The social hierarchy of wizards in Rowling's world has drawn debate among critics. "Purebloods" have two wizard parents; "half-bloods" have one; and "Muggle-born" wizards have magical abilities although neither of their parents is a wizard. [134] Lord Voldemort and his followers believe that blood purity is paramount and that Muggles are subhuman. [135] According to the literary scholar Andrew Blake, Harry Potter rejects blood purity as a basis for social division; [136] Suman Gupta agrees that Voldemort's philosophy represents "absolute evil"; [137] and Nel and Eccleshare agree that advocates of racial or blood-based hierarchies are antagonists. [138] [139] Gupta, following Blake, [140] suggests that the essential superiority of wizards over Muggles – wizards can use magic and Muggles cannot – means that the books cannot coherently reject anti-Muggle prejudice by appealing to equality between wizards and Muggles. Rather, according to Gupta, Harry Potter models a form of tolerance based on the "charity and altruism of those belonging to superior races" towards lesser races. [141] In an 8 November 2002 Slate article, Chris Suellentrop likened Potter to a "trust-fund kid whose success at school is largely attributable to the gifts his friends and relatives lavish upon him". [123] In a 12 August 2007, review of Deathly Hallows in The New York Times, however, Christopher Hitchens praised Rowling for "unmooring" her "English school story" from literary precedents "bound up with dreams of wealth and class and snobbery", arguing that she had instead created "a world of youthful democracy and diversity". [124]

Michael Rosen, a novelist and poet, held the opinion that the books were not suited for children, as they would be unable to grasp the complex themes. Rosen also stated that "J. K. Rowling is more of an adult writer." [111] The critic Anthony Holden wrote in The Observer on his experience of judging Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban for the 1999 Whitbread Awards. His overall view of the series was negative – "the Potter saga was essentially patronising, conservative, highly derivative, dispiritingly nostalgic for a bygone Britain", and he speaks of "a pedestrian, ungrammatical prose style". [112] Ursula K. Le Guin said, "I have no great opinion of it [...] it seemed a lively kid's fantasy crossed with a ' school novel,' good fare for its age group, but stylistically ordinary, imaginatively derivative, and ethically rather mean-spirited." [113] By contrast, author Fay Weldon, while admitting that the series is "not what the poets hoped for", nevertheless goes on to say, "but this is not poetry, it is readable, saleable, everyday, useful prose". [114]Rowling, JK (2006). "Biography". JKRowling.com. Archived from the original on 21 April 2006 . Retrieved 21 May 2006. Castle, Tim (2 December 2004). "Harry Potter? It's All Greek to Me". Reuters. Archived from the original on 19 January 2008 . Retrieved 28 July 2008. Rowling has also maintained that Harry is a suitable real-life role model for children. "The advantage of a fictional hero or heroine is that you can know them better than you can know a living hero, many of whom you would never meet... if people like Harry and identify with him, I am pleased, because I think he is very likeable." [6] Appearances Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone In Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Bellatrix is depicted as having had a secret daughter — Delphini (Delphi) "The Augurey" — who claims to also be the daughter of Lord Voldemort. Main articles: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter and Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter Hogwarts Castle as depicted in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, located in Universal Orlando Resort's Island of Adventure

Book 'Oscar' for Potter author". BBC News. 30 May 2001. Archived from the original on 27 December 2008 . Retrieved 28 September 2008. Harry Potter' tale is fastest-selling book in history". The New York Times. 23 July 2007. Archived from the original on 8 December 2011 . Retrieved 30 March 2010. The final book in the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows became the fastest selling book in history, moving 11million units in the first twenty-four hours of release. [105] The book sold 2.7million copies in the UK and 8.3million in the US. [73] The series has also gathered adult fans, leading to the release of two editions of each Harry Potter book, identical in text but with one edition's cover artwork aimed at children and the other aimed at adults. [106] Book Harry is regarded as a fictional icon and has been described by many critics, readers, and audiences as one of the greatest literary and film characters of all time. He was portrayed by Daniel Radcliffe in all eight Harry Potter films from Philosopher's Stone (2001) to Deathly Hallows – Part 2 (2011). Liddle, Rod (21 July 2007). "Hogwarts is a winner because boys will be sexist neocon boys". The Times. London. Archived from the original on 4 June 2010 . Retrieved 17 August 2008.

Warner Bros. Studio Tour London

Harry Potter books stats and facts – WordsRated". 19 October 2021. Archived from the original on 15 May 2023 . Retrieved 11 June 2023. Barnes and Noble interview". 19 March 1999. Archived from the original on 28 February 2007 . Retrieved 15 August 2007. Huler, Scott. "The magic years". The News & Observer. Archived from the original on 18 December 2008 . Retrieved 28 September 2008. Halloween Online Resource Center". Archived from the original on 14 March 2012 . Retrieved 15 August 2007. JK Rowling's World Book Day Chat". 4 March 2004. Archived from the original on 16 August 2007 . Retrieved 15 August 2007.

Sawyer, Jenny (25 July 2007). "Missing from 'Harry Potter"– a real moral struggle". The Christian Science Monitor. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007 . Retrieved 16 April 2008. Jennifer Conn used Snape's and Quidditch coach Madam Hooch's teaching methods as examples of what to avoid and what to emulate in clinical teaching, [194] and Joyce Fields wrote that the books illustrate four of the five main topics in a typical first-year sociology class: "sociological concepts including culture, society, and socialisation; stratification and social inequality; social institutions; and social theory". [195] Harry Potter Audiobooks and E-Books". Mugglenet. Dose Media. Archived from the original on 6 September 2019 . Retrieved 6 September 2019. Petre, Jonathan (20 October 2007). "J K Rowling: 'Christianity inspired Harry Potter' ". Telegraph. Archived from the original on 11 January 2022 . Retrieved 12 February 2016.a b "Carey, Joanna. "Who hasn't met Harry?". The Guardian. 16 February 1999. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007 . Retrieved 15 August 2007. Differences in the UK and US Versions of Four Harry Potter Books". FAST US-1. 21 January 2008. Archived from the original on 19 March 2015 . Retrieved 17 August 2008.