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Harry Potter

by J. K. Rowling

The Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling has 7 known books (14 published) and is best read in publication order, starting with Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (1997). The latest book with a fully recorded publication date is Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore - The Complete Screenplay.

Books
7 known books (7 novels + 7 companions)
Published
14
First published
1997
Status
completed
Shelved under
Fantasy
Last checked

Start here: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (1997) — then read straight through in publication order.

Book one

Cover of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (1997)

Reading order

The date order of published books and any announced future entries — the default way to read the series.

  1. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

    Novel

    Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (1997, 302 pages) opens the series, following an orphaned boy who discovers on his eleventh birthday that he is a wizard and is whisked from a miserable cupboard under the stairs to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It introduces his friendship with Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, and the boarding-school mysteries -- moving staircases, house points, midnight duels -- that define the early books.

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  2. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

    Novel

    Following Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (1998, 339 pages) covers Harry's second year at Hogwarts, continuing J. K. Rowling's boarding-school-mystery formula as the series steadily grows up alongside its readers.

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  3. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

    Novel

    Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (1999, 416 pages) covers Harry's third year at Hogwarts, part of the seven-novel arc in which each book tracks one school year and builds toward the eventual confrontation with the dark wizard who murdered Harry's parents.

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  4. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

    Novel

    The fourth book in the series, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2000, 672 pages) marks the point where the story begins darkening from boarding-school mystery into war narrative, as the wizarding world's density of invention -- its own sport, government and prejudices -- keeps expanding around Harry's fourth year.

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  5. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

    Companion

    Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2001, 114 pages) is one of the in-world Hogwarts 'textbooks' J. K. Rowling wrote for charity, extending the wizarding world without being required reading for the seven main novels.

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  6. Quidditch Through the Ages

    Companion

    Quidditch Through the Ages (2001, 96 pages) is J. K. Rowling's other in-world Hogwarts 'textbook' companion, published for charity alongside Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, expanding on the broomstick sport that runs through the main series without being essential reading.

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  7. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

    Novel

    At 870 pages, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2003) is the longest novel in the series, covering Harry's fifth year at Hogwarts as the story's later, more sophisticated plotting about loyalty, propaganda and resistance to power comes fully into focus.

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  8. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

    Novel

    Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2005, 640 pages) precedes Deathly Hallows as the sixth novel, continuing the war story J. K. Rowling built the series toward -- sacrifice and the cost of standing up to Voldemort weighing more heavily with each book.

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  9. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

    Novel

    Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (2007, 703 pages) closes out the seven-novel series, bringing the final confrontation between Harry and Lord Voldemort that leaves no corner of the wizarding world untouched.

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  10. The Tales of Beedle the Bard

    Companion

    The Tales of Beedle the Bard (2008, 127 pages) is a fairy-tale companion volume that collects the stories referenced in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows -- tales that matter directly to the plot of the seventh novel, though the companion itself is optional reading best left until after the main series.

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  11. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

    Companion

    Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (2016, 343 pages), written jointly by J. K. Rowling, John Tiffany and Jack Thorne, is a stage-play script set nineteen years after Deathly Hallows -- many fans treat it as a separate continuity from the seven main novels rather than required reading.

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  12. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Original Screenplay

    Companion

    Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Original Screenplay (2016, 304 pages) is J. K. Rowling's script for the film that expanded the wizarding world beyond Hogwarts, one of several companion volumes that extend the Harry Potter universe without being required reading.

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  13. Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald - The Original Screenplay

    Companion

    Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald - The Original Screenplay (2018, 287 pages) continues J. K. Rowling's Fantastic Beasts screenplay series, part of the wider companion material -- alongside the Hogwarts 'textbooks' and the Cursed Child stage play -- that extends the wizarding world outside the seven main novels.

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  14. Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore - The Complete Screenplay

    Companion

    Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore - The Complete Screenplay (2022, 287 pages), co-written by J. K. Rowling and Steve Kloves, is the third of the published Fantastic Beasts screenplay editions, extending the wizarding world's film side well beyond the original seven Harry Potter novels.

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About the Harry Potter series

Harry Potter follows an orphaned boy who discovers, on his eleventh birthday, that he is a wizard — and that the hidden magical world has been waiting for him. Whisked from a miserable cupboard under the stairs to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Harry finds friendship with Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, a talent for the broomstick sport of Quidditch, and a destiny tangled with the dark wizard who murdered his parents.

Across seven novels, J. K. Rowling grows the story up alongside its readers. The early books are boarding-school mysteries full of moving staircases, house points and midnight duels; the later volumes darken into a war story about loyalty, sacrifice, propaganda and the cost of standing up to power. Each book covers one school year, building toward the final confrontation between Harry and Lord Voldemort that leaves no corner of the wizarding world untouched.

The series' great pleasure is its density of invention — a whole society running parallel to our own, with its own bank, sport, government and prejudices — anchored by characters who age, grieve and make real mistakes. It has become the best-selling book series in history, and it remains the natural gateway series for young readers moving into longer fiction, while rewarding adults with its increasingly sophisticated plotting. Companion volumes (a fairy-tale collection, two Hogwarts 'textbooks' and a stage-play script) extend the world without being required reading.

Frequently asked questions

How many Harry Potter books are there?

There are seven main novels, published between 1997 and 2007, from Philosopher's Stone to Deathly Hallows. Seven companion volumes also exist — The Tales of Beedle the Bard, Quidditch Through the Ages, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, the stage-play script Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, and the three published Fantastic Beasts film screenplays — but they are optional.

What order should I read Harry Potter in?

Publication order, which is also chronological: Philosopher's Stone, Chamber of Secrets, Prisoner of Azkaban, Goblet of Fire, Order of the Phoenix, Half-Blood Prince, Deathly Hallows. Save the companion books until after you finish the novels.

Is Harry Potter and the Cursed Child part of the series?

It is an official continuation, but it is the script of a stage play (co-written with Jack Thorne and John Tiffany) set nineteen years after Deathly Hallows, not a novel by J. K. Rowling alone. Read it as an optional epilogue rather than 'book eight'.

What age are the Harry Potter books for?

The early books suit readers of about 8 and up; the series darkens noticeably from Goblet of Fire onward, with character deaths and war themes better suited to ages 10–12+. Many families read one book per year as the child ages with Harry.

Is the Harry Potter series finished?

Yes. The main series was completed with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in 2007. No eighth novel is planned; later additions have been companion pieces, films and stage or television adaptations.

Are the Fantastic Beasts film screenplays published as books?

Yes. J. K. Rowling wrote the Fantastic Beasts films as original screenplays, and all three published entries -- Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016), The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018), and The Secrets of Dumbledore (2022, co-written with Steve Kloves) -- were released as screenplay books. They're set in the same wizarding world decades before Harry's story but follow Newt Scamander rather than Harry Potter, and aren't required reading for the main series.

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