Potter, Harry, is the boy hero of a spectacularly popular series of seven fantasy novels for children. The author of the novels is J. K. Rowling << ROH lihng >>, a British writer. The “Harry Potter” series is unusual in publishing because of its widespread popularity among both adults and young people. In addition, both boys and girls enjoy the series, which is unusual in literature for children. Some literary critics proclaim the novels will be classics of children’s literature. 
After the wicked sorcerer Lord Voldemort murders Harry Potter’s parents, the orphaned boy is raised by his nasty Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon Dursley. Harry turns 11 years old as the series begins. He learns that he is a wizard and is invited to attend the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to study magic skills. Harry grows one year older in each succeeding book. Accompanied by his friends Ron andHermione << hur MY uh nee >>, he battles Voldemort and other threats. The adventures of Harry, Hermione, and Ron include encounters with a magical flying car, ghosts, giants, huge spiders, magic spells, and hostile classmates and teachers.
Rowling introduced Harry in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (1997), her first published book. The novel became an immediate best seller in both the United Kingdom and the United States, where it was published under the title Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (1998). The sequels Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (1998), Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (1999), Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2000), Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2003), Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2005), and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (2007) also became best sellers. Two short books were published in 2001 as Harry’s schoolbooks and were not continuations of the series. They were Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Quidditch Through the Ages.
The motion-picture versions of the “Harry Potter” books—released in 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010, and 2011—were international box-office hits. In the motion pictures, Daniel Radcliffe plays Harry, Emma Watson plays Hermione, and Rupert Grint plays Ron. A movie version of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them was released in 2016. It follows the adventures of the wizard and writer Newt Scamander in New York City’s secret community of witches and wizards 70 years before Harry Potter reads Scamander’s book in school. It was followed by the sequels Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018) and Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore (2022). Rowling wrote the screenplays for the “Fantastic Beasts” films, although she did not write the screenplays for the eight “Harry Potter” films. 
The play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Parts I & II, as well as a script book of the play, were released in 2016. The story is set 19 years after the events of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. It follows Harry, now a Ministry of Magic employee, and his younger son, Albus Severus Potter. Also in 2016, Rowling released the “Pottermore Presents” trio of e-books, set in the wizarding world of Harry Potter. The e-books are Short Stories from Hogwarts of Power, Politics and Pesky Poltergeists; Short Stories from Hogwarts of Heroism, Hardship and Dangerous Hobbies; and Hogwarts: An Incomplete and Unreliable Guide. 
