The Harry Potter Books in Order
If you’ve spent any time on this site you’ll already know that London is deeply embedded in the Harry Potter universe — King’s Cross, Leadenhall Market as Diagon Alley, the Millennium Bridge (which I still refuse to cross, and if you know you know). But before you go looking for the locations, you need to have read the books. All of them. In order. No skipping.
Seven novels by J.K. Rowling, published between 1997 and 2007. Each one covers a year of Harry’s life at Hogwarts, and each one gets progressively darker and more complex — which is exactly how it should be, because the books grew up with their readers. The first one was published with a print run of 500 copies. Over 600 million copies of the series have since been sold worldwide. Not bad for a story that starts in a cupboard under the stairs.
The Seven Books
1. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (1997)
(Published as Sorcerer’s Stone in the US)
Harry Potter has spent his whole life with his aunt and uncle, sleeping in a cupboard and being told he is nothing. On his eleventh birthday, a giant knocks down the door and tells him he’s a wizard. Everything that follows — Hogwarts, Ron, Hermione, Dumbledore, the Sorting Hat, Quidditch, the Mirror of Erised — begins here. The most purely joyful book in the series.
2. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (1998)
Harry’s second year at Hogwarts brings a series of mysterious attacks on students, a message written in blood on the wall, and a diary that writes back. The introduction of the basilisk, Nearly Headless Nick’s Deathday Party, and Gilderoy Lockhart — one of the great comic creations in children’s fiction. Darker than the first, but still light on its feet.
3. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (1999)
A mass murderer named Sirius Black has escaped from Azkaban and is believed to be coming for Harry. Dementors surround the school. A new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher arrives who actually knows what he’s doing. The introduction of the Marauder’s Map, the Time-Turner, Buckbeak, and a twist that genuinely reframes everything you thought you knew. The best book in the series. Not up for debate.
4. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2000)
Harry is mysteriously entered into the Triwizard Tournament — a dangerous competition between three wizarding schools — despite being underage and not having entered himself. The Yule Ball. The Quidditch World Cup. Mad-Eye Moody. The series shifts tone here in a way that makes everything feel genuinely high-stakes for the first time. The ending is one of the most significant in the entire series. Bring tissues.
5. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2003)
Voldemort is back. The Ministry of Magic refuses to believe it. Dolores Umbridge arrives at Hogwarts and is somehow more terrifying than any Dark wizard Harry has faced. The longest book in the series and the angriest — Harry spends a lot of it in capital letters, which is either annoying or completely understandable depending on your tolerance for being fifteen and having everyone dismiss you. Dumbledore’s Army. The Department of Mysteries. A loss that still hurts.
6. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2005)
Dumbledore begins preparing Harry for what is coming by taking him back through Voldemort’s past. The wizarding world is at war; people are disappearing; Hogwarts no longer feels safe. The mystery of the Half-Blood Prince’s annotated potions textbook runs alongside the larger story. The ending is devastating and was, at the time, completely unforgivable. We have since forgiven it, mostly.
7. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (2007)
Harry, Ron, and Hermione don’t return to Hogwarts. Instead they spend a year on the run, hunting Horcruxes, falling out, nearly giving up, and ultimately arriving at the Battle of Hogwarts. Everything that Rowling planted in the first six books pays off here — the storytelling architecture is extraordinary when you can see the whole shape of it. The most complete finale of any series I can think of. J.K. Rowling has said she wrote the last pages before she’d finished writing the first book.
Honourable Mention: The Cursed Child (2016)
Technically a stage play script rather than a novel, set nineteen years after the events of Deathly Hallows. Harry is now an overworked Ministry employee; his son Albus is struggling with the weight of the Potter name at Hogwarts. Read it after the main series if you’re curious, with the understanding that it’s a different format and a different beast entirely. The stage production is genuinely spectacular if you get the chance to see it.
The Original Films (2001–2011)
Eight films, ten years, one extraordinary cultural moment. Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint grew up on screen as Harry, Hermione, and Ron — which gave the films a continuity and emotional weight that is genuinely hard to replicate. Each film had a different director, which means the tone shifts noticeably across the series: Chris Columbus’s first two are warm and bright; Alfonso Cuarón’s Prisoner of Azkaban is darker and more atmospheric (and widely considered the best of the eight); the later films under David Yates get progressively grander and grimmer as the story demands.
The films in order:
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (2001) — dir. Chris Columbus
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002) — dir. Chris Columbus
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) — dir. Alfonso Cuarón
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005) — dir. Mike Newell
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007) — dir. David Yates
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009) — dir. David Yates
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 (2010) — dir. David Yates
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (2011) — dir. David Yates
Watch them after you’ve read the books. They’re brilliant, but they’re also a condensed version of something much richer — and you’ll spend the whole time noticing what’s been left out if you’ve read first, which is its own specific kind of pleasure.
The HBO Series (Christmas Day 2026)
And now here we are. All of us. On tenterhooks.
HBO’s brand new adaptation premieres on Christmas Day 2026 — earlier than anyone expected, announced in March 2026 with a teaser trailer that broke HBO’s own viewership records with 277 million views in the first 48 hours. The first season is titled Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, covers the first book across eight episodes, and is planned as a seven-season run over ten years — meaning the young cast will genuinely grow up in these roles, which is either the most ambitious thing television has ever done or the most stressful, depending on your perspective.
The new cast: Dominic McLaughlin as Harry, Arabella Stanton as Hermione, Alastair Stout as Ron. The adult cast is extraordinary — John Lithgow as Dumbledore, Janet McTeer as McGonagall, Nick Frost as Hagrid, and Paapa Essiedu as Snape. Francesca Gardiner (Succession) is showrunner; Mark Mylod (Game of Thrones, Succession) is directing multiple episodes. J.K. Rowling is executive producer.
The promise of the series is space — room to include everything the films had to cut, to let the story breathe, to give the supporting characters their due. Whether it delivers on that is what Christmas Day is for. The house scarves are ready. The reread is in progress. We’re not calm about this.
Where to Start
You start at book one. I’m not entertaining any other suggestions. You don’t start at three because someone told you it’s the best one. You don’t skip two because you’ve seen the film. You read them in order, one through seven, because that is the only way to understand what Rowling built and why it works.
That said — book three is my favourite, and by most accounts the fan favourite too. Prisoner of Azkaban is where the series finds its full stride: the writing tightens up, the world expands, the mystery is genuinely satisfying, and the emotional stakes finally land in a way that makes you realise this isn’t just a children’s book series anymore. If you’ve read all seven and want to know which one to reread: it’s three.
Now. I have to tell you something. When the film of Prisoner of Azkaban came out, the official Harry Potter website used to redesign itself around each new film. For Chamber of Secrets there were games — a duelling club, that kind of thing. For Azkaban, one of the games involved a crystal ball for Divination class.
I hadn’t seen the film yet. I was on the website. I was playing the crystal ball game, and I kept leaning closer and closer to the monitor trying to make out whatever was in the ball — face practically against the screen — when out of nowhere I heard a voice say: “Mind your head.”
I nearly left my body.
Obviously, having since seen the film approximately forty-seven times, I now know it’s a line from the shrunken head on the Knight Bus. At the time, home alone, face pressed to the family PC, I can tell you that the experience was genuinely formative. You cannot make this stuff up.
Anyway. Start at book one.
The London locations from the films — the ones that are actually real and worth visiting — are all [over here.]: The Complete Reading Guide
If you’ve spent any time on this site you’ll already know that London is deeply embedded in the Harry Potter universe — King’s Cross, Leadenhall Market as Diagon Alley, the Millennium Bridge (which I still refuse to cross, and if you know you know). But before you go looking for the locations, you need to have read the books. All of them. In order. No skipping.
Seven novels by J.K. Rowling, published between 1997 and 2007. Each one covers a year of Harry’s life at Hogwarts, and each one gets progressively darker and more complex — which is exactly how it should be, because the books grew up with their readers. The first one was published with a print run of 500 copies. Over 600 million copies of the series have since been sold worldwide. Not bad for a story that starts in a cupboard under the stairs.
The Seven Books
1. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (1997)
(Published as Sorcerer’s Stone in the US)
Harry Potter has spent his whole life with his aunt and uncle, sleeping in a cupboard and being told he is nothing. On his eleventh birthday, a giant knocks down the door and tells him he’s a wizard. Everything that follows — Hogwarts, Ron, Hermione, Dumbledore, the Sorting Hat, Quidditch, the Mirror of Erised — begins here. The most purely joyful book in the series.
2. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (1998)
Harry’s second year at Hogwarts brings a series of mysterious attacks on students, a message written in blood on the wall, and a diary that writes back. The introduction of the basilisk, Nearly Headless Nick’s Deathday Party, and Gilderoy Lockhart — one of the great comic creations in children’s fiction. Darker than the first, but still light on its feet.
3. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (1999)
A mass murderer named Sirius Black has escaped from Azkaban and is believed to be coming for Harry. Dementors surround the school. A new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher arrives who actually knows what he’s doing. The introduction of the Marauder’s Map, the Time-Turner, Buckbeak, and a twist that genuinely reframes everything you thought you knew. The best book in the series. Not up for debate.
4. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2000)
Harry is mysteriously entered into the Triwizard Tournament — a dangerous competition between three wizarding schools — despite being underage and not having entered himself. The Yule Ball. The Quidditch World Cup. Mad-Eye Moody. The series shifts tone here in a way that makes everything feel genuinely high-stakes for the first time. The ending is one of the most significant in the entire series. Bring tissues.
5. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2003)
Voldemort is back. The Ministry of Magic refuses to believe it. Dolores Umbridge arrives at Hogwarts and is somehow more terrifying than any Dark wizard Harry has faced. The longest book in the series and the angriest — Harry spends a lot of it in capital letters, which is either annoying or completely understandable depending on your tolerance for being fifteen and having everyone dismiss you. Dumbledore’s Army. The Department of Mysteries. A loss that still hurts.
6. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2005)
Dumbledore begins preparing Harry for what is coming by taking him back through Voldemort’s past. The wizarding world is at war; people are disappearing; Hogwarts no longer feels safe. The mystery of the Half-Blood Prince’s annotated potions textbook runs alongside the larger story. The ending is devastating and was, at the time, completely unforgivable. We have since forgiven it, mostly.
7. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (2007)
Harry, Ron, and Hermione don’t return to Hogwarts. Instead they spend a year on the run, hunting Horcruxes, falling out, nearly giving up, and ultimately arriving at the Battle of Hogwarts. Everything that Rowling planted in the first six books pays off here — the storytelling architecture is extraordinary when you can see the whole shape of it. The most complete finale of any series I can think of. J.K. Rowling has said she wrote the last pages before she’d finished writing the first book.
Honourable Mention: The Cursed Child (2016)
Technically a stage play script rather than a novel, set nineteen years after the events of Deathly Hallows. Harry is now an overworked Ministry employee; his son Albus is struggling with the weight of the Potter name at Hogwarts. Read it after the main series if you’re curious, with the understanding that it’s a different format and a different beast entirely. The stage production is genuinely spectacular if you get the chance to see it.
The Original Films (2001–2011)
Eight films, ten years, one extraordinary cultural moment. Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint grew up on screen as Harry, Hermione, and Ron — which gave the films a continuity and emotional weight that is genuinely hard to replicate. Each film had a different director, which means the tone shifts noticeably across the series: Chris Columbus’s first two are warm and bright; Alfonso Cuarón’s Prisoner of Azkaban is darker and more atmospheric (and widely considered the best of the eight); the later films under David Yates get progressively grander and grimmer as the story demands.
The films in order:
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (2001) — dir. Chris Columbus
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002) — dir. Chris Columbus
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) — dir. Alfonso Cuarón
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005) — dir. Mike Newell
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007) — dir. David Yates
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009) — dir. David Yates
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 (2010) — dir. David Yates
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (2011) — dir. David Yates
Watch them after you’ve read the books. They’re brilliant, but they’re also a condensed version of something much richer — and you’ll spend the whole time noticing what’s been left out if you’ve read first, which is its own specific kind of pleasure.
The HBO Series (Christmas Day 2026)
And now here we are. All of us. On tenterhooks.
HBO’s brand new adaptation premieres on Christmas Day 2026 — earlier than anyone expected, announced in March 2026 with a teaser trailer that broke HBO’s own viewership records with 277 million views in the first 48 hours. The first season is titled Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, covers the first book across eight episodes, and is planned as a seven-season run over ten years — meaning the young cast will genuinely grow up in these roles, which is either the most ambitious thing television has ever done or the most stressful, depending on your perspective.
The new cast: Dominic McLaughlin as Harry, Arabella Stanton as Hermione, Alastair Stout as Ron. The adult cast is extraordinary — John Lithgow as Dumbledore, Janet McTeer as McGonagall, Nick Frost as Hagrid, and Paapa Essiedu as Snape. Francesca Gardiner (Succession) is showrunner; Mark Mylod (Game of Thrones, Succession) is directing multiple episodes. J.K. Rowling is executive producer.
The promise of the series is space — room to include everything the films had to cut, to let the story breathe, to give the supporting characters their due. Whether it delivers on that is what Christmas Day is for. The house scarves are ready. The reread is in progress. We’re not calm about this.
Where to Start
You start at book one. I’m not entertaining any other suggestions. You don’t start at three because someone told you it’s the best one. You don’t skip two because you’ve seen the film. You read them in order, one through seven, because that is the only way to understand what Rowling built and why it works.
That said — book three is my favourite, and by most accounts the fan favourite too. Prisoner of Azkaban is where the series finds its full stride: the writing tightens up, the world expands, the mystery is genuinely satisfying, and the emotional stakes finally land in a way that makes you realise this isn’t just a children’s book series anymore. If you’ve read all seven and want to know which one to reread: it’s three.
Now. I have to tell you something. When the film of Prisoner of Azkaban came out, the official Harry Potter website used to redesign itself around each new film. For Chamber of Secrets there were games — a duelling club, that kind of thing. For Azkaban, one of the games involved a crystal ball for Divination class.
I hadn’t seen the film yet. I was on the website. I was playing the crystal ball game, and I kept leaning closer and closer to the monitor trying to make out whatever was in the ball — face practically against the screen — when out of nowhere I heard a voice say: “Mind your head.”
I nearly left my body.
Obviously, having since seen the film approximately forty-seven times, I now know it’s a line from the shrunken head on the Knight Bus. At the time, home alone, face pressed to the family PC, I can tell you that the experience was genuinely formative. You cannot make this stuff up.
Anyway. Start at book one.
The London locations from the films — the ones that are actually real and worth visiting — are all [over here.]