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Harry Potter and the sorcerer's stone
In Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, the book that started it all (understatement of the century), Harry Potter discovers his true identity in the wee hours of his eleventh birthday: he is a wizard, famous in the magical world for having vanquished the evil Lord Voldemort when he was only a baby. -
Harry Potter and the chamber of secrets
In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry and friends return to Hogwarts with a bang — the bang of a flying Ford Anglia as it crashes into the Whomping Willow, that is. After being spotted by Muggles and narrowly avoiding expulsion, you’d think that the rest of Harry’s second year would be smooth sailing in comparison… right? -
Harry Potter and the prisoner of azkaban
The third book in the series introduces Sirius Black, a deranged mass murderer who’s just escaped from the wizard prison of Azkaban. As a result, swarms of Dementors — dark, faceless beings that “suck the soul” out of their victims and serve as the guards of Azkaban — infiltrate Hogwarts to patrol for Black, who’s supposedly after Harry next. -
Harry Potter and the goblet of fire
There’s quite a bit to unpack in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, so we’ll dive right in: after attending an eventful Quidditch World Cup with Hermione and the Weasley family, Harry returns to Hogwarts for his fourth year of school. -
Harry Potter and the order of the phoenix
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix gets political in big way: despite Voldemort’s revival at the end of GoF, the Ministry of Magic continues to deny all rumors and refuse to take action, worried that they’ll upset the public. This means the real adults have to take a leaf out of Harry, Ron, and Hermione’s book and start fighting him themselves, through an underground vigilante group called the Order of the Phoenix. -
Harry Potter and the half-blood prince
Things take a turn for the expository in this penultimate installment, which sees Harry learn all about Voldemort’s family and “origin story,” so to speak. Dumbledore gives Harry these lessons to prepare him for a grand future battle with Voldemort, presumably in the vein of keeping his enemies closer. -
Harry Potter and the deathly hallows
Or as it’s known colloquially, “Harry Potter and the Worst Camping Trip Ever.” After the events of the previous book — culminating in another major character’s heartbreaking death — Harry vows to personally destroy every one of Voldemort’s Horcruxes. These Horcruxes (as we learned in Half-Blood Prince) are objects containing pieces of Voldemort’s soul, rendering him effectively immortal. -
Harry Potter and the cursed child
While not part of the original seven-book series, Cursed Child and the accompanying stage play have become a generally accepted addition to the Harry Potter canon. This 336-page text picks up where the Deathly Hallows epilogue left off, with Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Malfoy sending their unfortunately named kids off to Hogwarts — Harry’s son Albus and Malfoy’s son Scorpius serve as our protagonists this time around.