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 – canon
The Wizarding World Beyond the Seven
Once you’ve finished the main series, there’s a whole extended universe to explore. Some of it essential, some of it wonderfully niche. The Hogwarts textbooks (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Quidditch Through the Ages) and The Tales of Beedle the Bard are the in-universe books Harry and his classmates actually reference throughout the series – reading them feels like picking up a real artefact from the wizarding world. The Cursed Child continues Harry’s story nineteen years on in stage play format. The Fantastic Beasts screenplays expand the wider wizarding world into the 1920s through Newt Scamander’s story. None of these are required reading – but if you’ve finished book seven and you’re not ready to leave yet, this is where you go.
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:
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. 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 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.
honourable mention – potterless podcast
Now, whether you’re reading for the first time or coming back to it, can I suggest a companion for the journey?
The Potterless podcast is hosted by Mike Schubert, who was 24 years old and had never read a single Harry Potter book when he started it. He reads them for the first time, live, with a rotating cast of guests who have and the result is one of the most genuinely joyful things I’ve come across as a Potter person. I stumbled on it during a reread and it completely rekindled the experience. There’s something about watching someone discover these books as an adult, with fresh eyes and absolutely no filter, that makes you fall in love with the series all over again. For first-time readers it’s like having a reading buddy along for the ride. For re-readers, it’s like being handed a new pair of glasses. Start the podcast at episode one alongside book one. Thank me later.