Sameer Rahim of The Daily Telegraph disagreed, saying "It depresses me to see 16- and 17-year-olds reading the series when they could be reading the great novels of childhood such as Oliver Twist or A House for Mr Biswas.

Lord Voldemort and his followers believe that blood purity is paramount and that Muggles are subhuman. Other critics including Farah Mendlesohn find the portrayal of house-elves "most difficult to accept": the elves are denied the right to free themselves and rely on the benevolence of others like Hermione. The Making of Harry Potter is a behind-the-scenes walking tour in London featuring authentic sets, costumes and props from the film series.

They steal a Horcrux from Gringotts and travel to Hogwarts, culminating in a battle with Death Eaters. By the time I finished writing the final, seventh book in the series in 2007 in the Balmoral Hotel, Edinburgh, I had been living with Harry for seventeen years. He gains the friendship of Ron Weasley, a member of a large but poor wizarding family, and Hermione Granger, a witch of non-magical, or Muggle, parentage. Yet, even particularly capable female characters such as Hermione and Minerva McGonagall are placed in supporting roles, [131] and Hermione's status as a feminist model is debated. The spin-off games Book of Spells and Book of Potions were developed by London Studio and use the Wonderbook, an augmented reality book designed to be used in conjunction with the PlayStation Move and PlayStation Eye.

The books are also, in the words of Stephen King, "shrewd mystery tales", [9] and each book is constructed in the manner of a Sherlock Holmes-style mystery adventure. I’m currently working on the second draft of my current book and the first draft had to be almost completely thrown out except for a few major plot points. Rowling completed Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in 1995 and the manuscript was sent off to several prospective agents. I had been writing almost continuously since the age of six but I had never been so excited about an idea before. I added it and used the initials at the publisher’s request, as they said it would make the books more appealing to boys.The portrayal of women in Harry Potter has been described as complex and varied, but nonetheless conforming to stereotypical and patriarchal depictions of gender. The book was published in the US a year later, in August 1998, with a slightly different title (again at the publisher’s request), Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. I collect unusual names; I’ve got them from maps (Snape and Dursley), saints (Hedwig) and war memorials (Lockhart). However, this setting obscures the typecasting of female characters and the general depiction of conventional gender roles.