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Harry Potter Books in Order
The seven Harry Potter novels in reading order, from Philosopher’s Stone (1997) to Deathly Hallows (2007), followed by the seven official extras: the three Hogwarts Library books, the Cursed Child script and the three Pottermore Presents ebooks.
Harry Potter Books in Order: complete list
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Why this order?
Reading order is the easy part here. The seven novels tell one continuous story, one school year per book, and they came out in the same sequence the plot runs, so publication order and story order are identical. Start with Philosopher’s Stone (sold as Sorcerer’s Stone in the US) and go straight through to Deathly Hallows. Each book assumes you remember the one before, and the tone grows up with its hero: the first two are short, light adventures, while the final three are long, grim and tightly serialized. That slow escalation is exactly what the Harry Potter films had to compress into eight sittings, so readers get subplots and characters the screen versions cut.
The harder question is what to do with the extras. Three slim companion books make up the Hogwarts Library: The Tales of Beedle the Bard, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and Quidditch Through the Ages. All three exist inside the story as books the characters own, and we place them straight after the novels, with Beedle first because its fairy tales matter to the plot of Deathly Hallows and land best while that book is fresh. The other two are short schoolbooks you can finish in an afternoon. Note that the Fantastic Beasts book is a creature guide, not the story of the films that borrowed its title, and that games such as Hogwarts Legacy tell original stories of their own instead of adapting any of these.
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is the one that starts arguments. It is a stage play, written by Jack Thorne from a story he developed with J.K. Rowling and director John Tiffany, and what you buy is the script. It picks up nineteen years after Deathly Hallows and follows the children of the original trio. Because it reads like a play and plenty of fans treat it as optional, we list it after the companions and do not count it as book eight. The three Pottermore Presents ebooks close the list: short collections of background writing from the old Pottermore site, for readers who want more of the world, not more plot.
If you only want the story, switch to the seven novels order and stop at Deathly Hallows; you will have missed nothing essential. Publication order is here for completists, and it shows how the two charity schoolbooks arrived in 2001, in the three-year wait between Goblet of Fire and Order of the Phoenix. Whichever you pick, tick off each book as you finish it and the list keeps your place.
Timeline 1997-2016
Every entry by release year: rows that share a year are a cluster, and the long droughts are called out on the rail.
- 1997 Philosopher’s Stone
- 1998 Chamber of Secrets
- 1999 Prisoner of Azkaban
- 2000 Goblet of Fire
- 2001 Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find ThemQuidditch Through the Ages
- 2003 Order of the Phoenix
- 2005 Half-Blood Prince
- 2007 Deathly Hallows
- 2008 The Tales of Beedle the Bard
- 8-year gap
- 2016 Cursed ChildShort Stories from Hogwarts of Heroism, Hardshi…Short Stories from Hogwarts of Power, Politics …Hogwarts: An Incomplete and Unreliable Guide
Where to play it today
- Amazon / Kindle
- Audible
- Bookshop.org
- Apple Books
- Local library
Availability changes often and varies by region - links search each platform for Harry Potter.
Cameos & crossovers
Characters from Harry Potter who also show up elsewhere. see the full character atlas →
- Albus Dumbledore
Hogwarts headmaster and Voldemort's greatest foe; mastermind of the Wizarding World.
Also in Harry Potter - Harry Potter
The Boy Who Lived, marked by Voldemort; namesake hero of the Wizarding World.
Also in Harry Potter
Frequently asked questions
How many Harry Potter books are there?
There are seven Harry Potter novels, published between 1997 and 2007. Counting the official extras (the three Hogwarts Library books, the Cursed Child script and the three Pottermore Presents ebooks) there are fourteen books in total.
What is the correct order to read the Harry Potter books?
Read them in publication order: Philosopher’s Stone, Chamber of Secrets, Prisoner of Azkaban, Goblet of Fire, Order of the Phoenix, Half-Blood Prince and Deathly Hallows. The story runs chronologically, one school year per book, so there is no alternative order to weigh up.
Is Harry Potter and the Cursed Child the eighth book?
It is sold as the eighth story, but it is not a novel. Cursed Child is the script of a stage play written by Jack Thorne, from a story by J.K. Rowling, John Tiffany and Thorne. The play opened in London on July 30, 2016 and the script was published the next day. It is set nineteen years after Deathly Hallows and is optional.
Is Sorcerer’s Stone the same book as Philosopher’s Stone?
Yes. The first novel came out in the UK in 1997 as Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. Scholastic retitled it Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone for the US edition in 1998. Apart from the title and some Americanized wording, it is the same book.
When should I read Fantastic Beasts, Quidditch Through the Ages and Beedle the Bard?
After the seven novels. The Tales of Beedle the Bard is tied to the plot of Deathly Hallows, so save it until you have finished that book. The other two are short schoolbooks first published in 2001, between books four and five, and they work at any point after Goblet of Fire.
Is the Fantastic Beasts book the same as the movies?
No. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2001) is a short A to Z guide to magical creatures, presented as Harry’s school textbook by Newt Scamander. The films use the title and turn its author into the lead character, but they tell an original story written for the screen. The screenplays are published separately.
How long does it take to read all seven Harry Potter books?
The seven novels total about 1.08 million words. At an average pace of 250 words per minute that is roughly 72 hours of reading. Philosopher’s Stone is the shortest at about 77,000 words and Order of the Phoenix is the longest at about 257,000.
Should I read the books before the HBO Harry Potter series?
If you want the full version of the story first, yes. The HBO series premieres on December 25, 2026, and its eight-episode first season adapts Philosopher’s Stone, with a second season based on Chamber of Secrets already ordered. The first book takes about five hours to read.
Are there new Harry Potter audiobooks?
Yes. Audible released Harry Potter: The Full-Cast Audio Editions one book at a time from November 4, 2025 to May 12, 2026, with Cush Jumbo narrating, Hugh Laurie as Dumbledore and a cast of more than 200 actors. The single-narrator recordings by Stephen Fry (UK) and Jim Dale (US) are still available.
Last verified · Sources: en.wikipedia.org, Wikidata
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