1735623.stm
|publisher=BBC
|title='Satanic' Harry Potter books burnt
|date=December 31, 2001


In 2000, shortly before the publication of '']'', the previous three ''Harry Potter'' books topped ''The New York Times'' fiction best-seller list and a third of the entries were children's books. The newspaper created a new children's section covering children's books, including both fiction and non-fiction, and initially counting only hardback sales. The move was supported by publishers and booksellers.<ref name="NYT_2000/06/24" /> In 2004, ''The New York Times'' further split the children's list, which was still dominated by ''Harry Potter'' books, into sections for series and individual books and removed the ''Harry Potter'' books from the section for individual books.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://papercuts.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/05/01/ten-years-later-harry-potter-vanishes-from-the-best-seller-list/|title=Ten Years Later, Harry Potter Vanishes From the Best-Seller List|last=Garner|first=D.|date=1 May 2008|work=The New York Times|access-date=16 May 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090210215250/http://papercuts.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/05/01/ten-years-later-harry-potter-vanishes-from-the-best-seller-list/|archive-date=10 February 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref> The split in 2000 attracted condemnation, praise and some comments that presented both benefits and disadvantages of the move.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://archive.salon.com/mwt/feature/2000/08/16/bestseller/index.html |title=A list of their own |last=Bolonik |first=K. |date=16 August 2000 |work=Salon.com |access-date=16 May 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090504135643/http://archive.salon.com/mwt/feature/2000/08/16/bestseller/index.html |archive-date=4 May 2009 }}</ref> '']'' suggested that, on the same principle, '']'' should have created a separate "]s" list in 1964 when ] held the top five places in its list, and ] should have created a separate game-show list when '']'' dominated the ].<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Corliss|first=R.|date=21 July 2000|title=Why 'Harry Potter' Did a Harry Houdini|magazine=]|url=http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,50554,00.html|access-date=16 May 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100310173814/http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,50554,00.html|archive-date=10 March 2010|df=dmy-all}}</ref>
}}</ref> Continuing with the same line of reasoning, in 2002, ] went so far as to produce a comic book tract titled "]" that claimed "the Potter books open a doorway that will put untold '''''millions''''' of kids into hell".<ref name="The Nervous Witch">{{


==Legacy==
cite news
===Influence on literature===
|url=http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/5012/5012_01.asp
], London]]
|publisher=Chick Publications
|title=The Nervous Witch
|date=2002


''Harry Potter'' transformed children's literature.{{sfn|Levy|Mendlesohn|2016|pp=8, 164–65}}{{sfn|Butler|2012|p= 232}} In the 1970s, children's books were generally ] as opposed to fantastic,{{Sfn|Eccleshare|2002|pp=106–8}} while adult fantasy became popular because of the influence of '']''.{{sfn|Stableford|2009|pp=xli, lx–lxi, 72}} The next decade saw an increasing interest in grim, realist themes, with an outflow of fantasy readers and writers to adult works.{{sfn|Levy|Mendlesohn|2016|p=161–62}}{{sfn|Stableford|2009|pp=72–73}}
}}</ref> Chick Publications also released a DVD entitled ''Harry Potter: Witchcraft Repackaged'' <ref name="Harry Potter: Witchcraft Repackaged">{{cite web
|url=http://www.chick.com/catalog/videos/0127.asp
|publisher=Chick Publications
|title=Harry Potter: Witchcraft Repackaged
|date=2002


The commercial success of ''Harry Potter'' reversed this trend.{{sfn|Stableford|2009|p=73}} The scale of its growth had no precedent in the children's market: within four years of the series' inception, it occupied 28% of that field by revenue.{{Sfn|Eccleshare|2002|pp=108–9}} Children's literature rose in cultural status,{{Sfn|Eccleshare|2002|pp=105–6}} and fantasy became a dominant genre.{{sfn|Levy|Mendlesohn|2016|pp=164–65}} Older works in the genre, including ]'s '']'' series and ]'s '']'', were reprinted and rose in popularity; some authors re-established their careers.{{sfn|Levy|Mendlesohn|2016|p=167}} In the following decades, many ''Harry Potter'' imitators and subversive responses grew popular.{{sfn|Levy|Mendlesohn|2016|p=168–70}}{{sfn|Striphas|2009|pp=158–59, 166–67}}
}}</ref> which made claims that "Harry's world says that drinking dead animal blood gives power, a satanic human sacrifice and Harry's powerful blood brings new life, demon possession is not spiritually dangerous, and that passing through fire, contacting the dead, and conversing with ghosts, others in the spirit world, and more, is normal and acceptable." <ref name="What is Harry Potter all about?">{{cite web
|url=http://www.chick.com/catalog/videos/potter.asp
|publisher=Chick Publications
|title=What is Harry Potter all about?
|date=2002


Rowling has been compared to ], who also wrote in simple language about groups of children and long held sway over the British children's market.{{sfn|Mendlesohn|James|2012|p=167}}{{sfn|Eccleshare|2002|pp=33–35}} She has also been described as an heir to ].{{sfn|Eccleshare|2002|pp=10–12}} Some critics view ''Harry Potter''{{'s}} rise, along with the concurrent success of ]'s '']'', as part of a broader shift in reading tastes: a rejection of literary fiction in favour of plot and adventure.{{sfn|Mendlesohn|James|2012|pp=165, 171}} This is reflected in the BBC's 2003 "]" survey of the UK's favourite books, where Pullman and Rowling ranked at numbers&nbsp;3 and 5, respectively, with very few British literary classics in the top&nbsp;10.{{sfn|Mendlesohn|James|2012|p=165}}
}}</ref> This religious fear was lampooned in an article in ]<ref>{{cite news
|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20000815214418/http://www.theonion.com/onion3625/harry_potter.html
|publisher=The Onion
|title=Harry Potter Sparks Rise in Satanism in Children
|date=2000


=== Cultural impact ===
}}</ref>, that claimed the High Priest of Satanism had said, "Harry is an absolute godsend to our cause." The spoof was copied and pasted into a chain e-mail (with all references to "The Onion" or parody conspicuously excised, but with a hawkish commentary added claiming that it was proof that ''Harry Potter'' turned children to Satanism) which garnered many believers, apparently oblivious to the irony of a Satanist using the word "godsend." <ref>{{cite web
{{further|Harry Potter fandom}}
|url=http://www.snopes.com/humor/iftrue/potter.htm
]]]
|publisher= Snopes.com
|title=Claim: Harry Potter books are sparking a rise in Satanism among children. Status: False.
|date=2001


''Harry Potter'' has been described as a cultural phenomenon.{{sfn|Gunelius|2008|p=99}}{{sfn|Taub|Servaty-Seib|2008|p=13}} The word "Muggle" has spread beyond its origins in the books, entering the '']'' in 2003.{{sfn|Gunelius|2008|p=121}} A real-life version of the sport ] was created in 2005 and featured as an exhibition tournament in the ].{{sfn|Popple|2015|pp=194–95}} Characters and elements from the series have inspired ]s of several organisms, including the dinosaur '']'', the spider '']'', the wasp '']'', and the crab '']''.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Kean|first1=Danuta|title=Harry Potter character provides name for new species of crab|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/jan/27/harry-potter-name-species-crab-harryplax-severus-severus-snape|work=The Guardian|date=27 January 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170223092112/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/jan/27/harry-potter-name-species-crab-harryplax-severus-severus-snape|archive-date=23 February 2017|df=dmy-all}}</ref>
}}</ref>


Librarian Nancy Knapp pointed out the books' potential to improve ] by motivating children to read much more than they otherwise would.<ref name="Knapp2003InDefenseOfHP">{{cite journal|last=Knapp |first=N.F. |year=2003 |title=In Defense of Harry Potter: An Apologia |journal=School Libraries Worldwide |publisher=International Association of School Librarianship |volume=9 |issue=1 |pages=78–91 |url=http://www.iasl-online.org/files/jan03-knapp.pdf |access-date=14 May 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110309051050/http://www.iasl-online.org/files/jan03-knapp.pdf |archive-date=9 March 2011 }}</ref> The seven-book series has a word count of 1,083,594 (US edition). Agreeing about the motivating effects, Diane Penrod also praised the books' blending of simple entertainment with "the qualities of highbrow literary fiction", but expressed concern about the distracting effect of the prolific merchandise that accompanies the book launches.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Penrod |first=D |date=December 2001 |title=The Trouble with Harry: A Reason for Teaching Media Literacy to Young Adults |journal=The Writing Instructor |publisher=Professional Writing Program at Purdue University |url=http://www.writinginstructor.com/penrod.html |access-date=16 May 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081216160155/http://www.writinginstructor.com/penrod.html |archive-date=16 December 2008 }}</ref> However, the assumption that Harry Potter books have increased literacy among young people is "largely a folk legend".<ref name=Heilman2008 />
An episode of ] made reference to the witchcraft themes of Harry Potter. ] is reading a Harry Potter novel and ends it with "''...and then Harry Potter and all his friends went straight to ] for practicing witchcraft!''" whereby his sons ] cheer as Ned throws the book into a ].


Research by the ] (NEA) has found no increase in reading among children coinciding with the Harry Potter publishing phenomenon, nor has the broader downward trend in reading among Americans been arrested during the rise in the popularity of the Harry Potter books.<ref name=Heilman2008 /><ref>{{Cite web |url= http://arts.gov/sites/default/files/ToRead.pdf |title= To Read or Not to Read; A question of national consequence |publisher= ] |date= November 2007 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20151115010136/https://www.arts.gov/sites/default/files/ToRead.pdf |archive-date= 15 November 2015 |df= dmy-all }}</ref> The research also found that children who read Harry Potter books were not more likely to go on to read outside the fantasy and mystery genres.<ref name=Heilman2008 /> NEA chairman ] said the series, "got millions of kids to read a long and reasonably complex series of books. The trouble is that one Harry Potter novel every few years is not enough to reverse the decline in reading."<ref name=Rich2007 />
====From Catholics====
The Vatican has presented a mixed view on the books. In 2003, Monsignor Peter Fleetwood, a Vatican priest, claimed during a press conference on inter-religious dialogue that, "If I have understood well the intentions of Harry Potter's author, they help children to see the difference between good and evil. And she is very clear on this," and that Rowling is "Christian by conviction, is Christian in her mode of living, even in her way of writing." <ref>{{cite news
|url=http://film.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,888638,00.html
|publisher= Guardian Unlimited
|title= Catholic church stands up for Harry Potter
|date=2003
}}</ref> This comment was seized on by the media as an endorsement of the novels from the Catholic Church, and by extension, the then Pope, ]. <ref>{{cite news
|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/world/newsid_2722000/2722445.stmm
|publisher= BBC Newsround
|title= Pope sticks up for Potter books
|date=2003
}}</ref> However, there is no evidence that the Pope, or the Vatican hierarchy, officially approved of the novels.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.familylifecenter.net/article.asp?artId=146
|publisher= LifeSite News
|title=Harry Potter Gets Vatican's Blessing?
|date=2003


Many ] and ] works about ''Harry Potter'' have been made. In March 2007, "Harry Potter" was the most commonly searched fan fiction subject on the internet.<ref name=most-searched-fanfiction>{{cite news|url=http://buzz.yahoo.com/buzzlog/67161/fantastic-fiction |title=Fantastic Fiction |date=20 March 2007 |access-date=7 April 2007 |last=Hurd |first=Gordon |work=] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071222003119/http://buzz.yahoo.com/buzzlog/67161/fantastic-fiction |archive-date=22 December 2007 }}</ref>
}}</ref> When ] was ] of the ], he condemned the books in a letter expressing gratitude for the receipt of a book on the subject, stating they are "a subtle seduction, which has deeply unnoticed and direct effects in undermining the soul of Christianity before it can really grow properly". <ref name="Pope Opposes Harry Potter Novels">{{
Jennifer Conn used Snape's and Quidditch coach Madam Hooch's teaching methods as examples of what to avoid and what to emulate in clinical teaching,<ref>{{cite journal|last=Conn|first=J.J.|year=2002|title=What can clinical teachers learn from ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone''?|journal=Medical Education|volume=36|issue=12|pages=1176–1181|doi=10.1046/j.1365-2923.2002.01376.x|pmid=12472752|citeseerx=10.1.1.463.8854|s2cid=22560995}}</ref> and Joyce Fields wrote that the books illustrate four of the five main topics in a typical first-year sociology class: "sociological concepts including culture, society, and ]; ] and ]; ]; and ]".<ref name="Fields2007HPSociologicalImagination">{{cite journal|last=Fields|first=J.W.|year=2007|title=''Harry Potter'', Benjamin Bloom, and the Sociological Imagination|journal=International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education|volume=19|issue=2|url=http://www.isetl.org/ijtlhe/pdf/IJTLHE160.pdf|access-date=15 May 2009|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100818204930/http://www.isetl.org/ijtlhe/pdf/IJTLHE160.pdf|archive-date=18 August 2010|df=dmy-all}}</ref>


From the early 2000s onwards, several news reports appeared in the UK of the Harry Potter book and movie series driving demand for pet owls,<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1716013.stm|title=Potter sparks pet owl demand|date=2001-12-18|access-date=2018-04-12|language=en-GB|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170815182750/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1716013.stm|archive-date=15 August 2017|df=dmy-all}}</ref> and even reports that after the end of the movie series these same pet owls were now being abandoned by their owners.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/hundreds-of-pet-owls-abandoned-after-840299|title=Hundreds of pet owls abandoned after Harry Potter craze fades|last=Paul|first=David|date=2012-05-19|work=mirror|access-date=2018-04-12|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180412145317/https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/hundreds-of-pet-owls-abandoned-after-840299|archive-date=12 April 2018|df=dmy-all}}</ref> This led J. K. Rowling to issue several statements urging Harry Potter fans to refrain from purchasing pet owls.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/harry-potter-studio-tour-accused-of-cruelty-over-use-of-owls-in-live-shows-10127081.html|title=Harry Potter tour accused of cruelty for use of live 'Hedwigs'|date=2015-03-23|work=The Independent|access-date=2018-04-12|language=en-GB|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180412211800/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/harry-potter-studio-tour-accused-of-cruelty-over-use-of-owls-in-live-shows-10127081.html|archive-date=12 April 2018|df=dmy-all}}</ref> Despite the media flurry, research into the popularity of Harry Potter and sales of owls in the UK failed to find any evidence that the Harry Potter franchise had influenced the buying of owls in the country or the number of owls reaching animal shelters and sanctuaries.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Megias|first1=Diane A.|last2=Anderson|first2=Sean C.|last3=Smith|first3=Robert J.|last4=Veríssimo|first4=Diogo|date=2017-10-04|title=Investigating the impact of media on demand for wildlife: A case study of Harry Potter and the UK trade in owls|journal=PLOS ONE|language=en|volume=12|issue=10|pages=e0182368|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0182368|pmid=28976986|pmc=5627891|bibcode=2017PLoSO..1282368M|issn=1932-6203|df=dmy-all|doi-access=free}}</ref>
cite news
|url=http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/jul/05071301.html
|publisher=Life Site
|title=Pope Opposes Harry Potter Novels
|date=July 13, 2005


== Awards, honours, and recognition ==
}}</ref> Fleetwood wrote in response that these remarks were misinterpreted, and that the letter was likely to have been written by an assistant of the then-cardinal.<ref name="Speak Of The Devil...">{{
{{further|List of awards and nominations received by J. K. Rowling}}


The ''Harry Potter'' series has been recognised by a host of awards since the initial publication of ''Philosopher's Stone'', including a platinum award from the Whitaker Gold and Platinum Book Awards (2001),<ref>{{Cite web|last=Bill|first=Neto|date=19 April 2021|title=Fiction Genres|url=https://ebooksdiscounts.com/literary-genres/fiction-genres/|access-date=19 April 2021|website=eBooks Discounts|archive-date=28 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220328052246/https://ebooksdiscounts.com/literary-genres/fiction-genres/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts/1556674.stm|title=Book honour for Harry Potter author|date=21 September 2001|work=BBC News|access-date=28 September 2008|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081228112437/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts/1556674.stm|archive-date=28 December 2008|df=dmy-all}}</ref> three ]s (1997–1999),<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7626896.stm|title=JK Rowling: From rags to riches|date=20 September 2008|work=BBC News|access-date=28 September 2008|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120713/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7626896.stm|archive-date=13 July 2012|df=dmy-all}}</ref> two ] Book Awards (1999 and 2001),<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/1360641.stm|title=Book 'Oscar' for Potter author|date=30 May 2001|work=BBC News|access-date=28 September 2008|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081227212449/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/1360641.stm|archive-date=27 December 2008|df=dmy-all}}</ref> the inaugural ] (1999),<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/books/news/9907/16/harry/index.html|title=Harry Potter casts a spell on the world|date=18 July 1999|publisher=CNN|access-date=28 September 2008|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080726101923/http://www.cnn.com/books/news/9907/16/harry/index.html|archive-date=26 July 2008|df=dmy-all}}</ref> and the ] (2006),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.scholastic.com/harrypotter/books/author/index.htm|title=Harry Potter: Meet J.K. Rowling|publisher=Scholastic Inc|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070604101828/http://www.scholastic.com/harrypotter/books/author/index.htm|archive-date=4 June 2007 |access-date=27 September 2008}}</ref> among others. In 2000, '']'' was nominated for a ], and in 2001, '']'' won said award.<ref>{{Cite web|title=2001 Hugo Awards|url=http://www.thehugoawards.org/hugo-history/2001-hugo-awards/|access-date=19 April 2021|website=]|date=26 July 2007|archive-date=7 May 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110507164752/http://www.thehugoawards.org/hugo-history/2001-hugo-awards/|url-status=live}}</ref> Honours include a commendation for the ] (1997),<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/823533.stm|title=Harry Potter beaten to top award|date=7 July 2000|work=BBC News|access-date=28 September 2008|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081228101106/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/823533.stm|archive-date=28 December 2008|df=dmy-all}}</ref> a short listing for the ] (1998), and numerous listings on the notable books, editors' choices, and best books lists of the ], ''The New York Times'', ], and '']''.<ref>{{cite web|publisher=Arthur A. Levine Books |url=http://www.arthuralevinebooks.com/awards.asp |title=Awards |first=Arthur |last=Levine |access-date=21 May 2006 |date=2001–2005 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060429093544/http://www.arthuralevinebooks.com/awards.asp |archive-date=29 April 2006 }}</ref>
cite news
|url=http://catholicinsider.com/scripts/hp_transcript.php
|publisher=Catholic Insider
|title=Speak Of The Devil...
|date=July 14, 2005


In 2002, sociologist Andrew Blake named ''Harry Potter'' a British pop culture icon along with the likes of ] and ].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Fenske|first1=Claudia|title=Muggles, Monsters and Magicians: A Literary Analysis of the Harry Potter Series|date=2008|publisher=Peter Lang|page=3}}</ref> In 2003, four of the books were named in the top 24 of the BBC's ] survey of the best loved novels in the UK.<ref> {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121031065136/http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/bigread/top100.shtml |date=31 October 2012 }}. BBC. Retrieved 7 December 2016</ref> A 2004 study found that books in the series were commonly read aloud in elementary schools in ].<ref>{{cite journal|year=2004 |title=Interactive Read-Alouds: Is There a Common Set of Implementation Practices? |journal=] |volume=58 |issue=1 |pages=8–17 |url=http://www.fisherandfrey.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/rt-read-alouds.pdf |access-date=19 August 2012 |last=Fisher |first=Douglas |doi=10.1598/RT.58.1.1 |display-authors=etal |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131207031123/http://www.fisherandfrey.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/rt-read-alouds.pdf |archive-date=7 December 2013 }}</ref> Based on a 2007 online poll, the US ] listed the series in its "Teachers' Top 100 Books for Children".<ref name=NEA2007>{{cite web |url= http://www.nea.org/grants/13154.htm/ |title= Teachers' Top 100 Books for Children |author= National Education Association |year= 2007 |access-date= 19 August 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120920064649/http://www.nea.org/grants/13154.htm/ |archive-date= 20 September 2012 |df= dmy-all }}</ref> ] named Rowling as a runner-up for its 2007 ] award, noting the social, moral, and ] she has given ].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/personoftheyear/article/0,28804,1690753_1695388_1695436,00.html|title=Person of the Year 2007 Runners-up: J. K. Rowling|date=23 December 2007|magazine=]|access-date=23 December 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071221164141/http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/personoftheyear/article/0,28804,1690753_1695388_1695436,00.html|archive-date=21 December 2007|df=dmy-all}}</ref> Three of the books placed among the "Top 100 Chapter Books" of all time, or children's novels, in a 2012 survey published by '']'': ''Sorcerer's Stone'' ranked number three, ''Prisoner of Azkaban'' 12th, and ''Goblet of Fire'' 98th.<ref name=SLJChapter2012>{{cite web |url= http://blog.schoollibraryjournal.com/afuse8production/2012/07/07/top-100-chapter-book-poll-results |title= Top 100 Chapter Book Poll Results |last= Bird |first= Elizabeth |publisher= A Fuse #8 Production. Blog. ] (blog.schoollibraryjournal.com) |date= 7 July 2012 |access-date= 19 August 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120713031015/http://blog.schoollibraryjournal.com/afuse8production/2012/07/07/top-100-chapter-book-poll-results |archive-date= 13 July 2012 |df= dmy-all }}</ref>
}}</ref>


In 2007, the seven ''Harry Potter'' book covers were depicted on a ] issued by ].<ref>{{cite news |title=Owls get the sack, Harry Potter gets a set of stamps |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2007/may/21/harrypotter.jkjoannekathleenrowling |access-date=22 September 2022 |work=The Guardian |archive-date=22 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220922154714/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2007/may/21/harrypotter.jkjoannekathleenrowling |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2012, the ] of the ] in ] featured a 100-foot tall rendition of Lord Voldemort in a segment designed to showcase the UK's cultural icons.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/27/london-olympics-voldemort-mary-poppins_n_1710785.html|title=London Olympics: Voldemort, Mary Poppins Have An Epic Duel|last=Bell|first=Crystal|date=2012-07-27|work=The Huffington Post|access-date=2017-08-15|language=en-US|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170414081107/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/27/london-olympics-voldemort-mary-poppins_n_1710785.html|archive-date=14 April 2017|df=dmy-all}}</ref> In November 2019, the ] listed the ''Harry Potter'' series on its list of the ].<ref>{{cite news| url = https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-50302788| title = 100 'most inspiring' novels revealed by BBC Arts| work = ]| date = 5 November 2019| access-date = 10 November 2019| archive-date = 3 November 2020| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201103164736/https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-50302788| url-status = live}}</ref>
Harsh criticism against the books also comes from the official ] ] of ], ], who believes that, "Behind Harry Potter hides the signature of the king of the darkness, the ]."<ref></ref> He further told the ] that the Harry Potter books make a false distinction between black and white magic, when in reality, the distinction "does not exist, because magic is always a turn to the devil". Amorth believes that the books can be a bad influence on children by getting them interested in the ].


== Adaptations ==
See also: ]
{{further|Wizarding World}}


===Book challenges=== === Films ===
{{Main|Harry Potter (film series)}}
]


In 1999, Rowling sold the film rights for ''Harry Potter'' to ] for a reported ]1 million (US$2,000,000).{{sfn|Gunelius|2008|pp=8, 37}}{{sfn|Smith|2002|p=210}} Rowling had creative control on the film series, observing the filmmaking process of ''Philosopher's Stone'' and serving as producer on the two-part ''Deathly Hallows'', alongside ] and ].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20100920005538/en/Warner-Bros.-Pictures-Worldwide-Satellite-Trailer-Debut%C2%A0Harry |title=Warner Bros. Pictures mentions J. K. Rowling as producer |publisher=Business Wire |date=20 September 2010 |access-date=24 February 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101227092506/http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20100920005538/en/Warner-Bros.-Pictures-Worldwide-Satellite-Trailer-Debut%C2%A0Harry |archive-date=27 December 2010 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> Rowling demanded the principal cast be kept strictly British and Irish, nonetheless allowing for the inclusion or French and Eastern European actors where characters from the book are specified as such.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2001/nov/16/jkjoannekathleenrowling|work=The Guardian|title=Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone|date=16 November 2001|access-date=26 May 2007|location=London|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130930184717/http://www.theguardian.com/film/2001/nov/16/jkjoannekathleenrowling|archive-date=30 September 2013|df=dmy-all}}</ref>
The series has been frequently challenged for alleged inappropriate content. In the ], the series was seventh on the list of books that were most challenged in American libraries between 1990 and 2000 despite having been first published in the United States in 1997.<ref name="The 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990–2000">{{cite news|url=http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/bbwlinks/100mostfrequently.htm|publisher=American Library Association |title=The 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990–2000|date=2000}}</ref> However, it is not clear how often libraries actually do restrict access to the books, and there have been several high-profile failures to do so.<ref></ref>


] was selected as the director for '']'' (titled "''Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone''" in the United States).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://uk.movies.ign.com/articles/034/034098p1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080113042745/http://uk.movies.ign.com/articles/034/034098p1.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=13 January 2008 |title=Chris Columbus to Direct Harry Potter |access-date=8 July 2007 |date=28 March 2000 |website=IGN |last=Linder |first=Bran }}</ref> ''Philosopher's Stone'' was released on 14 November 2001. Just three days after the film's release, production for '']'', also directed by Columbus, began and the film was released on 15 November 2002.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1807858489/info |title=Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002) |publisher=Yahoo! Inc |access-date=18 August 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080724130653/http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1807858489/info |archive-date=24 July 2008 }}</ref> Columbus declined to direct '']'', only acting as producer. Mexican director ] took over the job, and after shooting in 2003, the film was released on 4 June 2004. Due to the fourth film beginning its production before the third's release, ] was chosen as the director for '']'', released on 18 November 2005.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://movies.ign.com/articles/433/433108p1.html|title=Goblet Helmer Confirmed|website=IGN|date=11 August 2003|access-date=29 July 2007|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070629051548/http://movies.ign.com/articles/433/433108p1.html|archive-date=29 June 2007|df=dmy-all}}</ref> Newell became the first British director of the series, with television director ] following suit after he was chosen to helm '']''. Production began in January 2006 and the film was released the following year in July 2007.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Sneak peek: ''Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix''|date=6 April 2007|page=28|url=https://ew.com/article/2007/04/03/sneak-peek-harry-potter-and-order-phoenix/|last=Daly|first=Steve|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|access-date=26 October 2019|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070406191438/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20016352,00.html|archive-date=6 April 2007|df=dmy-all}}</ref> Yates was selected to direct '']'', which was released on 15 July 2009.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://movies.tvguide.com/Movie-News/Harry-Potter-Changes-1005104.aspx |title=Coming Sooner: ''Harry Potter'' Changes Release Date |work=TV Guide |access-date=15 April 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090418151643/http://movies.tvguide.com/Movie-News/Harry-Potter-Changes-1005104.aspx |archive-date=18 April 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/harry-potter-half-blood-prince-moves/story.aspx?guid={F4F52B7F-D1B1-4DC0-BF8A-AD0D9252BE7A}&dist=hppr |title=Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince |date=14 August 2008 |publisher=Market Watch |access-date=17 August 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080820102646/http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/harry-potter-half-blood-prince-moves/story.aspx?guid=%7BF4F52B7F-D1B1-4DC0-BF8A-AD0D9252BE7A%7D |archive-date=20 August 2008 |df=dmy }}</ref> The final instalment in the series, '']'' was released in two cinematic parts: '']'' on 19 November 2010 and '']'' on 15 July 2011.<ref>{{cite news|title=Final 'Harry Potter' book will be split into two movies|date=13 March 2008|url=https://latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-potter13mar13,1,5626063.story|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=13 March 2008|first=Geoff|last=Boucher|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517002014/http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-potter13mar13,1,5626063.story|archive-date=17 May 2008|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.snitchseeker.com/harry-potter-news/june-12-2010-confirmed-final-day-deathly-hallows-principal-photography-73871/ |title=Last Day 12 June 2010 |publisher=Snitchseeker.com |access-date=24 February 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100817184257/http://www.snitchseeker.com/harry-potter-news/june-12-2010-confirmed-final-day-deathly-hallows-principal-photography-73871/ |archive-date=17 August 2010 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>
Laura Mallory, a mother of four children in ], rose to fame throughout 2006 by constantly trying to have the Harry Potter books banned from her children's school library. Mallory claims the books carry “evil themes, witchcraft, demonic activity, murder, evil blood sacrifice, spells and teaching children all of this.” She admitted that she has not read the book series partially because “they’re really very long and I have four kids. I’ve put a lot of work into what I’ve studied and read. I think it would be hypocritical for me to read all the books, honestly."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/index.php?s=&url_channel_id=32&url_subchannel_id=&url_article_id=14074&change_well_id=2|title=Hearing to determine fate of ‘Harry Potter’ books in GCPS|accessdate=2007-01-21|date=2006-04-19|work=Gwinnett Daily Post}}</ref> She went to the Gwinnett County Board of Education with her concerns, but her request was struck down. Board of Education attorney Victoria Sweeny said that if schools were to remove all books containing reference to witches, they would have to ban "]" and "]." Mallory was named the ]'s 2006 Idiot of the Year.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://blog.washingtonpost.com/offbeat/2006/12/idiot_of_the_year_awards_1.html |title=Idiot Of The Year Awards |accessdate=2006-12-28 |date=2006-12-22 |format= |work=Washington Post}}</ref> Later, she lost an appeal with the Georgia State Board of Education. Mallory claims that she will try and appeal the Georgia state's decision to allow the books in the schools.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.macon.com/mld/macon/news/politics/16483116.htm|title=Suburban mother to appeal decision to keep Harry Potter on shelves|accessdate=2007-01-17 |date=2007-01-17 |format= |work=Macon.com}}</ref>


===Legal injunction=== ==== Spin-off prequels ====
{{Main|Fantastic Beasts (film series)}}
The series garnered more controversy with its most recent release, '']'', when a grocery store in Canada accidentally sold several copies of the sixth Harry Potter book before the authorised release date. The Canadian publisher, ], obtained an ] <!-- Image with unknown copyright status removed: ] --> from the ] prohibiting the purchasers from reading the books in their possession. This sparked a number of news articles questioning the injunction's restriction on fundamental rights. Canadian law professor ] has posted commentary on his ]. <ref name="The Harry Potter Injunction">{{


A prequel series is planned to consist of five films, taking place before the main series.<ref>{{cite web|title=Fantastic Beasts: JK Rowling confirms there will be five films in Harry Potter spin-off series|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/jk-rowlingfive-films-harry-potter-spin-off-fantastic-beasts-and-where-to-find-them-a7360481.html|website=Independent.co.uk|date=14 October 2016|access-date=7 January 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170108003319/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/jk-rowlingfive-films-harry-potter-spin-off-fantastic-beasts-and-where-to-find-them-a7360481.html|archive-date=8 January 2017|df=dmy-all}}</ref> The first film '']'' was released in November 2016, followed by the second '']'' in November 2018 and '']'' in April 2022. Rowling wrote the screenplays for all three films,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a870007/fantastic-beasts-3-cast-release-date-plot-title-city/|title=Fantastic Beasts 3 cast, release date, plot, title and everything you need to know|date=10 December 2018|work=Digital Spy|access-date=28 December 2018|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181229031505/https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a870007/fantastic-beasts-3-cast-release-date-plot-title-city/|archive-date=29 December 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> marking her foray into screenwriting.
cite news
|url=http://michaelgeist.ca/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=889
|publisher=Michael Geist
|title=The Harry Potter Injunction
|date=2005


=== Games ===
}}</ref> ] has posted commentary on his weblog calling for a boycott until the publisher issues an apology.<ref name="Don't Buy Harry Potter Books">{{
{{see also|Harry Potter video games}}


A number of non-interactive media games and board games have been released such as ''] Harry Potter Edition'', ''] Harry Potter'' and '']'' models, which are influenced by the themes of both the novels and films.
cite news
|url=http://stallman.org/harry-potter.html
|title=Don't Buy Harry Potter Books
|date=On July 13, 2005


There are fourteen ''Harry Potter'' video games, eight corresponding with the films and books and six spin-offs. The film/book-based games are produced by ] (EA), as was '']'', with the game version of the first entry in the series, '']'', being released in November 2001. ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'' went on to become one of the best-selling ] games ever.<ref name="ownt">{{cite web |url=http://www.ownt.com/qtakes/2003/gamestats/gamestats.shtm |title=All Time Top 20 Best Selling Games |access-date=1 December 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060221044930/http://www.ownt.com/qtakes/2003/gamestats/gamestats.shtm |archive-date=21 February 2006 |date=21 May 2003}}</ref> The video games were released to coincide with the films. Objectives usually occur in and around ]. The story and design of the games follow the selected film's characterisation and plot; EA worked closely with Warner Bros. to include scenes from the films. The last game in the series, ''Deathly Hallows'', was split, with '']'' released in November 2010 and '']'' debuting on consoles in July 2011.<ref> {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120310225855/http://harrypotter.ea.com/ |date=10 March 2012 }} Retrieved 19 June 2010.</ref><ref> Retrieved 19 June 2010. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100701172944/http://www.ea.com/videos?video_id=89a42107c3649210VgnVCM1000001065140aRCRD |date=1 July 2010 }}</ref>
}}</ref>


The spin-off games '']'' and '']'' were developed by ] and published by ]. The spin-off games '']'' and '']'' were developed by ] and use the ], an ] book designed to be used in conjunction with the ] and ].<ref>{{cite news|last=Robinson |first=Andy |title=E3 2012: Sony announces intriguing Wonderbook for PS3—Harry Potter author on board |url=http://www.computerandvideogames.com/351325/sony-announces-intriguing-wonderbook-for-ps3-harry-potter-author-on-board/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120608043904/http://www.computerandvideogames.com/351325/sony-announces-intriguing-wonderbook-for-ps3-harry-potter-author-on-board/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=8 June 2012 |access-date=5 June 2012 |newspaper=Computer and Video Games |date=5 June 2012 }}</ref> The ''Harry Potter'' universe is also featured in '']'', with the settings and side characters featured in the Harry Potter Adventure World, and Harry, Voldemort, and Hermione as playable characters. In 2017, ] opened its own Harry Potter-themed game design studio, by the name of ], before releasing '']'', developed by Jam City, in 2018 and '']'', developed by ], in 2023.<ref>{{Cite web | title = Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery game now available on iPhone and iPad, but it's an obnoxious free-to-play game | author = Mayo, Benjamin | work = 9to5Mac | date = 24 April 2018 | access-date = 25 April 2018 |url=https://9to5mac.com/2018/04/25/harry-potter-hogwarts-mystery-game-now-available-on-iphone-and-ipad-but-its-an-obnoxious-free-to-play-game/ | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180425134242/https://9to5mac.com/2018/04/25/harry-potter-hogwarts-mystery-game-now-available-on-iphone-and-ipad-but-its-an-obnoxious-free-to-play-game/ | archive-date = 25 April 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-11-11 |title=Hogwarts Legacy—extended gameplay showcase |url=https://www.gematsu.com/2022/11/hogwarts-legacy-extended-gameplay-showcase |access-date=2023-10-17 |website=Gematsu |language=en-US}}</ref>
==Films==
In 1999, Rowling sold the film rights to the first four Harry Potter books to ] for a reported £1 million ($1.9 million US, or ca. 1.4 million €). <ref name="WiGBPd About Harry">{{


=== Stage production ===
cite news
{{Main|Harry Potter and the Cursed Child}}
|url=http://www.quick-quote-quill.org/articles/2000/0700-austfinrev-bagwell.html
|publisher=Australian Financial Review
|title=WiGBPd About Harry
|date= 19 July 2000
}}</ref> Her major demand was that the principal cast be kept strictly British, though with the inclusion of many Irish actors such as the late ], and the inclusion of French and Eastern European actors in '']'', the cast is not entirely British. <ref name="Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone">{{cite news
|url=http://film.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/Critic_Review/Guardian_Film_of_the_week/0,,595317,00.html
|publisher=Guardian Unlimited
|title=Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
|date= November 16, 2001
}}</ref> Although ] was initially in negotiations to direct the ], he would later decline. He wanted the movie to be an animated film, with ] to do the voice of Harry Potter. For a while, it was speculated that this was due to Rowling's heavy involvement and Spielberg's dislike of an all-British cast. However, Spielberg contended that, in his opinion, it would be like "shooting ducks in a barrel... It's just like withdrawing a billion dollars and putting it into your personal bank accounts. There's no challenge."<ref>{{cite news
|url=http://www.hollywood.com/news/detail/id/1091358
|publisher=Hollywood.com
|title= For Spielberg, making a Harry Potter movie would have been no challenge
|date= September 05, 2001
}}</ref>


''Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: Parts I and II'' is a play which serves as a sequel to the books, beginning nineteen years after the events of '']''. It was written by ] based on an original new story by Thorne, Rowling and ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.harrypottertheplaylondon.com|title=Harry Potter and the Cursed Child|year=2016|website=Harry Potter The Play|publisher=harrypottertheplaylondon.com|access-date=26 July 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160926023138/http://www.harrypottertheplaylondon.com/|archive-date=26 September 2016|df=dmy-all}}</ref> It has run at the ] in London's ] since previews began on 7 June 2016 with an official premiere on 30 June 2016.<ref name="nyt07june2016">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/08/theater/harry-potter-and-the-cursed-child-preview.html|title='Harry Potter and the Cursed Child' Begins Previews in London, as Magic Continues|last=Lyall|first=Sarah|date=7 June 2016|work=The New York Times|access-date=29 June 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170410234000/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/08/theater/harry-potter-and-the-cursed-child-preview.html|archive-date=10 April 2017|df=dmy-all}}</ref> The first four months of tickets for the June–September performances were sold out within several hours upon release.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-34660716 | title=First batch of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child tickets sell out | work=BBC News | date=29 October 2015 | access-date=29 October 2015 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151029094840/http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-34660716 | archive-date=29 October 2015 | df=dmy-all }}</ref> Forthcoming productions are planned for Broadway<ref>{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2017/05/harry-potter-and-the-cursed-child-april-22-2018-broadway-opening-1202083963/|title='Harry Potter And The Cursed Child' Sets April 22, 2018 Broadway Opening|last=Gerard|first=Jeremy|date=4 May 2017|work=Deadline|access-date=4 May 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170504184601/http://deadline.com/2017/05/harry-potter-and-the-cursed-child-april-22-2018-broadway-opening-1202083963/|archive-date=4 May 2017|df=dmy-all}}</ref> and Melbourne.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.harrypottertheplay.com/au/|title=Harry Potter and the Cursed Child {{!}} Melbourne|website=Harry Potter and the Cursed Child {{!}} Melbourne|language=en-US|access-date=2017-10-25|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171024044426/https://www.harrypottertheplay.com/au/|archive-date=24 October 2017|df=dmy-all}}</ref>
The ] have since gone on to even eclipse such giants as the '']'' trilogy in worldwide box office gross receipts, finishing as the number one movie franchise in history with $3.5 billion. Lord of the Rings follows with $2.9 billion.<ref></ref>


The script was released as a book at the time of the premiere, with a revised version following the next year.
In the Rubbish Bin section of her website, Rowling maintains that she personally had no role in Spielberg's choice saying, "Anyone who thinks I could (or would) have 'veto-ed' him needs their ] serviced." <ref>{{cite web|publisher=J.K. Rowling.com| url=http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/en/rubbishbin_view.cfm?id=8| title=Rubbish Bin: J K Rowling 'veto-ed Steven Spielberg| first=J.K.| last=Rowling| accessdate=2006-06-20}}</ref>


===Television===
In the end, ] directed the first two films, '']'' and '']'', ] directed the ], and ] directed the ]. The fifth, '']'', is finished and was directed by ].<ref name=timewarner-yates>{{cite news
On 25 January 2021, it was reported that a live-action television series has been in early development at ]. Though it was noted that the series has "complicated rights issues", due to a seven-year rights deal with Warner Bros. Domestic TV Distribution that included US broadcast, cable and streaming rights to the franchise, which ends in April 2025.<ref>{{cite web|last=Goldberg|first=Lesley|title='Harry Potter' Live-Action TV Series in Early Development at HBO Max (Exclusive)|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/harry-potter-live-action-tv-series-in-early-development-at-hbo-max-exclusive|date=25 January 2021|access-date=25 January 2021|website=]|archive-date=28 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210428045541/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/harry-potter-live-action-tv-series-in-early-development-at-hbo-max-exclusive|url-status=live}}</ref> On 12 April 2023, the series was confirmed to be in development, and will be streamed on the new streaming service ] (formerly known as HBO Max).<ref>{{Cite web |date=12 April 2023 |title=First ever Harry Potter television series ordered by new streaming service, Max |url=https://www.wizardingworld.com/news/first-ever-harry-potter-television-series-coming-to-max |access-date=2023-04-13 |website=Wizarding World |language=en |archive-date=12 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230412214511/https://www.wizardingworld.com/news/first-ever-harry-potter-television-series-coming-to-max |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=12 April 2023 |title=Introducing the enhanced streaming service: Max |url=https://www.wizardingworld.com/news/introducing-enhanced-streaming-service-max |access-date=2023-04-13 |website=Wizarding World |language=en |archive-date=12 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230412214510/https://www.wizardingworld.com/news/introducing-enhanced-streaming-service-max |url-status=live }}</ref> On 23 February 2024, ] CEO ] announced that the series would debut on Max in 2026.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tapp |first=Tom |date=2024-02-23 |title='Harry Potter' TV Series Due To Hit Max In 2026: Everything We Know About The Cast, What J.K. Rowling Says & More—Update |url=https://deadline.com/2024/02/harry-potter-tv-series-max-release-date-cast-1235323284/ |access-date=2024-02-23 |website=Deadline |language=en-US}}</ref> On 25 June 2024, it was announced the series was moved from Max to ].<ref>{{cite web|last=White|first=Peter|title='Harry Potter' & 'Welcome To Derry' Moving From Max To HBO As Part Of Big-Budget Streaming Strategy Rethink|url=https://deadline.com/2024/06/harry-potter-welcome-to-derry-moving-from-max-to-hbo-1235983023/|website=Deadline Hollywood|date=25 June 2024|access-date=25 June 2024}}</ref>
| url=http://www.timewarner.com/corp/newsroom/pr/0,20812,1018758,00.html
| publisher=Time Warner
| title =David Yates to Direct Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix for Warner Bros. Pictures
| date=]-]
}}</ref> Columbus also worked as producer on the first three films.


== Attractions ==
Rowling's first choice director was originally ], but Columbus' involvement as screenwriter on the 1985 film '']'' encouraged Warner Bros. to select him in preference. Reminiscent of the Harry Potter series, Young Sherlock Holmes includes three leads who bear a strong resemblance to the Harry, Ron and Hermione of Rowling's description (as does a character named Dudley to Draco Malfoy). They investigate a supernatural mystery in a Gothic boarding school, where staff include the ]-like Waxflatter, and sinister Rathe. Scenes from the film were used to cast the first Harry Potter film.<ref>{{cite web
{{Main|The Wizarding World of Harry Potter|Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter}}
|publisher=ign.com
]
|url=http://filmforce.ign.com/articles/034/034108p1.html
|title=IGN: Trouble Brewing with Potter Casting?
|accessdate=2006-07-01
}}</ref>


Universal and Warner Brothers created ''The Wizarding World of Harry Potter'', a ''Harry Potter''-themed expansion to the ] theme park at ] in Florida. It opened to the public on 18 June 2010.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.orlandosentinel.com/travel/attractions/wizarding-world-of-harry-potter/os-universal-harry-potter-staying-pow20100617,0,1970029.story|title=Big day is here: Universal hopes Harry Potter's magic will last|first=Jason|last=Garcia|date=17 June 2010|access-date=19 June 2010|newspaper=Orlando Sentinel|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120905/http://www.orlandosentinel.com/travel/attractions/wizarding-world-of-harry-potter/os-universal-harry-potter-staying-pow20100617,0,1970029.story|archive-date=5 September 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> It includes a recreation of ] and several rides; its flagship attraction is '']'', which exists within a recreation of ] School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.australia-times.com.au/entertainment/article.php?id=7096 |title=Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park opens |date=June 19, 2010 |access-date=June 19, 2010 |publisher=Australia Times |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706101707/http://www.australia-times.com.au/entertainment/article.php?id=7096 |archive-date=July 6, 2011 }}</ref>
In 2000, the virtually unknown British actors ], ], and ] were selected from thousands of auditioning children to play the roles of ], ], and ], respectively. <ref>{{cite news
|url=http://movies.warnerbros.com/pub/movie/releases/harrycast.html
|publisher=Warner Brothers
|title=Press Release: Radcliffe, Grint, and Watson Selected
|date= August 21, 2000
}}</ref> They are scheduled to return in the fifth film. <ref name=>{{cite news
| url=http://harrypotter.warnerbros.com/web/hogwarts/dailyprophet/article.jsp?id=hp_orderofthephoenix
| publisher=Warner Brothers: Daily Prophet
| title=''Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix'' commences production
| date=Feb 2, 2006
}}</ref>
Other notable Potter character portrayals include ]'s ], ]'s ], ]'s ], ]'s ], and ] and ]'s Albus Dumbledore (Gambon took over for the third film following Harris's death in 2002). Each will reprise their characters for ''Order of the Phoenix.'' along with ] as ], ] as ], and ] as ]. <ref>{{cite web|publisher=IMDB.com|url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0373889/|title=Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix}}</ref>


In 2014 Universal opened a ''Harry Potter''-themed area at the ] theme park. It includes a recreation of ].<ref name=tpinsider140708>{{cite news |last=Niles |first=Robert |date=July 8, 2014 |title=The Wizarding World of Harry Potter—Diagon Alley opens officially at Universal Studios Florida |url=http://www.themeparkinsider.com/flume/201407/4112/ |work=Theme Park Insider |access-date=15 September 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140915120158/http://www.themeparkinsider.com/flume/201407/4112/ |archive-date=September 15, 2014 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> The flagship attraction is the '']'' roller coaster ride.<ref>{{Cite magazine|author=Kohler, Chris|year=2014|title=What to Expect From the Wild New Harry Potter Ride, 'Escape From Gringotts'|magazine=Wired|url=https://www.wired.com/2014/06/diagon-alley-gringotts-ride/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140702225829/http://www.wired.com/2014/06/diagon-alley-gringotts-ride/|archive-date=2 July 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> A completely functioning ] was created for the Diagon Alley expansion, connecting King's Cross Station at Universal Studios to the Hogsmeade station at Islands of Adventure.<ref name="IGN">{{cite web|url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2013/05/08/details-on-expansion-of-wizarding-world-of-harry-potter-in-orlando-confirmed-including-diagon-alley-as-second-location?abthid=518a6ec50c27b4992700000e|title=Details on Expansion of Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando Confirmed, Including Diagon Alley as Second Location|last=Goldman|first=Eric|date=May 8, 2013|access-date=May 8, 2013|website=IGN|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131008180723/http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/05/08/details-on-expansion-of-wizarding-world-of-harry-potter-in-orlando-confirmed-including-diagon-alley-as-second-location?abthid=518a6ec50c27b4992700000e|archive-date=October 8, 2013|df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref name="What may come to Wizarding World of Harry Potter 2.0 at Universal Orlando">{{cite news|last=MacDonald|first=Brady|title=What may come to Wizarding World of Harry Potter 2.0 at Universal Orlando|url=https://www.latimes.com/travel/deals/themeparks/la-trb-diagon-alley-wizarding-world-harry-potter-universal-studios-05201309,0,640470,full.story|access-date=May 18, 2013|newspaper=]|date=May 9, 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130510183411/http://www.latimes.com/travel/deals/themeparks/la-trb-diagon-alley-wizarding-world-harry-potter-universal-studios-05201309%2C0%2C640470%2Cfull.story|archive-date=May 10, 2013|df=mdy-all}}</ref> ''The Wizarding World of Harry Potter'' opened at the ] theme park near ], ] in 2016,<ref name=nytimes20140409>{{cite news |last=Barnes |first=Brooks |date=8 April 2014 |title=A Makeover at Universal Studios Hollywood Aims at Disney |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/09/business/media/a-makeover-of-universal-studios-hollywood-aims-to-catch-up-to-disney.html |newspaper=] |location=] |access-date=12 September 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140912083943/http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/09/business/media/a-makeover-of-universal-studios-hollywood-aims-to-catch-up-to-disney.html |archive-date=12 September 2014 |df=dmy-all }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://latimes.com/travel/themeparks/la-trb-wizarding-world-harry-potter-universal-studios-hollywood-20160114-story.html|title=What to expect when the Wizarding World at Universal Studios Hollywood opens in April|website=]|date=14 January 2016|access-date=3 April 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160403091029/http://www.latimes.com/travel/themeparks/la-trb-wizarding-world-harry-potter-universal-studios-hollywood-20160114-story.html|archive-date=3 April 2016|df=dmy-all}}</ref> and in ] theme park in ], Japan in 2014. The Osaka venue includes the village of Hogsmeade, ''Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey'' ride, and '']'' roller coaster.<ref name=orlando20140418>{{cite news |last=Bevil |first=Dewayne |date=18 April 2014 |title=Universal Studios Japan: Wizarding World of Harry Potter to open July 15 |url=http://www.orlandosentinel.com/travel/attractions/theme-park-rangers-blog/os-universal-studios-japan-harry-potter-20140418-post.html |newspaper=] |access-date=12 September 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140912073410/http://www.orlandosentinel.com/travel/attractions/theme-park-rangers-blog/os-universal-studios-japan-harry-potter-20140418-post.html |archive-date=12 September 2014 |df=dmy-all }}</ref><ref name=cnn20140716>{{cite news |last=Cripps |first=Karla |date=16 July 2014 |title=Universal Studios Japan's 'Wizarding World of Harry Potter' opens |url=http://www.cnn.com/2014/07/16/travel/universal-studios-japan-harry-potter/ |newspaper=] |access-date=12 September 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140912075407/http://www.cnn.com/2014/07/16/travel/universal-studios-japan-harry-potter/ |archive-date=12 September 2014 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> Other ''Harry Potter'' roller coasters are the '']'' and '']'', both at ].
The first four films were scripted by ] with the direct assistance of Rowling, though she allowed Kloves what he described as "tremendous elbow room".<ref> {{cite news
|url=http://www.quick-quote-quill.org/articles/2003/0302-newsround-mzimba.htm
|publisher=Quick Quotes Quill
|title= Mzimba, Lizo, moderator. Interview with Steve Kloves and J.K. Rowling, February 2003.
|date=February 3, 2003}}
</ref> Thus the plot and tone of each film and its corresponding book are virtually the same with some changes and omissions for purposes of cinematic style and time constraints. Despite these changes, Rowling has characterised Kloves and his adaptations as being "faithful to the books."<ref name="Mzimba, Lizo, moderator. Interview with Steve Kloves and J.K. Rowling">{{
cite news
|url=http://www.quick-quote-quill.org/articles/2003/0302-newsround-mzimba.htm
|publisher= Quick Quotes Quill
|title=Mzimba, Lizo, moderator. Interview with Steve Kloves and J.K. Rowling
|date= February 2003}}</ref>


] is a behind-the-scenes walking tour in London featuring authentic sets, costumes and props from the film series. The attraction is located at ], where all eight of the ''Harry Potter'' films were made. Warner Bros. constructed two new sound stages to house and showcase the sets from each of the British-made productions, following a £100&nbsp;million investment.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-12645416|title=Harry Potter tour to open at Leavesden studios in 2012|access-date=18 May 2011|work=BBC News|date=5 March 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110325033117/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-12645416|archive-date=25 March 2011|df=dmy-all}}</ref> It opened to the public in March 2012.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-16257334 |title=Harry Potter tour at Leavesden Studios reveals new sets |access-date=16 February 2012 |work=BBC News |date=19 December 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120222215659/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-16257334 |archive-date=22 February 2012 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>
The fifth Harry Potter film, ''Order of the Phoenix'' is scheduled by ] for release on Friday ] ], and the sixth, ''Half-Blood Prince'' is scheduled for ], ].<ref name=release-date-hbp-film>{{cite web|url=http://mugglenet.com/app/news/full_story/251|title=Confirmed: HBP movie release date|publisher=]|date=]-]|accessdate=2006-12-17}}</ref>


== Supplementary works ==
Differences between book and film versions of:
{{See also|J. K. Rowling#Philanthropy}}
*], 2001
*], 2002
*], 2004
*], 2005
*], 2007
*Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, 2008


Rowling expanded the ] with short books produced for charities.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6903111.stm|title=How Rowling conjured up millions|work=BBC News|access-date=7 September 2008|date=19 July 2007|first=Simon|last=Atkinson|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081228111436/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6903111.stm|archive-date=28 December 2008|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=http://www.alibris.com/search/books/qwork/1198169/used/Comic%20Relief%20:%20Quidditch%20through%20the%20ages |title=Comic Relief: Quidditch Through the Ages|publisher=Albris|access-date=7 September 2008|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080726050800/http://www.alibris.com/search/books/qwork/1198169/used/Comic%20Relief%20%3A%20Quidditch%20through%20the%20ages|archive-date=26 July 2008|df=dmy-all}}</ref> In 2001, she released '']'' (a purported Hogwarts textbook) and '']'' (a book Harry reads for fun). Proceeds from the sale of these two books benefited the charity ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.comicrelief.com/stuff-to-buy/harrys-books/the-money/|title=The Money|publisher=Comic Relief| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20071029034316/http://www.comicrelief.com/stuff-to-buy/harrys-books/the-money/|archive-date=29 October 2007 |access-date=25 October 2007}}</ref> In 2007, Rowling composed seven handwritten copies of '']'', a collection of fairy tales that is featured in the final novel, one of which was auctioned to raise money for the Children's High Level Group, a fund for mentally disabled children in poor countries. The book was published internationally on 4 December 2008.<ref name="fetches">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7142656.stm|title=JK Rowling book fetches £2&nbsp;m|date=13 December 2007|work=BBC News|access-date=13 December 2007|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071215120757/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7142656.stm|archive-date=15 December 2007|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/feature.html?docId=1000137983 |title=The Tales of Beedle the Bard |website=Amazon UK |access-date=14 December 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071217031800/http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/feature.html?docId=1000137983 |archive-date=17 December 2007 }}</ref> Rowling also wrote an 800-word ] in 2008 as part of a fundraiser organised by the bookseller ].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/may/29/harrypotter.jkjoannekathleenrowling|title=Rowling pens Potter prequel for charities|date=29 May 2008|newspaper=]|location=London|last=Williams|first=Rachel|access-date=30 March 2010|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131002203005/http://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/may/29/harrypotter.jkjoannekathleenrowling|archive-date=2 October 2013|df=dmy-all}}</ref> All three of these books contain extra information about the wizarding world not included in the original novels.
==Awards and honours==
J.K. Rowling and the Harry Potter series have been the recipients of a host of awards since the initial publication of ''Philosopher's Stone'' including four Whitaker Platinum Book Awards (all of which were awarded in 2001), three ]s (1997-1999), two ] (1999 and 2001), and the ] (2006), among others. In 2000 ] was nominated for Best Novel in the ] while in 2001 ] won said award. Honours include a commendation for the ] (1997), a shortlisting for the Guardian Children's Award (1998), and numerous listings on the notable books, editors' Choices, and best books lists of the ], ], ], and ].<ref>{{cite web|publisher=Arthur A. Levine Books| url=http://www.arthuralevinebooks.com/awards.asp| title=Awards| first= Levine| last=Arthur| accessdate=2006-05-21}}</ref>


In 2016, she released three new e-books: '']'', '']'' and '']''.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Chan |first=Melissa |date=17 August 2016 |title=J.K. Rowling Is About to Release 3 New 'Harry Potter' Books |url=https://time.com/4455746/j-k-rowling-pottermore-new-harry-potter-books/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161216234750/http://time.com/4455746/j-k-rowling-pottermore-new-harry-potter-books/ |archive-date=16 December 2016 |access-date=2016-12-22 |magazine=] |df=dmy-all}}</ref>
==Commercial success==
], used as a promotion at ]'s ].]]
The popularity of the Harry Potter series has translated into substantial financial success for Rowling, her publishers, and other Harry Potter related licence holders. The books have sold over 300 million copies worldwide and have also given rise to the popular film adaptations produced by ], all of which have been successful in their own right with the first, ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', ranking number four on the ] and the other three each ranking in the top 25.
<ref name="million">{{


{{anchor|Pottermore}}
cite news
Rowling's website ] was launched in 2012.<ref name="waiting">{{cite web|url=http://insider.pottermore.com/2012/03/waiting-for-pottermore.html |title=Waiting for Pottermore? |work=Pottermore Insider |date=8 March 2012 |access-date=9 March 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120310102525/http://insider.pottermore.com/2012/03/waiting-for-pottermore.html |archive-date=10 March 2012 }}</ref> Pottermore allows users to be sorted, be chosen by their wand and play various minigames. The main purpose of the website was to allow the user to journey through the story with access to content not revealed by JK Rowling previously, with over 18,000 words of additional content.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://newsfeed.time.com/2011/06/23/pottermore-secrets-revealed-j-k-rowlings-new-site-is-e-book-meets-interactive-world/ |title='Pottermore' Secrets Revealed: J.K. Rowling's New Site is E-Book Meets Interactive World |first=Sonia |last=van Gilder Cooke |date=23 June 2011 |magazine=] |access-date=6 January 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120829110641/http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/06/23/pottermore-secrets-revealed-j-k-rowlings-new-site-is-e-book-meets-interactive-world/ |archive-date=29 August 2012 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> The site was redesigned in 2015 as WizardingWorld and it mainly focuses on the information already available, rather than exploration.<ref>{{cite web|title=Pottermore|url=https://www.pottermore.com/news/Welcome-to-the-new-Pottermore|website=Pottermore|access-date=8 October 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150926135910/https://www.pottermore.com/news/Welcome-to-the-new-Pottermore|archive-date=26 September 2015|df=dmy-all}}</ref>
|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_4300000/newsid_4308500/4308540.stm
|publisher=BBC
|title= Potter book sales top 300 million
|date=October, 4 2005
}}</ref> The films have in turn spawned five video games and have in conjunction with them led to the licensing of over 400 additional Harry Potter products (including an ]) that have, as of July 2005, made the Harry Potter brand worth an estimated 4 billion dollars and J.K. Rowling a ] ], making her, by some reports, richer than ].<ref name="J.K. Rowling Richer than the Queen">{{


== See also ==
cite news
* ]
|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2979033.stm
* '']''
|publisher=BBC
|title=J.K. Rowling Richer than the Queen
|date=April 27, 2003
}}</ref> <ref name="Harry Potter Brand Wizard">{{


== References ==
cite news
{{Reflist|refs=
|url=http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/content/jul2005/di20050721_060250.htm
|publisher= Business Week
|title=Harry Potter Brand Wizard
|date= July 21, 2005}}</ref>


<ref name="meanings">Sources that refer to the many genres, cultural meanings and references of the series include:
==Cultural impact==
* {{cite web|last=Fry|first=Stephen|author-link=Stephen Fry|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0076w0r|title=Living with Harry Potter|publisher=BBC Radio 4|date=10 December 2005|access-date=10 December 2005|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141021121215/https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0076w0r|archive-date=21 October 2014|url-status=dead |ref=none}}
Since the publishing of ''Philosopher's Stone'' a number of societal trends have been attributed to the series. In 2005, doctors at the John Radcliffe Hospital in ] reported that their research of the weekends of Saturday ]] and Saturday ] ] (the dates of the two most recent book releases of the series) found that only 36 children needed emergency medical assistance for injuries sustained in accidents, as opposed to other weekends' average of 67.<ref name="Reading 'cuts childhood injuries'">{{cite news
* {{cite magazine|title=Why J.K. Rowling waited to read ''Harry Potter'' to her daughter|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|last=Jensen|first=Jeff|author-link=Jeff Jensen|url=https://ew.com/article/2000/09/07/why-jk-rowling-waited-read-harry-potter-her-daughter|access-date=19 August 2015|date=7 September 2000|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905211717/http://www.ew.com/article/2000/09/07/why-jk-rowling-waited-read-harry-potter-her-daughter|archive-date=5 September 2015|df=dmy-all|ref=none}}
|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/oxfordshire/4553110.stm
* {{cite web|title=The Last Chapter|author=Nancy Carpentier Brown|publisher=Our Sunday Visitor|year=2007|url=http://www.osv.com/Portals/0/images/pdf/TheLastChapter.pdf|access-date=28 April 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013134200/http://www.osv.com/Portals/0/images/pdf/TheLastChapter.pdf|archive-date=13 October 2007|url-status=dead|ref=none}}
|publisher= BBC News
* {{cite web |author=J. K. Rowling |title=J. K. Rowling at the Edinburgh Book Festival |url=http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/en/news_view.cfm?id=80 |access-date=10 October 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060820213620/http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/en/news_view.cfm?id=80 <!--Added by H3llBot--> |archive-date=20 August 2006 |url-status=dead |ref=none}}</ref>
|title=Reading 'cuts childhood injuries'
|date= 23 December 2005}}</ref> ] such as this suggesting an increase in literacy among children due to ''Harry Potter'' was seemingly confirmed in 2006 when the Kids and Family Reading Report (in conjunction with Scholastic) released a survey finding that 51% of ''Harry Potter'' readers ages 5-17 said that while they did not read books for fun before they started reading ''Harry Potter'', they now did. The study further reported that according to 65% of children and 76% of parents, they or their children's performance in school improved since they started reading the series.<ref name="New Study Finds That the Harry Potter Series Has a Positive Impact on Kids' Reading and Their School Work">{{cite news
|url=http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/060725/nytu040.html?.v=62
|publisher= Yahoo News
|title=New Study Finds That the Harry Potter Series Has a Positive Impact on Kids' Reading and Their School Work
|date= 25 July 2006}}</ref>


<ref name=Heilman2008>{{harvnb|Heilman|2008|p=2}}</ref>
] in ] for the midnight release of the book]]
Notable also is the development a massive following of fans. So eager were these fans for the latest series release that book stores around the world began holding events to coincide with the midnight release of the books, beginning with the 2000 publication of ''Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire''. The events, commonly featuring mock sorting, games, face painting, and other live entertainment have achieved popularity with Potter fans and have been incredibly successful at attracting fans and selling books with nearly nine million of the 10.8 million initial print copies of ''Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince'' sold in the first 24 hours.<ref name="Harry Potter casts spell at checkouts">{{cite news
|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,927-1698839,00.html
|publisher=Times Online
|title=Harry Potter casts spell at checkouts
|date=July 18, 2005
}}</ref><ref name="Potter book smashes sales records">{{cite news
|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts/4692093.stm
|publisher=BBC
|title=Potter book smashes sales records
|date=July 18, 2005
}}</ref> Among this large base of fans are a minority of "super-fans" (or ] and ]), similar to the ]s of the ] ]. Besides meeting online through ] and ], ''Harry Potter'' super-fans can also meet at ''Harry Potter'' ]s. These events draw people from around the world to attend lectures, discussions and a host of other Potter themed activities. See '']'' for further details.


<ref name=Rich2007>{{Cite news |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/11/arts/11iht-11potter.6606863.html |newspaper=] |last= Rich |first= Motoko |author-link=Motoko Rich |title= Harry Potter has limited effect on reading habits |date= 11 July 2007 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170223130911/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/11/arts/11iht-11potter.6606863.html |archive-date= 23 February 2017 |df= dmy-all |ref=none}}</ref>
Harry Potter inspired many people, especially the movement of''' Wizard Rock''', bands were formed. '''Harry and the Potters''' were first, ] 2004, '''Draco and the Malfoys''', '''Remus Lupins'''. See '']'' for further details.
}}


==Sources==
''Harry Potter'' has also wrought changes in the publishing world, one of the most noted being the reformation of the ]. The change came immediately preceding the release of ''Goblet of Fire'' in 2000 when publishers complained of the number of slots on the list being held by Harry Potter and other children's books. The Times subsequently created a separate children's list for Harry Potter and other children's literature.<ref>{{cite web|publisher=CNN| url=http://archives.cnn.com/2000/books/news/07/21/potter7_21.a.tm/|title=Why 'Harry Potter' did a Harry Houdini|date=July 21, 2000}}</ref>
{{refbegin|30em}}
<!-- Book chapters from Reading Harry Potter: Critical Essays -->
* {{Cite book|editor-last=Anatol|editor-first=Giselle Liza |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780313320675|url-access=registration|title=Reading Harry Potter: Critical Essays|date=2003|publisher=Praeger|isbn=978-0-313-32067-5|location=Westport, Connecticut|oclc=50774592|ref=none}}
** {{Cite encyclopedia|first=Brycchan|last=Carey|author-link=Brycchan Carey|title=Hermione and the house-elves: the literary and historical contexts of J. K. Rowling's antislavery campaign|editor-last=Anatol|editor-first=Giselle Liza |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780313320675|url-access=registration|encyclopedia=Reading Harry Potter: Critical Essays|date=2003|publisher=Praeger|isbn=9780313320675}}
** {{Cite encyclopedia|first1=Ximena|last1=Gallardo|first2=C. Jason|last2=Smith|title=Cinderfella: J. K. Rowling's wily web of gender|editor-last=Anatol|editor-first=Giselle Liza |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780313320675|url-access=registration|encyclopedia=Reading Harry Potter: Critical Essays|date=2003|publisher=Praeger|isbn=9780313320675}}
** {{Cite encyclopedia|first=Elaine|last=Ostry|title=Accepting Mudbloods: the ambivalent social vision of J. K. Rowling's fairy tales|editor-last=Anatol|editor-first=Giselle Liza |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780313320675|url-access=registration|encyclopedia=Reading Harry Potter: Critical Essays|date=2003|publisher=Praeger|isbn=9780313320675}}
** {{Cite encyclopedia|first=Julia|last=Park|title=Class and socioeconomic identity in Harry Potter's England|editor-last=Anatol|editor-first=Giselle Liza |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780313320675|url-access=registration|encyclopedia=Reading Harry Potter: Critical Essays|date=2003|publisher=Praeger|isbn=9780313320675}}
** {{Cite encyclopedia|first=Veronica|last=Shanoes|title=Cruel heroes and treacherous texts: educating the reader in moral complexity and critical reading in J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter books|editor-last=Anatol|editor-first=Giselle Liza |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780313320675|url-access=registration|encyclopedia=Reading Harry Potter: Critical Essays|date=2003|publisher=Praeger|isbn=9780313320675}}
*{{Cite book|last=Barratt|first=Bethany|title=The Politics of Harry Potter|publisher=]|year=2012|isbn=978-0-230-60899-3|location=New York|doi=10.1057/9781137016546}}


<!-- Book chapters from Hermione Granger Saves the World -->
==Future==
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Bell |editor1-first=Christopher |title=Hermione Granger Saves the World: Essays on the Feminist Heroine of Hogwarts |year=2012 |publisher=] |location=Jefferson, North Carolina |isbn=978-0-7864-7137-9|ref=none}}
{{future}}
** {{cite encyclopedia|first1=Christopher|last1=Bell|first2=Julie|last2=Alexander|title=Introduction|editor1-last=Bell |editor1-first=Christopher |encyclopedia=Hermione Granger Saves the World: Essays on the Feminist Heroine of Hogwarts |year=2012 |publisher=]}}
{{spoiler}}
** {{cite encyclopedia|first1=Helen|last1=Berents|title=Hermione Granger goes to war|editor1-last=Bell |editor1-first=Christopher |encyclopedia=Hermione Granger Saves the World: Essays on the Feminist Heroine of Hogwarts |year=2012 |publisher=] }}


<!-- Book chapters from Heroism in the Harry Potter Series -->
There are currently three more Harry Potter films yet to be released. On ], ], Warner Brothers announced that the fifth film, '']'', will be released in cinemas on ], ].<ref name="Order of the Phoenix film due out on November 13, 2007">{{
* {{Cite book|editor-last1=Berndt|editor-first1=Katrin|editor-last2=Steveker|editor-first2=Lena|title=Heroism in the Harry Potter Series|date=22 April 2016|publisher=]|isbn=978-1-317-12211-1|doi=10.4324/9781315586748|ref=none}}
cite news
** {{Cite encyclopedia|first1=Christine|last1=Berberich|title=Harry Potter and the idea of the gentleman as hero|encyclopedia=Heroism in the Harry Potter Series|date=22 April 2016|publisher=]|editor-last1=Berndt|editor-first1=Katrin|editor-last2=Steveker|editor-first2=Lena}}
|url=http://www.mugglenet.com/newsfusion/fullnews.php?id=1903
** {{Cite encyclopedia|first1=Kathleen|last1=McEvoy|title=Heroism at the margins|encyclopedia=Heroism in the Harry Potter Series|date=22 April 2016|publisher=]|editor-last1=Berndt|editor-first1=Katrin|editor-last2=Steveker|editor-first2=Lena}}
|publisher=Mugglenet
** {{Cite encyclopedia|first1=Maria|last1=Nikolajeva|author-link=Maria Nikolajeva|title=Adult heroism and role models in the Harry Potter novels|encyclopedia=Heroism in the Harry Potter Series|date=22 April 2016|publisher=]|editor-last1=Berndt|editor-first1=Katrin|editor-last2=Steveker|editor-first2=Lena}}
|title=Order of the Phoenix film due out on November 13, 2007
** {{Cite encyclopedia|first1=Mary|last1=Pharr|title=A paradox: the Harry Potter series as both epic and postmodern|encyclopedia=Heroism in the Harry Potter Series|date=22 April 2016|publisher=]|editor-last1=Berndt|editor-first1=Katrin|editor-last2=Steveker|editor-first2=Lena}}
|date=March 1, 2006}}</ref>
** {{Cite encyclopedia|first1=Rita|last1=Singer|title=Harry Potter and the battle for the soul: the revival of the psychomachia in secular fiction|encyclopedia=Heroism in the Harry Potter Series|date=22 April 2016|publisher=]|editor-last1=Berndt|editor-first1=Katrin|editor-last2=Steveker|editor-first2=Lena}}
* {{Cite book|last=Blake|first=Andrew|url=https://archive.org/details/irresistiblerise0000blak|url-access=registration|title=The Irresistible Rise of Harry Potter|publisher=]|year=2002|isbn=1-85984-666-1|location=London|oclc=49594480}}
* {{Cite encyclopedia|first=Catherine|last=Butler|title=Modern children's fantasy|author-link=Catherine Butler|editor1-last=James|editor1-first=Edward|editor1-link=Edward James (historian)|editor2-last=Mendlesohn|editor2-first=Farah|editor2-link=Farah Mendlesohn|encyclopedia=The Cambridge Companion to Fantasy Literature|publisher=]|year=2012|isbn=978-0-521-42959-7|doi=10.1017/CCOL9780521429597}}
* {{cite book |last1=Clark |first1=Giles |last2=Phillips |first2=Angus |title=Inside Book Publishing |publisher=] |year=2019 |isbn=978-1-351-26571-3}}
* {{Cite journal|last=Eberhardt|first=Maeve|title=Gendered representations through speech: The case of the Harry Potter series|journal=]|year=2017|volume=26|issue=3|pages=227–246|doi=10.1177/0963947017701851|s2cid=149129001}}
* {{Cite book|last=Eccleshare|first=Julia|author-link=Julia Eccleshare|url=https://archive.org/details/guidetoharrypott0000eccl/|url-access=registration|title=A Guide to the Harry Potter Novels|year=2002|publisher=]|isbn=978-1-84714-418-8|location=London|oclc=229341237}}
* {{cite book|last=Errington|first=Philip W.|date=2017|title=J.K. Rowling: A Bibliography|publisher=]|isbn=978-1-4742-9737-0}}
* {{Cite journal|last=Farmer|first=Joy|date=2001|title=The magician's niece: the kinship between J. K. Rowling and C. S. Lewis|journal=]|volume=23|issue=2|pages=53–64|issn=0146-9339|jstor=26814627}}
* {{Cite book |last=Groves |first=Beatrice |title=Literary Allusion in Harry Potter |publisher=] |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-315-26933-7 |doi=10.4324/9781315269337}}
* {{cite book |last=Gunelius |first=Susan |title=Harry Potter: The Story of a Global Business Phenomenon |publisher=] |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-230-59410-4 |doi=10.1057/9780230594104 }}
* {{Cite book|last=Gupta|first=Suman|title=Re-Reading Harry Potter|publisher=]|year=2009|isbn=978-0-230-21958-8|location=London|doi=10.1057/9780230279711|edition=2nd}}


<!-- Book chapters from Critical Perspectives on Harry Potter -->
On ], ], Box Office Mojo reported the sixth adaptation, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, would be released on ], ]. WB has since confirmed this release date.<ref name=release-date-film6>{{cite news|url=http://mugglenet.com/app/news/full_story/251|title=Confirmed: HBP movie release date|publisher=]|date=]-]}}</ref>
* {{Cite book|editor-last=Heilman|editor-first=Elizabeth E.|title=Critical Perspectives on Harry Potter|publisher=Routledge|date=7 August 2008|isbn=978-1-135-89154-1|edition=2nd|doi=10.4324/9780203892817}}
** {{Cite encyclopedia|first1=Anne Hiebert|last1=Alton|title=Playing the genre game: generic fusions of the Harry Potter series|encyclopedia=Critical Perspectives on Harry Potter|publisher=Routledge|date=7 August 2008|editor-last=Heilman|editor-first=Elizabeth E.|edition=2nd}}
** {{Cite encyclopedia|first1=Peter|last1=Applebaum|title=The great Snape debate|encyclopedia=Critical Perspectives on Harry Potter|publisher=Routledge|date=7 August 2008|editor-last=Heilman|editor-first=Elizabeth E.|edition=2nd}}
** {{Cite encyclopedia|first1=Megan L.|last1=Birch|title=Schooling Harry Potter: teachers and learning, power and knowledge|encyclopedia=Critical Perspectives on Harry Potter|publisher=Routledge|date=7 August 2008|editor-last=Heilman|editor-first=Elizabeth E.|edition=2nd}}
** {{Cite encyclopedia|first1=Peter|last1=Ciaccio|title=Harry Potter and Christian theology|encyclopedia=Critical Perspectives on Harry Potter|publisher=Routledge|date=7 August 2008|editor-last=Heilman|editor-first=Elizabeth E.|edition=2nd}}
** {{Cite encyclopedia|first1=Elizabeth E.|last1=Heilman|first2=Trevor|last2=Donaldson|title=From sexist to (sort-of) feminist representations of gender in the Harry Potter series|encyclopedia=Critical Perspectives on Harry Potter|publisher=Routledge|date=7 August 2008|editor-last=Heilman|editor-first=Elizabeth E.|edition=2nd}}
** {{Cite encyclopedia|first1=Maria|last1=Nikolajeva|author-link=Maria Nikolajeva|title=Harry Potter and the secrets of children's literature|encyclopedia=Critical Perspectives on Harry Potter|publisher=Routledge|date=7 August 2008|editor-last=Heilman|editor-first=Elizabeth E.|edition=2nd}}
** {{Cite encyclopedia|first1=Deborah J.|last1=Taub|first2=Heather L.|last2=Servaty-Seib|title=Controversial content: is Harry Potter harmful to children?|encyclopedia=Critical Perspectives on Harry Potter|publisher=Routledge|date=7 August 2008|editor-last=Heilman|editor-first=Elizabeth E.|edition=2nd}}
* {{Cite journal|last=Horne|first=Jackie C.|title=Harry and the other: answering the race question in J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter|journal=]|volume=34|number=1|year=2010|pages=76–104|doi=10.1353/uni.0.0488|s2cid=143738308|id={{ProQuest|221753179}}}}
* {{Cite book|last=Kirk|first=Connie Ann|author-link= Connie Ann Kirk |url=https://archive.org/details/jkrowlingbiograp0000kirk|url-access=registration|title=J.K. Rowling: A Biography|year=2003|publisher=]|isbn=0-313-32205-8|oclc=49991592}}
* {{Cite book|last1=Levy|first1=Michael|author1-link=Michael M. Levy|title=]|last2=Mendlesohn|first2=Farah|publisher=]|year=2016|isbn=978-1-107-01814-3|author2-link=Farah Mendlesohn|doi=10.1017/CBO9781139087421}}
* {{Cite journal|last=Los|first=Fraser|date=2008|title=Harry Potter and the nature of death|journal=Alternatives Journal|volume=34|issue=1|pages= 32–33|jstor=45033580}}
* {{Cite book|last1=Mendlesohn|first1=Farah|author1-link=Farah Mendlesohn|last2=James|first2=Edward|author2-link=Edward James (historian)|title=A Short History of Fantasy|publisher=Libri Publishing|year=2012|isbn=978-1-907471-66-7|oclc=857653620}}
* {{Cite book|last=Nel|first=Philip|author-link=Philip Nel |url=https://archive.org/details/jkrowlingsharryp0000nelp|url-access=registration|title=J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter Novels: A Reader's Guide|year=2001|publisher=]|isbn=0-8264-5232-9|location=New York|oclc=47050453}}
* {{cite book |last=Popple |first=Jennifer E. |chapter=Embracing the magic: Muggle Quidditch and the transformation of gender equality from fantasy to reality |editor-last=Brenner |editor-first=Lisa S. |title=Playing Harry Potter: Essays and Interviews on Fandom and Performance |year=2015 |publisher=] |isbn=978-1-4766-2136-4}}
* {{Cite journal|last1=Pugh|first1=Tison|last2=Wallace|first2=David L.|title=Heteronormative heroism and queering the school story in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series|journal=]|volume=31|issue=3|date=Fall 2006|pages=260–281|doi=10.1353/chq.2006.0053|s2cid=143508785 }}
* {{Cite book|last=Smith|first=Sean|url=https://archive.org/details/jkrowlingbiograp0000smit_j1n9|url-access=registration|title=J.K. Rowling: A Biography|year=2002|publisher=]|isbn=0-09-944542-5|oclc=51303518}}
* {{Cite book|last=Stableford|first=Brian M.|author-link=Brian Stableford|title=The A to Z of Fantasy Literature|publisher=]|year=2009|isbn=978-0-8108-6345-3|oclc=1200815959}}
* {{Cite book|last=Striphas|first=Theodore G.|title=The Late Age of Print: Everyday Book Culture from Consumerism to Control|title-link=The Late Age of Print|publisher=]|year=2009|isbn=978-0-231-14814-6|location=New York|pages=]|chapter=Harry Potter and the Culture of the Copy|oclc=256532755|author-link=Ted Striphas}}
* {{Cite journal|last=Stojilkov|first=Andrea|date=2015|title=Life(and)death in 'Harry Potter': the immortality of love and soul|journal=Mosaic: An Interdisciplinary Critical Journal|volume=48|issue=2|pages=133–148|issn=0027-1276|jstor=44030425}}


<!-- Book chapters from The Ivory Tower and Harry Potter -->
In December 2005, Rowling declared on her web site that "2006 will be the year when I write the final book in the Harry Potter series." Updates have since followed in her online diary chronicling the progress of '']'', though proclamation of completion and release date have not accompanied them. Many fans speculate that the book will be published in ], with a particular fixation on the numerologically-significant ], ],<ref>{{cite news
* {{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/ivorytowerharryp00unse |title=The Ivory Tower and Harry Potter: Perspectives on a Literary Phenomenon |publisher=] |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-8262-6330-8 |editor-last1=Whited |editor-first1=Lana A. |location=Columbia, Missouri |oclc=56424948 |url-access=registration |ref=none}}
|url=http://money.cnn.com/2006/07/07/news/companies/potter_scholastic/index.htm
** {{Cite encyclopedia |first1=Terri |last1=Doughty |title=Locating Harry Potter in the 'Boys' Book' market |url=https://archive.org/details/ivorytowerharryp00unse |encyclopedia=The Ivory Tower and Harry Potter: Perspectives on a Literary Phenomenon |publisher=] |year=2002 |isbn=9780826214430 |editor-last1=Whited |editor-first1=Lana A. |url-access=registration}}
|publisher=CNN
** {{Cite encyclopedia |first=Farah |last=Mendlesohn |author-link=Farah Mendlesohn |title=Crowning the king: Harry Potter and the construction of authority |url=https://archive.org/details/ivorytowerharryp00unse |encyclopedia=The Ivory Tower and Harry Potter: Perspectives on a Literary Phenomenon |publisher=] |year=2002 |isbn=9780826214430 |editor-last1=Whited |editor-first1=Lana A. |url-access=registration}}
|title=The final Potter: Just a year away?
** {{Cite encyclopedia |first=Roni |last=Natov |title=Harry Potter and the extraordinariness of the ordinary |url=https://archive.org/details/ivorytowerharryp00unse |encyclopedia=The Ivory Tower and Harry Potter: Perspectives on a Literary Phenomenon |publisher=] |year=2002 |isbn=9780826214430 |editor-last1=Whited |editor-first1=Lana A. |url-access=registration}}
|date=July 7, 2006
* {{Cite book |chapter=A survey of the critical reception of the Harry Potter series |last=Whited |first=Lana A. |title=Critical Insights: The Harry Potter Series |editor1-last=Grimes |editor1-first=M. Katherine |editor2-last=Whited |editor2-first=Lana A. |date=2015 |publisher=] |isbn=978-1-61925-520-3 |id={{EBSCOhost|108515151|dbcode=lkh}}}}
}}</ref> but as of ], ] there had been no confirmation of a release date from either Rowling or her publishers.
{{refend}}


== Further reading ==
Rowling herself has stated that the last chapter of the seventh book was completed some time ago, before writing the third book. According to her, the last word in the book is "scar".<ref name="Talking With JK Rowling">{{cite news|url=http://www.quick-quote-quill.org/articles/1999/0799-booklinks-omalley.html|publisher=Book Links|title="Talking With JK Rowling"|date=July 1999}}</ref>
* {{Cite book |last=Agarwal |first=Nikita |author2=Chitra Agarwal |year=2005 |title=Friends and Foes of Harry Potter: Names Decoded |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JGQBcu5O_ZcC&q=Harry%20Potter&pg=PP1 |publisher=Outskirts Press |isbn=978-1-59800-221-8 }}
* {{Cite web |last=Allardice |first=Lisa |date=18 June 2022 |title='There was practically a riot at King's Cross': an oral history of Harry Potter at 25 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/jun/18/riot-kings-cross-oral-history-harry-potter-philosophers-stone-25-publishers |access-date=26 August 2024 |website=The Guardian}}
* {{Cite book |last=Burkart |first=Gina |year=2005 |title=A parent's guide to Harry Potter |url=https://archive.org/details/parentsguidetoha00burk |url-access=registration |quote=Harry Potter. |publisher=InterVarsity Press |isbn=978-0-8308-3288-0 }}
* {{Cite book |last=Duriez |first=Colin |year=2007 |title=Field Guide to Harry Potter |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WZwZWP5Sl3AC&q=Harry%20Potter&pg=PP1 |publisher=IVP Books |isbn=978-0-8308-3430-3 }}
* {{Cite book |last=Mulholland |first=Neil |year=2007 |title=The Psychology of Harry Potter: An Unauthorized Examination of the Boy Who Lived |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BoX-6R21MgQC&q=Harry%20Potter&pg=PP1 |publisher=BenBella Books |isbn=978-1-932100-88-4 }}
* {{Cite book |last=Silvester |first=William |year=2010 |title=Harry Potter Collector's Handbook |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hnRQmAEACAAJ |publisher=Krause |isbn=978-1-4402-0897-3 }}


== External links ==
In June 2006, Rowling, on an appearance on the British talk show '']'', announced that the chapter had been modified as one character "got a reprieve" and two others who previously survived the story had in fact been killed. She also said she could see the logic in killing off Harry in order to stop other writers from writing books about Harry's life after Hogwarts.<ref>{{cite web|publisher=Mugglenet.com| url=http://mugglenet.com/mnnews/06262006/transcriptrandjudy.shtml| title=JKR On Richard & Judy – Transcript| accessdate=2006-06-29}}</ref>
{{Spoken Misplaced Pages|Misplaced Pages - Harry Potter (spoken by AI voice).mp3|date=28 October 2024}}
{{Sister project links|wikt=Appendix:Harry Potter |commons=yes |commonscat=yes |n= |q=Harry Potter (series) |b=Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter |d=Q8337|voy=Harry Potter tourism}}
*
* —Official website (Warner Bros.)
* at Bloomsbury.com (International publisher)
* at Scholastic.com (US publisher)
* at Raincoast.com (Canadian publisher)
* {{Guardian topic}}
* {{NYTtopic|complete_coverage/harry_potter|Harry Potter}}
*


{{Harry Potter|state=uncollapsed}}
Regarding the existence of ''Harry Potter'' novels beyond the seventh, Rowling has said that she might write an eighth book some day, but it will not continue the life of Harry and his friends. If she does, she intends it to be a sort of encyclopedia of the ], containing concepts and snippets of information that were not relevant enough to the novels' plots to be included in them.<ref name="TLC/ MN Interview">{{
{{J. K. Rowling}}

{{BILBY Younger Readers Award}}
cite news
{{BILBY Older Readers Award}}
|url=http://www.quick-quote-quill.org/articles/2005/0705-tlc_mugglenet-anelli-1.htm
{{Portal bar|Children's literature|Speculative fiction|Literature|1990s|2000s}}
|publisher=Quick Quotes Quill
{{Authority control}}
|title="The Leaky Cauldron and MuggleNet interview Joanne Kathleen Rowling: Part One"
|date=July 16, 2005

}}</ref> She has also said that she will not write any sort of ] to the novels, since by the time the series ends all the necessary back story will have been revealed.<ref name="Edinburgh Book Festival">{{cite news
|url=http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/en/news_view.cfm?id=80
|publisher=JK Rowling.com
|title=Edinburgh Book Festival
|date=August 15, 2004 }}</ref>

{{endspoiler}}

Another question for the future is whether Emma Watson who plays "Hermione Granger" will appear in the next film in the series. She said, "I love to perform, but there are so many things I love doing."<ref name="Harry Potter and the Wavering Costar">{{cite news
|url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14966267/site/newsweek/
|publisher=Newsweek
|title="Harry Potter and the Wavering Costar"
|date=October 2, 2006}}</ref>

==Harry Potter series==

#'']'' (] ]) (titled ''Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone'' in the ])
#'']'' (] ])
#'']'' (] ])
#'']'' (] ])
#'']'' (] ])
#'']'' (], ])
#'']'' (release date not announced)

]]]

====Supplementary books====
*'']'' (2001)
*'']'' (2001)

==See also==
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== References ==
<!-- How to add a footnote: NOTE: There is a new reference system on Misplaced Pages, which should be easier to use. For details, please see "Misplaced Pages:Footnotes" and http://meta.wikimedia.org/Cite.php-->
<div class="references-small" style="-moz-column-count:2; column-count:2;">
<references/>
</div>

==External links==
<!-- Please add fan websites to the list on the ] article and not here -->
{{portal}}
{{wikiquote}}
{{commons|Harry Potter}}

===Official sites===
*
*
*
*
*

===Other resources===
*]
* - A wiki about the ''Harry Potter Universe''

{{Harrypotter}}


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Latest revision as of 04:05, 5 December 2024

Series of fantasy novels by J. K. Rowling This article is about the novel series. For the character, see Harry Potter (character). For the film series, see Harry Potter (film series). For the franchise, see Wizarding World. For the universe, see Fictional universe of Harry Potter. For other uses, see Harry Potter (disambiguation).

Harry Potter


AuthorJ. K. Rowling
Cover artistThomas Taylor, Cliff Wright, Giles Greenfield, Jason Cockcroft
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
GenreFantasy
PublisherBloomsbury
Published26 June 1997 – 21 July 2007
Media type
No. of books7
Websitewww.harrypotter.com

Harry Potter is a series of seven fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young wizard, Harry Potter, and his friends, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, all of whom are students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The main story arc concerns Harry's conflict with Lord Voldemort, a dark wizard who intends to become immortal, overthrow the wizard governing body known as the Ministry of Magic, and subjugate all wizards and Muggles (non-magical people).

The series was originally published in English by Bloomsbury in the United Kingdom and Scholastic Press in the United States. A series of many genres, including fantasy, drama, coming-of-age fiction, and the British school story (which includes elements of mystery, thriller, adventure, horror, and romance), the world of Harry Potter explores numerous themes and includes many cultural meanings and references. Major themes in the series include prejudice, corruption, madness, love, and death.

Since the release of the first novel, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, on 26 June 1997, the books have found immense popularity and commercial success worldwide. They have attracted a wide adult audience as well as younger readers and are widely considered cornerstones of modern literature, though the books have received mixed reviews from critics and literary scholars. As of February 2023, the books have sold more than 600 million copies worldwide, making them the best-selling book series in history, available in dozens of languages. The last four books all set records as the fastest-selling books in history, with the final instalment selling roughly 2.7 million copies in the United Kingdom and 8.3 million copies in the United States within twenty-four hours of its release.

Warner Bros. Pictures adapted the original seven books into an eight-part namesake film series. In 2016, the total value of the Harry Potter franchise was estimated at $25 billion, making it one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all time. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is a play based on a story co-written by Rowling. A television series based on books is in production at HBO.

The success of the books and films has allowed the Harry Potter franchise to expand with numerous derivative works, a travelling exhibition that premiered in Chicago in 2009, a studio tour in London that opened in 2012, a digital platform on which J. K. Rowling updates the series with new information and insight, and a trilogy of spin-off films premiering in November 2016 with Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, among many other developments. Themed attractions, collectively known as The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, have been built at several Universal Destinations & Experiences amusement parks around the world.

Plot

Further information: Fictional universe of Harry Potter

Early years

"The Elephant House", a small, painted red café where Rowling wrote a few chapters of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
The Elephant House was one of the cafés in Edinburgh where Rowling wrote the first part of Harry Potter.

The series follows the life of a boy named Harry Potter. In the first book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in the US), Harry lives in a cupboard under the stairs in the house of the Dursleys, his aunt, uncle and cousin, who all treat him poorly. At the age of 11, Harry discovers that he is a wizard. He meets a half-giant named Hagrid who gives him a letter of acceptance to attend the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Harry learns that his parents, Lily and James Potter, also had magical powers and were murdered by the dark wizard Lord Voldemort when Harry was a baby. When Voldemort attempted to kill Harry, his curse rebounded, seemingly killing Voldemort, and Harry survived with a lightning-shaped scar on his forehead. The event made Harry famous among the community of wizards and witches.

Harry becomes a student at Hogwarts and is sorted into Gryffindor House. He gains the friendship of Ron Weasley, a member of a large but poor wizarding family, and Hermione Granger, a witch of non-magical, or Muggle, parentage. The trio develop an enmity with the rich pure-blood student Draco Malfoy. Harry encounters the school's headmaster, Albus Dumbledore; the potions professor, Severus Snape, who displays a dislike for him; and the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Quirinus Quirrell. Quirrell turns out to be allied with Voldemort, who is still alive as a weak spirit. The first book concludes with Harry's confrontation with Voldemort, who, in his quest to regain a body, yearns to possess the Philosopher's Stone, a substance that bestows everlasting life.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets describes Harry's second year at Hogwarts. Students are attacked and petrified by an unknown creature; wizards of Muggle parentage are the primary targets. The attacks appear related to the mythical Chamber of Secrets and resemble attacks fifty years earlier. Harry discovers an ability to speak the snake language Parseltongue, which he learns is rare and associated with the Dark Arts. When Hermione is attacked and Ron's younger sister, Ginny Weasley, abducted, Harry and Ron uncover the chamber's secrets and enter it. Harry discovers that Ginny was possessed by an old diary, inside which the memory of Tom Marvolo Riddle, Voldemort's younger self, resides. On Voldemort's behalf, Ginny opened the chamber and unleashed the basilisk, an ancient monster that kills or petrifies those who make direct or indirect eye contact, respectively. With the help of Dumbledore's phoenix, Fawkes, and the Sword of Gryffindor, Harry slays the basilisk and destroys the diary.

In the third novel, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry learns that he is targeted by Sirius Black, an escaped convict who allegedly assisted in his parents' murder. Dementors, creatures that feed on happiness, search for Sirius and guard the school. As Harry struggles with his reaction to the dementors, he reaches out to Remus Lupin, a new professor who teaches him the Patronus charm. On a windy night, Ron is dragged by a black dog into the Shrieking Shack, a haunted house, and Harry and Hermione follow. The dog is revealed to be Sirius Black. Lupin enters the shack and explains that Sirius was James Potter's best friend; he was framed by another friend of James, Peter Pettigrew, who hides as Ron's pet rat, Scabbers. As the full moon rises, Lupin transforms into a werewolf and bounds away, and the group chase after him. They are surrounded by dementors, but are saved by a figure resembling James who casts a stag Patronus. This is later revealed to be a future version of Harry, who traveled back in time with Hermione using a device called a Time Turner. The duo help Sirius escape on a Hippogriff, while Pettigrew escapes.

Voldemort returns

The former 1st floor Nicholson's Cafe now renamed Spoon in Edinburgh where J. K. Rowling wrote the first few chapters of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

In Harry's fourth year of school (detailed in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire), Hogwarts hosts the Triwizard Tournament, a contest between Hogwarts and the schools Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. Harry is unwillingly entered into the contest, becoming Hogwarts' second participant after Cedric Diggory, an unusual occurrence that causes his friends to distance themselves from him. Harry claims the Triwizard Cup with Cedric, but he is teleported to a graveyard where Pettigrew kills Cedric, then resurrects Voldemort using Harry's blood. Voldemort convenes his supporters, the Death Eaters, and Harry manages to escape after a duel with Voldemort. Upon returning to Hogwarts, it is revealed that a Death Eater, Barty Crouch, Jr, in disguise as the new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody, engineered Harry's entry into the tournament, secretly helped him, and had him teleported to Voldemort.

In the fifth book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the Ministry of Magic refuses to believe that Voldemort has returned. Dumbledore re-activates the Order of the Phoenix, a secret society to counter Voldemort; meanwhile, the Ministry tightens control of Hogwarts by appointing Dolores Umbridge as High Inquisitor of Hogwarts, and she gradually increases her powers. When Umbridge bans practical teaching of Defence Against the Dark Arts, Harry, Ron and Hermione form "Dumbledore's Army", a secret group to continue the teachings. Harry has recurring dreams of a dark corridor in the Ministry of Magic, eventually dreaming that Sirius is being tortured there. He races to the Ministry with his friends, but it is a trap, planted in his head by Voldemort. The group are attacked by Death Eaters and saved by the Order of the Phoenix, but Sirius is killed in the battle. A duel between Dumbledore and Voldemort convinces the ministry of Voldemort's return. A prophecy concerning Harry and Voldemort is revealed: one must die at the hands of the other.

In the sixth book, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Snape teaches Defence Against the Dark Arts while Horace Slughorn becomes the Potions master. Harry finds an old textbook with annotations by the Half-Blood Prince, due to which he achieves success in Potions class. Harry also takes lessons with Dumbledore, viewing memories about the early life of Voldemort in a device called a Pensieve. Harry learns from a drunken Slughorn that he used to teach Tom Riddle, and that Voldemort divided his soul into pieces, creating a series of Horcruxes. Harry and Dumbledore travel to a distant lake to destroy a Horcrux; they succeed, but Dumbledore weakens. On their return, they find Draco Malfoy and Death Eaters attacking the school. The book ends with the killing of Dumbledore by Professor Snape, the titular Half-Blood Prince.

In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the seventh and final novel in the series, Lord Voldemort gains control of the Ministry of Magic. Harry, Ron and Hermione learn about the Deathly Hallows, legendary items that lead to mastery over death. The group infiltrates the ministry, where they steal a locket Horcrux, and visit Godric's Hollow, where they are attacked by Nagini, Voldemort's snake. A silver doe Patronus leads them to the Sword of Gryffindor, with which they destroy the locket. They steal a Horcrux from Gringotts and travel to Hogwarts, culminating in a battle with the Death Eaters. Snape is killed by Voldemort out of paranoia, but he lends Harry his memories before he dies. Harry learns that Snape was always loyal to Dumbledore, and that Harry is himself a Horcrux. Harry surrenders to Voldemort and is killed. The defenders of Hogwarts continue to fight on; Harry is resurrected, faces Voldemort and kills him.

An epilogue titled "Nineteen Years Later" describes the lives of the surviving characters and the impact of Voldemort's death. Harry and Ginny are married with three children, and Ron and Hermione are married with two children.

Style and allusions

Genre and style

The novels fall into the genre of fantasy literature, and qualify as a type of fantasy called "urban fantasy", "contemporary fantasy", or "low fantasy". They are mainly dramas, and maintain a fairly serious and dark tone throughout, though they do contain some notable instances of tragicomedy and black humour. In many respects, they are also examples of the bildungsroman, or coming of age novel, and contain elements of mystery, adventure, horror, thriller, and romance. The books are also, in the words of Stephen King, "shrewd mystery tales", and each book is constructed in the manner of a Sherlock Holmes-style mystery adventure. The stories are told from a third person limited point of view with very few exceptions (such as the opening chapters of Philosopher's Stone, Goblet of Fire and Deathly Hallows and the first two chapters of Half-Blood Prince).

The series can be considered part of the British children's boarding school genre, which includes Rudyard Kipling's Stalky & Co., Enid Blyton's Malory Towers, St. Clare's and the Naughtiest Girl series, and Frank Richards's Billy Bunter novels: the Harry Potter books are predominantly set in Hogwarts, a fictional British boarding school for wizards, where the curriculum includes the use of magic. In this sense they are "in a direct line of descent from Thomas Hughes's Tom Brown's School Days and other Victorian and Edwardian novels of British public school life", though they are, as many note, more contemporary, grittier, darker, and more mature than the typical boarding school novel, addressing serious themes of death, love, loss, prejudice, coming-of-age, and the loss of innocence in a 1990s British setting.

In Harry Potter, Rowling juxtaposes the extraordinary against the ordinary. Her narrative features two worlds: a contemporary world inhabited by non-magical people called Muggles, and another featuring wizards. It differs from typical portal fantasy in that its magical elements stay grounded in the mundane. Paintings move and talk; books bite readers; letters shout messages; and maps show live journeys, making the wizarding world both exotic and familiar. This blend of realistic and romantic elements extends to Rowling's characters. Their names are often onomatopoeic: Malfoy is difficult, Filch is unpleasant, and Lupin is a werewolf. Harry is ordinary and relatable, with down-to-earth features such as wearing broken glasses; the scholar Roni Natov terms him an "everychild". These elements serve to highlight Harry when he is heroic, making him both an everyman and a fairytale hero.

Each of the seven books is set over the course of one school year. Harry struggles with the problems he encounters, and dealing with them often involves the need to violate some school rules. If students are caught breaking rules, they are often disciplined by Hogwarts professors. The stories reach their climax in the summer term, near or just after final exams, when events escalate far beyond in-school squabbles and struggles, and Harry must confront either Voldemort or one of his followers, the Death Eaters, with the stakes a matter of life and death—a point underlined, as the series progresses, by characters being killed in each of the final four books. In the aftermath, he learns important lessons through exposition and discussions with head teacher and mentor Albus Dumbledore. The only exception to this school-centred setting is the final novel, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, in which Harry and his friends spend most of their time away from Hogwarts, and only return there to face Voldemort at the dénouement.

Allusions

The Harry Potter stories feature imagery and motifs drawn from Arthurian myth and fairytales. Harry's ability to draw the Sword of Gryffindor from the Sorting Hat resembles the Arthurian sword in the stone legend. His life with the Dursleys has been compared to Cinderella. Hogwarts resembles a medieval university-cum-castle with several professors who belong to an Order of Merlin; Old Professor Binns still lectures about the International Warlock Convention of 1289; and a real historical person, a 14th-century scribe, Sir Nicolas Flamel, is described as a holder of the Philosopher's Stone. Other medieval elements in Hogwarts include coats-of-arms and medieval weapons on the walls, letters written on parchment and sealed with wax, the Great Hall of Hogwarts, which is similar to the Great Hall of Camelot, the use of Latin phrases, the tents put up for Quidditch tournaments, which are similar to the "marvellous tents" put up for knightly tournaments, imaginary animals like dragons and unicorns that exist around Hogwarts, and the banners with heraldic animals for the four Houses of Hogwarts.

Many of the motifs of the Potter stories, such as the hero's quest invoking objects that confer invisibility, magical animals and trees, a forest full of danger and the recognition of a character based upon scars, are drawn from medieval French Arthurian romances. Other aspects borrowed from French Arthurian romances include the use of owls as messengers, werewolves as characters, and white deer. The American scholars Heather Arden and Kathrn Lorenz in particular argue that many aspects of the Potter stories are inspired by a 14th-century French Arthurian romance, Claris et Laris, writing of the "startling" similarities between the adventures of Potter and the knight Claris. Arden and Lorenz noted that Rowling graduated from the University of Exeter in 1986 with a degree in French literature and spent a year living in France afterwards.

Like C. S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia, Harry Potter also contains Christian symbolism and allegory. The series has been viewed as a Christian moral fable in the psychomachia tradition, in which stand-ins for good and evil fight for supremacy over a person's soul. Children's literature critic Joy Farmer sees parallels between Harry and Jesus Christ. Comparing Rowling with Lewis, she argues that "magic is both authors' way of talking about spiritual reality". According to Maria Nikolajeva, Christian imagery is particularly strong in the final scenes of the series: Harry dies in self-sacrifice and Voldemort delivers an "ecce homo" speech, after which Harry is resurrected and defeats his enemy.

Rowling stated that she did not reveal Harry Potter's religious parallels in the beginning because doing so would have "give too much away to fans who might then see the parallels". In the final book of the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Rowling makes the book's Christian imagery more explicit, quoting both Matthew 6:21 and 1 Corinthians 15:26 (King James Version) when Harry visits his parents' graves. Hermione Granger teaches Harry Potter that the meaning of these verses from the Christian Bible are "living beyond death. Living after death", which Rowling states "epitomize the whole series". Rowling also exhibits Christian values in developing Albus Dumbledore as a God-like character, the divine, trusted leader of the series, guiding the long-suffering hero along his quest. In the seventh novel, Harry speaks with and questions the deceased Dumbledore much like a person of faith would talk to and question God.

Themes

J.K. Rowling, a blond, blue-eyed woman, who is the author of the series
The novelist, J. K. Rowling

Harry Potter's overarching theme is death. In the first book, when Harry looks into the Mirror of Erised, he feels both joy and "a terrible sadness" at seeing his desire: his parents, alive and with him. Confronting their loss is central to Harry's character arc and manifests in different ways through the series, such as in his struggles with Dementors. Other characters in Harry's life die; he even faces his own death in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The series has an existential perspective—Harry must grow mature enough to accept death. In Harry's world, death is not binary but mutable, a state that exists in degrees. Unlike Voldemort, who evades death by separating and hiding his soul in seven parts, Harry's soul is whole, nourished by friendship and love.

Love distinguishes Harry and Voldemort. Harry is a hero because he loves others, even willing to accept death to save them; Voldemort is a villain because he does not. Harry carries the protection of his mother's sacrifice in his blood; Voldemort, who wants Harry's blood and the protection it carries, does not understand that love vanquishes death.

Rowling has spoken about thematising death and loss in the series. Soon after she started writing Philosopher's Stone, her mother died; she said that "I really think from that moment on, death became a central, if not the central theme of the seven books". Rowling has described Harry as "the prism through which I view death", and further stated that "all of my characters are defined by their attitude to death and the possibility of death".

While Harry Potter can be viewed as a story about good vs. evil, its moral divisions are not absolute. First impressions of characters are often misleading. Harry assumes in the first book that Quirrell is on the side of good because he opposes Snape, who appears to be malicious; in reality, Quirrell is an agent of Voldemort, while Snape is loyal to Dumbledore. This pattern later recurs with Moody and Snape. In Rowling's world, good and evil are choices rather than inherent attributes: second chances and the possibility of redemption are key themes of the series. This is reflected in Harry's self-doubts after learning his connections to Voldemort, such as Parseltongue; and prominently in Snape's characterisation, which has been described as complex and multifaceted. In some scholars' view, while Rowling's narrative appears on the surface to be about Harry, her focus may actually be on Snape's morality and character arc.

Rowling said that, to her, the moral significance of the tales seems "blindingly obvious". In the fourth book, Dumbledore speaks of a "choice between what is right and what is easy"; Rowling views this as a key theme, "because that ... is how tyranny is started, with people being apathetic and taking the easy route and suddenly finding themselves in deep trouble".

Academics and journalists have developed many other interpretations of themes in the books, some more complex than others, and some including political subtexts. Themes such as normality, oppression, survival, and overcoming imposing odds have all been considered as prevalent throughout the series. Similarly, the theme of making one's way through adolescence and "going over one's most harrowing ordeals—and thus coming to terms with them" has also been considered. Rowling has stated that the books comprise "a prolonged argument for tolerance, a prolonged plea for an end to bigotry" and that they also pass on a message to "question authority and... not assume that the establishment or the press tells you all of the truth".

Development history

Main article: Harry Potter influences and analogues

In 1990, Rowling was on a crowded train from Manchester to London when the idea for Harry suddenly "fell into" her head. Rowling gives an account of the experience on her website saying:

I had been writing almost continuously since the age of six but I had never been so excited about an idea before. I simply sat and thought, for four (delayed train) hours, and all the details bubbled up in my brain, and this scrawny, black-haired, bespectacled boy who did not know he was a wizard became more and more real to me.

Rowling completed Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in 1995 and the manuscript was sent off to several prospective agents. The second agent she tried, Christopher Little, offered to represent her and sent the manuscript to several publishers.

Publishing history

The logo used in British, Australian, and Canadian editions before 2010, which uses the typeface Cochin Bold

After twelve other publishers had rejected Philosopher's Stone, Bloomsbury agreed to publish the book. Despite Rowling's statement that she did not have any particular age group in mind when beginning to write the Harry Potter books, the publishers initially targeted children aged nine to eleven. On the eve of publishing, Rowling was asked by her publishers to adopt a more gender-neutral pen name in order to appeal to the male members of this age group, fearing that they would not be interested in reading a novel they knew to be written by a woman. She elected to use J. K. Rowling (Joanne Kathleen Rowling), using her grandmother's name as her second name because she has no middle name.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was published by Bloomsbury, the publisher of all Harry Potter books in the United Kingdom, on 26 June 1997. It was released in the United States on 1 September 1998 by Scholastic—the American publisher of the books—as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, after the American rights sold for US$105,000—a record amount for a children's book by an unknown author. Scholastic feared that American readers would not associate the word "philosopher" with magic, and Rowling suggested the title Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone for the American market. Rowling has later said that she regrets the change.

The second book, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, was originally published in the UK on 2 July 1998 and in the US on 2 June 1999. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was published a year later in the UK on 8 July 1999 and in the US on 8 September 1999. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was published on 8 July 2000 at the same time by Bloomsbury and Scholastic. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is the longest book in the series, at 766 pages in the UK version and 870 pages in the US version. It was published worldwide in English on 21 June 2003. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was published on 16 July 2005. The seventh and final novel, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, was published on 21 July 2007. Rowling herself has stated that the last chapter of the final book (in fact, the epilogue) was completed "in something like 1990".

Rowling retained rights to digital editions and released them on the Pottermore website in 2012. Vendors such as Amazon displayed the ebooks in the form of links to Pottermore, which controlled pricing. All seven Harry Potter novels have been released in unabridged audiobook versions, with Stephen Fry reading the British editions and Jim Dale voicing the series for the American editions. On Audible, the series has been listened, as of November 2022, for over a billion hours.

Translations

Main article: Harry Potter in translation
The Russian translation of The Deathly Hallows goes on sale in Moscow, 2007

The series has been translated into more than 80 languages, placing Rowling among the most translated authors in history. The books have seen translations to diverse languages such as Korean, Armenian, Ukrainian, Arabic, Urdu, Hindi, Bengali, Bulgarian, Welsh, Afrikaans, Albanian, Latvian, Vietnamese and Hawaiian. The first volume has been translated into Latin and even Ancient Greek, making it the longest published work in Ancient Greek since the novels of Heliodorus of Emesa in the 3rd century AD. The second volume has also been translated into Latin.

Some of the translators hired to work on the books were well-known authors before their work on Harry Potter, such as Viktor Golyshev, who oversaw the Russian translation of the series' fifth book. The Turkish translation of books two to seven was undertaken by Sevin Okyay, a popular literary critic and cultural commentator. For reasons of secrecy, translation on a given book could only start after it had been released in English, leading to a lag of several months before the translations were available. This led to more and more copies of the English editions being sold to impatient fans in non-English speaking countries; for example, such was the clamour to read Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix that its English language edition became the first English-language book ever to top the best-seller list in France.

The United States editions were adapted into American English to make them more understandable to a young American audience.

Cover art

For cover art, Bloomsbury chose painted art in a classic style of design, with the first cover a watercolour and pencil drawing by illustrator Thomas Taylor showing Harry boarding the Hogwarts Express, and a title in the font Cochin Bold. The first releases of the successive books in the series followed in the same style but somewhat more realistic, illustrating scenes from the books. These covers were created by first Cliff Wright and then Jason Cockroft.

Due to the appeal of the books among an adult audience, Bloomsbury commissioned a second line of editions in an 'adult' style. These initially used black-and-white photographic art for the covers showing objects from the books (including a very American Hogwarts Express) without depicting people, but later shifted to partial colourisation with a picture of Slytherin's locket on the cover of the final book.

International and later editions have been created by a range of designers, including Mary GrandPré for US audiences and Mika Launis in Finland. For a later American release, Kazu Kibuishi created covers in a somewhat anime-influenced style.

Reception

Commercial success

See also: List of best-selling books
A large crowd of fans wait outside of a Borders store in Delaware, waiting for the release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Crowd outside a book store for the midnight release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

The popularity of the Harry Potter series has translated into substantial financial success for Rowling, her publishers, and other Harry Potter related license holders. This success has made Rowling the first and thus far only billionaire author. The books have sold more than 600 million copies worldwide and have also given rise to the popular film adaptations produced by Warner Bros. Pictures, all of which have been highly successful in their own right. The total revenue from the book sales is estimated, as of November 2018, to be around $7.7 billion. The first novel in the series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, has sold in excess of 120 million copies, making it one of the bestselling books in history. The films have in turn spawned eight video games and have led to the licensing of more than 400 additional Harry Potter products. The Harry Potter brand has been estimated to be worth as much as $25 billion.

The great demand for Harry Potter novels motivated The New York Times to create a separate best-seller list for children's literature in 2000, just before the release of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. By 24 June 2000, Rowling's novels had been on the list for 79 straight weeks; the first three novels were each on the hardcover best-seller list. On 12 April 2007, Barnes & Noble declared that Deathly Hallows had broken its pre-order record, with more than 500,000 copies pre-ordered through its site. For the release of Goblet of Fire, 9,000 FedEx trucks were used with no other purpose than to deliver the book. Together, Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble pre-sold more than 700,000 copies of the book. In the United States, the book's initial printing run was 3.8 million copies. This record statistic was broken by Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, with 8.5 million, which was then shattered by Half-Blood Prince with 10.8 million copies. Within the first 24 hours of its release, 6.9 million copies of Prince were sold in the US; in the UK more than two million copies were sold on the first day. The initial US print run for Deathly Hallows was 12 million copies, and more than a million were pre-ordered through Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Fans of the series were so eager for the latest instalment that bookstores around the world began holding events to coincide with the midnight release of the books, beginning with the 2000 publication of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. The events, commonly featuring mock sorting, games, face painting, and other live entertainment have achieved popularity with Potter fans and have been highly successful in attracting fans and selling books with nearly nine million of the 10.8 million initial print copies of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince sold in the first 24 hours. The final book in the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows became the fastest selling book in history, moving 11 million units in the first twenty-four hours of release. The book sold 2.7 million copies in the UK and 8.3 million in the US. The series has also gathered adult fans, leading to the release of two editions of each Harry Potter book, identical in text but with one edition's cover artwork aimed at children and the other aimed at adults.

Book Sales
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone 120 million
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets 77 million
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban 65 million
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire 65 million
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix 65 million
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince 65 million
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 65 million

Literary criticism

Early in its history, Harry Potter received positive reviews. On publication, the first book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, attracted attention from the Scottish newspapers, such as The Scotsman, which said it had "all the makings of a classic", and The Glasgow Herald, which called it "Magic stuff". Soon the English newspapers joined in, with The Sunday Times comparing it to Roald Dahl's work ("comparisons to Dahl are, this time, justified"), while The Guardian called it "a richly textured novel given lift-off by an inventive wit".

By the time of the release of the fifth book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the books began to receive strong criticism from a number of literary scholars. Yale professor, literary scholar, and critic Harold Bloom raised criticisms of the books' literary merits, saying, "Rowling's mind is so governed by clichés and dead metaphors that she has no other style of writing." A. S. Byatt authored an op-ed article in The New York Times calling Rowling's universe a "secondary secondary world, made up of intelligently patchworked derivative motifs from all sorts of children's literature ... written for people whose imaginative lives are confined to TV cartoons, and the exaggerated (more exciting, not threatening) mirror-worlds of soaps, reality TV and celebrity gossip."

Michael Rosen, a novelist and poet, held the opinion that the books were not suited for children, as they would be unable to grasp the complex themes. Rosen also stated that "J. K. Rowling is more of an adult writer." The critic Anthony Holden wrote in The Observer on his experience of judging Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban for the 1999 Whitbread Awards. His overall view of the series was negative—"the Potter saga was essentially patronising, conservative, highly derivative, dispiritingly nostalgic for a bygone Britain", and he speaks of "a pedestrian, ungrammatical prose style". Ursula K. Le Guin said, "I have no great opinion of it it seemed a lively kid's fantasy crossed with a 'school novel,' good fare for its age group, but stylistically ordinary, imaginatively derivative, and ethically rather mean-spirited." By contrast, author Fay Weldon, while admitting that the series is "not what the poets hoped for", nevertheless goes on to say, "but this is not poetry, it is readable, saleable, everyday, useful prose".

The literary critic A. N. Wilson praised the Harry Potter series in The Times, stating, "There are not many writers who have JK's Dickensian ability to make us turn the pages, to weep—openly, with tears splashing—and a few pages later to laugh, at invariably good jokes ... We have lived through a decade in which we have followed the publication of the liveliest, funniest, scariest and most moving children's stories ever written." Charles Taylor of Salon.com, who is primarily a movie critic, took issue with Byatt's criticisms in particular. While he conceded that she may have "a valid cultural point—a teeny one—about the impulses that drive us to reassuring pop trash and away from the troubling complexities of art", he rejected her claims that the series is lacking in serious literary merit and that it owes its success merely to the childhood reassurances it offers. Stephen King called the series "a feat of which only a superior imagination is capable", and declared "Rowling's punning, one-eyebrow-cocked sense of humor" to be "remarkable". However, he wrote that he is "a little tired of discovering Harry at home with his horrible aunt and uncle", the formulaic beginning of all seven books.

Sameer Rahim of The Daily Telegraph disagreed, saying "It depresses me to see 16- and 17-year-olds reading the series when they could be reading the great novels of childhood such as Oliver Twist or A House for Mr Biswas." The Washington Post book critic Ron Charles opined in July 2007 that "through no fault of Rowling's", the cultural and marketing "hysteria" marked by the publication of the later books "trains children and adults to expect the roar of the coliseum, a mass-media experience that no other novel can possibly provide". Jenny Sawyer wrote in The Christian Science Monitor on 25 July 2007 that Harry Potter neither faces a "moral struggle" nor undergoes any ethical growth and is thus "no guide in circumstances in which right and wrong are anything less than black and white". In contrast Emily Griesinger described Harry's first passage through to Platform 9+3⁄4 as an application of faith and hope, and his encounter with the Sorting Hat as the first of many in which Harry is shaped by the choices he makes.

In an 8 November 2002, Slate article, Chris Suellentrop likened Potter to a "trust-fund kid whose success at school is largely attributable to the gifts his friends and relatives lavish upon him". In a 12 August 2007 review of Deathly Hallows in The New York Times, however, Christopher Hitchens praised Rowling for "unmooring" her "English school story" from literary precedents "bound up with dreams of wealth and class and snobbery", arguing that she had instead created "a world of youthful democracy and diversity". In 2016, an article written by Diana C. Mutz compared the politics of Harry Potter to the 2016 Donald Trump presidential campaign. She suggests that these themes are also present in the presidential election and it may play a significant role in how Americans have responded to the campaign.

There is ongoing discussion regarding the extent to which the series was inspired by Tolkien's Lord of the Rings books.

Thematic critique

The portrayal of women in Harry Potter has been described as complex and varied, but nonetheless conforming to stereotypical and patriarchal depictions of gender. Gender divides are ostensibly absent in the books: Hogwarts is coeducational and women hold positions of power in wizarding society. However, this setting obscures the typecasting of female characters and the general depiction of conventional gender roles. According to scholars Elizabeth Heilman and Trevor Donaldson, the subordination of female characters goes further early in the series. The final three books "showcase richer roles and more powerful females": for instance, the series' "most matriarchal character", Molly Weasley, engages substantially in the final battle of Deathly Hallows, while other women are shown as leaders. Hermione Granger, in particular, becomes an active and independent character essential to the protagonists' battle against evil. Yet, even particularly capable female characters such as Hermione and Minerva McGonagall are placed in supporting roles, and Hermione's status as a feminist model is debated. Girls and women are more frequently shown as emotional, more often defined by their appearance, and less often given agency in family settings.

The social hierarchy of wizards in Rowling's world has drawn debate among critics. "Purebloods" have two wizard parents; "half-bloods" have one; and "Muggle-born" wizards have magical abilities, although neither of their parents is a wizard. Lord Voldemort and his followers believe that blood purity is paramount and that Muggles are subhuman. According to the literary scholar Andrew Blake, Harry Potter rejects blood purity as a basis for social division; Suman Gupta agrees that Voldemort's philosophy represents "absolute evil"; and Nel and Eccleshare agree that advocates of racial or blood-based hierarchies are antagonists. Gupta, following Blake, suggests that the essential superiority of wizards over Muggles—wizards can use magic and Muggles cannot—means that the books cannot coherently reject anti-Muggle prejudice by appealing to equality between wizards and Muggles. Rather, according to Gupta, Harry Potter models a form of tolerance based on the "charity and altruism of those belonging to superior races" towards lesser races.

Harry Potter's's depiction of race, specifically the slavery of house-elves, has received varied responses. Scholars such as Brycchan Carey have praised the books' abolitionist sentiments, viewing Hermione's Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare as a model for younger readers' political engagement. Other critics including Farah Mendlesohn find the portrayal of house-elves "most difficult to accept": the elves are denied the right to free themselves and rely on the benevolence of others like Hermione. Pharr terms the house-elves a disharmonious element in the series, writing that Rowling leaves their fate hanging; at the end of Deathly Hallows, the elves remain enslaved and cheerful. The goblins of the world of Harry Potter have also received criticism for following antisemitic caricatures – particularly for their grotesque "hook-nosed" portrayal in the films, an appearance associated with Jewish stereotypes.

Controversies

Main articles: Legal disputes over the Harry Potter series, Religious debates over the Harry Potter series, Politics of Harry Potter, and Tanya Grotter

The books have been the subject of a number of legal proceedings, stemming from various conflicts over copyright and trademark infringements. The popularity and high market value of the series has led Rowling, her publishers, and film distributor Warner Bros. to take legal measures to protect their copyright, which have included banning the sale of Harry Potter imitations, targeting the owners of websites over the "Harry Potter" domain name, and suing author Nancy Stouffer to counter her accusations that Rowling had plagiarised her work.

Various religious fundamentalists have claimed that the books promote witchcraft and religions such as Wicca and are therefore unsuitable for children, while a number of critics have criticised the books for promoting various political agendas. The series has landed the American Library Associations' Top 10 Banned Book List in 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2019 with claims it was anti-family, discussed magic and witchcraft, contained actual spells and curses, referenced the occult/Satanism, violence, and had characters who used "nefarious means" to attain goals, as well as conflicts with religious viewpoints.

The books also aroused controversies in the literary and publishing worlds. From 1997 to 1998, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone won almost all the United Kingdom awards judged by children, but none of the children's book awards judged by adults, and Sandra Beckett suggested the reason was intellectual snobbery towards books that were popular among children. In 1999, the winner of the Whitbread Book of the Year award children's division was entered for the first time on the shortlist for the main award, and one judge threatened to resign if Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was declared the overall winner; it finished second, very close behind the winner of the poetry prize, Seamus Heaney's translation of the Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf.

In 2000, shortly before the publication of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the previous three Harry Potter books topped The New York Times fiction best-seller list and a third of the entries were children's books. The newspaper created a new children's section covering children's books, including both fiction and non-fiction, and initially counting only hardback sales. The move was supported by publishers and booksellers. In 2004, The New York Times further split the children's list, which was still dominated by Harry Potter books, into sections for series and individual books and removed the Harry Potter books from the section for individual books. The split in 2000 attracted condemnation, praise and some comments that presented both benefits and disadvantages of the move. Time suggested that, on the same principle, Billboard should have created a separate "mop-tops" list in 1964 when The Beatles held the top five places in its list, and Nielsen should have created a separate game-show list when Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? dominated the ratings.

Legacy

Influence on literature

Sculpture of Harry Potter in Leicester Square, London, 2020
Sculpture of Harry Potter in Leicester Square, London

Harry Potter transformed children's literature. In the 1970s, children's books were generally realistic as opposed to fantastic, while adult fantasy became popular because of the influence of The Lord of the Rings. The next decade saw an increasing interest in grim, realist themes, with an outflow of fantasy readers and writers to adult works.

The commercial success of Harry Potter reversed this trend. The scale of its growth had no precedent in the children's market: within four years of the series' inception, it occupied 28% of that field by revenue. Children's literature rose in cultural status, and fantasy became a dominant genre. Older works in the genre, including Diana Wynne Jones's Chrestomanci series and Diane Duane's Young Wizards, were reprinted and rose in popularity; some authors re-established their careers. In the following decades, many Harry Potter imitators and subversive responses grew popular.

Rowling has been compared to Enid Blyton, who also wrote in simple language about groups of children and long held sway over the British children's market. She has also been described as an heir to Roald Dahl. Some critics view Harry Potter's rise, along with the concurrent success of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials, as part of a broader shift in reading tastes: a rejection of literary fiction in favour of plot and adventure. This is reflected in the BBC's 2003 "Big Read" survey of the UK's favourite books, where Pullman and Rowling ranked at numbers 3 and 5, respectively, with very few British literary classics in the top 10.

Cultural impact

Further information: Harry Potter fandom
"Platform 9+3⁄4" sign on London King's Cross railway station

Harry Potter has been described as a cultural phenomenon. The word "Muggle" has spread beyond its origins in the books, entering the Oxford English Dictionary in 2003. A real-life version of the sport Quidditch was created in 2005 and featured as an exhibition tournament in the 2012 London Olympics. Characters and elements from the series have inspired scientific names of several organisms, including the dinosaur Dracorex hogwartsia, the spider Eriovixia gryffindori, the wasp Ampulex dementor, and the crab Harryplax severus.

Librarian Nancy Knapp pointed out the books' potential to improve literacy by motivating children to read much more than they otherwise would. The seven-book series has a word count of 1,083,594 (US edition). Agreeing about the motivating effects, Diane Penrod also praised the books' blending of simple entertainment with "the qualities of highbrow literary fiction", but expressed concern about the distracting effect of the prolific merchandise that accompanies the book launches. However, the assumption that Harry Potter books have increased literacy among young people is "largely a folk legend".

Research by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) has found no increase in reading among children coinciding with the Harry Potter publishing phenomenon, nor has the broader downward trend in reading among Americans been arrested during the rise in the popularity of the Harry Potter books. The research also found that children who read Harry Potter books were not more likely to go on to read outside the fantasy and mystery genres. NEA chairman Dana Gioia said the series, "got millions of kids to read a long and reasonably complex series of books. The trouble is that one Harry Potter novel every few years is not enough to reverse the decline in reading."

Many fan fiction and fan art works about Harry Potter have been made. In March 2007, "Harry Potter" was the most commonly searched fan fiction subject on the internet. Jennifer Conn used Snape's and Quidditch coach Madam Hooch's teaching methods as examples of what to avoid and what to emulate in clinical teaching, and Joyce Fields wrote that the books illustrate four of the five main topics in a typical first-year sociology class: "sociological concepts including culture, society, and socialisation; stratification and social inequality; social institutions; and social theory".

From the early 2000s onwards, several news reports appeared in the UK of the Harry Potter book and movie series driving demand for pet owls, and even reports that after the end of the movie series these same pet owls were now being abandoned by their owners. This led J. K. Rowling to issue several statements urging Harry Potter fans to refrain from purchasing pet owls. Despite the media flurry, research into the popularity of Harry Potter and sales of owls in the UK failed to find any evidence that the Harry Potter franchise had influenced the buying of owls in the country or the number of owls reaching animal shelters and sanctuaries.

Awards, honours, and recognition

Further information: List of awards and nominations received by J. K. Rowling

The Harry Potter series has been recognised by a host of awards since the initial publication of Philosopher's Stone, including a platinum award from the Whitaker Gold and Platinum Book Awards (2001), three Nestlé Smarties Book Prizes (1997–1999), two Scottish Arts Council Book Awards (1999 and 2001), the inaugural Whitbread children's book of the year award (1999), and the WHSmith book of the year (2006), among others. In 2000, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was nominated for a Hugo Award for Best Novel, and in 2001, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire won said award. Honours include a commendation for the Carnegie Medal (1997), a short listing for the Guardian Children's Award (1998), and numerous listings on the notable books, editors' choices, and best books lists of the American Library Association, The New York Times, Chicago Public Library, and Publishers Weekly.

In 2002, sociologist Andrew Blake named Harry Potter a British pop culture icon along with the likes of James Bond and Sherlock Holmes. In 2003, four of the books were named in the top 24 of the BBC's The Big Read survey of the best loved novels in the UK. A 2004 study found that books in the series were commonly read aloud in elementary schools in San Diego County, California. Based on a 2007 online poll, the US National Education Association listed the series in its "Teachers' Top 100 Books for Children". Time magazine named Rowling as a runner-up for its 2007 Person of the Year award, noting the social, moral, and political inspiration she has given her fandom. Three of the books placed among the "Top 100 Chapter Books" of all time, or children's novels, in a 2012 survey published by School Library Journal: Sorcerer's Stone ranked number three, Prisoner of Azkaban 12th, and Goblet of Fire 98th.

In 2007, the seven Harry Potter book covers were depicted on a series of UK postage stamps issued by Royal Mail. In 2012, the opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London featured a 100-foot tall rendition of Lord Voldemort in a segment designed to showcase the UK's cultural icons. In November 2019, the BBC listed the Harry Potter series on its list of the 100 most influential novels.

Adaptations

Further information: Wizarding World

Films

Main article: Harry Potter (film series)
The red locomotive train used as the "Hogwarts Express" in the film series. In the front it has the numbers "5912" inscripted on it
The locomotive that features as the "Hogwarts Express" in the film series

In 1999, Rowling sold the film rights for Harry Potter to Warner Bros. for a reported £1 million (US$2,000,000). Rowling had creative control on the film series, observing the filmmaking process of Philosopher's Stone and serving as producer on the two-part Deathly Hallows, alongside David Heyman and David Barron. Rowling demanded the principal cast be kept strictly British and Irish, nonetheless allowing for the inclusion or French and Eastern European actors where characters from the book are specified as such.

Chris Columbus was selected as the director for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (titled "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" in the United States). Philosopher's Stone was released on 14 November 2001. Just three days after the film's release, production for Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, also directed by Columbus, began and the film was released on 15 November 2002. Columbus declined to direct Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, only acting as producer. Mexican director Alfonso Cuarón took over the job, and after shooting in 2003, the film was released on 4 June 2004. Due to the fourth film beginning its production before the third's release, Mike Newell was chosen as the director for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, released on 18 November 2005. Newell became the first British director of the series, with television director David Yates following suit after he was chosen to helm Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Production began in January 2006 and the film was released the following year in July 2007. Yates was selected to direct Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which was released on 15 July 2009. The final instalment in the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was released in two cinematic parts: Part 1 on 19 November 2010 and Part 2 on 15 July 2011.

Spin-off prequels

Main article: Fantastic Beasts (film series)

A prequel series is planned to consist of five films, taking place before the main series. The first film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them was released in November 2016, followed by the second Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald in November 2018 and Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore in April 2022. Rowling wrote the screenplays for all three films, marking her foray into screenwriting.

Games

See also: Harry Potter video games

A number of non-interactive media games and board games have been released such as Cluedo Harry Potter Edition, Scene It? Harry Potter and Lego Harry Potter models, which are influenced by the themes of both the novels and films.

There are fourteen Harry Potter video games, eight corresponding with the films and books and six spin-offs. The film/book-based games are produced by Electronic Arts (EA), as was Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup, with the game version of the first entry in the series, Philosopher's Stone, being released in November 2001. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone went on to become one of the best-selling PlayStation games ever. The video games were released to coincide with the films. Objectives usually occur in and around Hogwarts. The story and design of the games follow the selected film's characterisation and plot; EA worked closely with Warner Bros. to include scenes from the films. The last game in the series, Deathly Hallows, was split, with Part 1 released in November 2010 and Part 2 debuting on consoles in July 2011.

The spin-off games Lego Harry Potter: Years 1–4 and Lego Harry Potter: Years 5–7 were developed by Traveller's Tales and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. The spin-off games Book of Spells and Book of Potions were developed by London Studio and use the Wonderbook, an augmented reality book designed to be used in conjunction with the PlayStation Move and PlayStation Eye. The Harry Potter universe is also featured in Lego Dimensions, with the settings and side characters featured in the Harry Potter Adventure World, and Harry, Voldemort, and Hermione as playable characters. In 2017, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment opened its own Harry Potter-themed game design studio, by the name of Portkey Games, before releasing Hogwarts Mystery, developed by Jam City, in 2018 and Hogwarts Legacy, developed by Avalanche Software, in 2023.

Stage production

Main article: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: Parts I and II is a play which serves as a sequel to the books, beginning nineteen years after the events of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. It was written by Jack Thorne based on an original new story by Thorne, Rowling and John Tiffany. It has run at the Palace Theatre in London's West End since previews began on 7 June 2016 with an official premiere on 30 June 2016. The first four months of tickets for the June–September performances were sold out within several hours upon release. Forthcoming productions are planned for Broadway and Melbourne.

The script was released as a book at the time of the premiere, with a revised version following the next year.

Television

On 25 January 2021, it was reported that a live-action television series has been in early development at HBO Max. Though it was noted that the series has "complicated rights issues", due to a seven-year rights deal with Warner Bros. Domestic TV Distribution that included US broadcast, cable and streaming rights to the franchise, which ends in April 2025. On 12 April 2023, the series was confirmed to be in development, and will be streamed on the new streaming service Max (formerly known as HBO Max). On 23 February 2024, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav announced that the series would debut on Max in 2026. On 25 June 2024, it was announced the series was moved from Max to HBO.

Attractions

Main articles: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter and Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter
Hogwarts Castle as depicted in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, located in Universal Orlando Resort's Island of Adventure

Universal and Warner Brothers created The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, a Harry Potter-themed expansion to the Islands of Adventure theme park at Universal Orlando Resort in Florida. It opened to the public on 18 June 2010. It includes a recreation of Hogsmeade and several rides; its flagship attraction is Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, which exists within a recreation of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

In 2014 Universal opened a Harry Potter-themed area at the Universal Studios Florida theme park. It includes a recreation of Diagon Alley. The flagship attraction is the Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts roller coaster ride. A completely functioning full-scale replica of the Hogwarts Express was created for the Diagon Alley expansion, connecting King's Cross Station at Universal Studios to the Hogsmeade station at Islands of Adventure. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter opened at the Universal Studios Hollywood theme park near Los Angeles, California in 2016, and in Universal Studios Japan theme park in Osaka, Japan in 2014. The Osaka venue includes the village of Hogsmeade, Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride, and Flight of the Hippogriff roller coaster. Other Harry Potter roller coasters are the Dragon Challenge and Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure, both at Universal Islands of Adventure.

Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter is a behind-the-scenes walking tour in London featuring authentic sets, costumes and props from the film series. The attraction is located at Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden, where all eight of the Harry Potter films were made. Warner Bros. constructed two new sound stages to house and showcase the sets from each of the British-made productions, following a £100 million investment. It opened to the public in March 2012.

Supplementary works

See also: J. K. Rowling § Philanthropy

Rowling expanded the Harry Potter universe with short books produced for charities. In 2001, she released Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (a purported Hogwarts textbook) and Quidditch Through the Ages (a book Harry reads for fun). Proceeds from the sale of these two books benefited the charity Comic Relief. In 2007, Rowling composed seven handwritten copies of The Tales of Beedle the Bard, a collection of fairy tales that is featured in the final novel, one of which was auctioned to raise money for the Children's High Level Group, a fund for mentally disabled children in poor countries. The book was published internationally on 4 December 2008. Rowling also wrote an 800-word prequel in 2008 as part of a fundraiser organised by the bookseller Waterstones. All three of these books contain extra information about the wizarding world not included in the original novels.

In 2016, she released three new e-books: Hogwarts: An Incomplete and Unreliable Guide, Short Stories from Hogwarts of Power, Politics and Pesky Poltergeists and Short Stories from Hogwarts of Heroism, Hardship and Dangerous Hobbies.

Rowling's website Pottermore was launched in 2012. Pottermore allows users to be sorted, be chosen by their wand and play various minigames. The main purpose of the website was to allow the user to journey through the story with access to content not revealed by JK Rowling previously, with over 18,000 words of additional content. The site was redesigned in 2015 as WizardingWorld and it mainly focuses on the information already available, rather than exploration.

See also

References

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Sources

  • Bell, Christopher, ed. (2012). Hermione Granger Saves the World: Essays on the Feminist Heroine of Hogwarts. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-7864-7137-9.
    • Bell, Christopher; Alexander, Julie (2012). "Introduction". In Bell, Christopher (ed.). Hermione Granger Saves the World: Essays on the Feminist Heroine of Hogwarts. McFarland & Company.
    • Berents, Helen (2012). "Hermione Granger goes to war". In Bell, Christopher (ed.). Hermione Granger Saves the World: Essays on the Feminist Heroine of Hogwarts. McFarland & Company.

Further reading

External links

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