Harry Potter (book series)



The Harry Potter books make up the popular series written by author J. K. Rowling. The series spans seven books (one for each of Harry Potter's years at Hogwarts). The books have been made into movies by Warner Bros. Pictures with the last book split into two films.

The books concern a wizard called Harry Potter and his journey through Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The stories tell of him overcoming dangerous obstacles to defeat the Dark wizard Lord Voldemort who killed his parents when Harry was 15 months old. The first book, Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone, was published in 1997 by Bloomsbury in London. The last book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, sold more than 12 million copies in the U.S.

Publishing


It is said that J. K. Rowling sent her preliminary copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone to 12 publishers before it was accepted and published by Bloomsbury.

The following is an incomplete list of publishers of the books all over the world.
 * The United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand: Bloomsbury.
 * The United States: Scholastic. The first novel appeared in these countries as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.
 * Canada: Raincoast Books (English)
 * Brazil: Editora Rocco
 * Denmark: Gyldendal
 * Belgium (Flanders): Standaard
 * France and other French-speaking countries: Gallimard Jeunesse
 * Netherlands: De Harmonie
 * Spain and other Spanish-speaking countries (in Latin America): Salamandra
 * Spain (Catalonia): Empúries
 * Portugal: Editorial Presença
 * Bloomsbury also published Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in Latin, Welsh, Ancient Greek and Irish.



Titles of the series
The author published seven books in the Harry Potter series, as well as numerous complementary books.

Original series
The following is a list of the seven books in the Harry Potter Series. Each novel corresponds to a year-long period of time, usually in reference to Harry Potter's year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
 * 1) Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone ("Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" in the U.S) (UK release: 26/06/97; US release 9/01/98)
 * 2) Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (UK release: 2/07/98; US release 6/02/99)
 * 3) Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (UK release: 8/07/99; US release 9/08/99)
 * 4) Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (UK & US releases: 8/07/00)
 * 5) Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (UK & US releases: 21/06/03)
 * 6) Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (UK & US releases: 16/07/05)
 * 7) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (UK & US releases: 21/07/07)

Complementary books
The following are complementary books, which correspond to the series:
 * Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
 * Quidditch Through the Ages
 * The Tales of Beedle the Bard
 * The Harry Potter Prequel

Audiobook editions
Since the inception of Harry Potter series, the stories have also been released as audiobooks. In the United Kingdom, the audiobooks were narrated by Stephen Fry, with Jim Dale handling the narration for the U.S. editions. The audiobooks were released in both CD and cassette formats, though the cassette editions are no longer in print due to the general lack of demand for titles in this format. For the earlier books in the series, there was generally a delay between the release of the print and audio editions. The later editions generally saw the audio copies being released the same day as the print editions, likely a result of the growing popularity of the series. Most recently the books were made available in the first ever online audio editions through Pottermore via the Pottermore Shop and were also made available to libraries for lending.

An inspiration
The Harry Potter Series inspired many other creations, such as:
 * The series inspired an extensive line of LEGO playsets.
 * A film empire, created by Warner Brothers:
 * Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone ("Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" in the U.S)
 * Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
 * Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
 * Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
 * Video games by Electronic Arts, 8 inspired in the movies, as well as the Quidditch simulator Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup.
 * A LEGO Harry Potter video game (years 1-4) developed by TT Games was released in 2010. A sequel, LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7, was released the following year.
 * The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, a theme park land in Universal Studio's Islands of Adventure, opened in 2010 in America.
 * Numerous toy and doll sets.

Behind the scenes

 * The first and last books of the Harry Potter books of the series came out ten years apart. Coincidentally, the first and last movies of the series also came out ten years apart.
 * There is a dinosaur that has been named Dracorex hogwartsia, with Hogwartsia being based on the name of Hogwarts, in honour of the series. The name translates to "Dragon King of Hogwarts." Coincidentally, the dinosaur's name also contains the word "draco", but it has nothing to do with a Harry Potter book character sharing the name.
 * Many celebrities such as Amanda Bynes, James Marsden, Queen Latifah, Adam Sandler, Nina Dobrev, Tom Hanks, Jake Gyllenhaal and Susan Boyle are fans of the Harry Potter series. The late Michael Jackson was also said to have been a fan of the series.
 * With the exception of the first and third books, there is always a chapter with the same name as the book.
 * Also, with the exception of the third book, there is always at least one character that dies in the final chapter(s) of the books (although in the second book this is a basilisk, not a human character).
 * Additionally, almost every book has a chapter named after a character, mostly a new character. They are:
 * 1) Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone: Nicolas Flamel
 * 2) Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: Cornelius Fudge
 * 3) Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: None ('The Dementor' might suffice)
 * 4) Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: Mad-Eye Moody
 * 5) Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix: Luna Lovegood
 * 6) Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: Horace Slughorn
 * 7) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Xenophilius Lovegood
 * In September 2012, J. K. Rowling admitted to having rushed work on some of the Potter novels due to tight deadlines, and floated the possibility of someday releasing "director's cut" editions of the novels.
 * Brad Walrod served as the typesetter for the Harry Potter books from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire onwards.