Harry Potter ist eine Kinder- und Jugendromanreihe der englischen Schriftstellerin Joanne K. Rowling. It tells the story of the titular character Harry Potter, who learns of his magical origins on his eleventh birthday and is henceforth a student at the British wizard boarding school Hogwarts. Each of the seven volumes describes a school and life year of Harry Potter, his friends and antagonists. The book series, including three spin-offs, has sold over 500 million copies worldwide and has been translated into 80 languages. Over 33 million Harry Potter books have been sold in German alone.

The first part Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (original: Harry Potter and the Philosopher) was published by Bloomsbury Publishing on June 26, 1997 in a first edition of 500 copies. The second part Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets followed in 1998 and the third part Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban in 1999. Ab diesem Zeitpunkt belegten die Bücher in zahlreichen Ländern die obersten Plätze der Bestsellerlisten, so beispielsweise in The New York Times oder Der Spiegel. The series set a record with the initial print run of the fourth installment, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (original: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire), in 2000. Volumes five to seven also broke pre-order records in the UK and the USA, among others.

Between 2001 and 2011, the books were filmed in eight parts; the film series is considered one of the most commercially successful in film history. The books and the films triggered a worldwide craze for fantasy books and films in the late 1990s and early 2000s, accompanied by (re)film adaptations of The Lord of the Rings or The Chronicles of Narnia, as well as numerous other fantasy book series such as Eragon, Bartimaeus or Percy Jackson.

The Harry Potter heptalogy can be classified under several literary genres. It has characteristics of a detective novel, developmental novel, and Bildungsroman, but it can also be seen as a modern fairy tale or art fairy tale. Along with the continuing enthusiasm for the Harry Potter books and films, numerous merchandising products were marketed with great success and a separate theme park was opened.