Harry Potter

:This article is about the fandom. For the character, see Harry Potter (character). For other uses, see Harry Potter (disambiguation).
Harry Potter, the seven-book series written by J. K. Rowling, tells the story of Harry Potter, a young orphan marked by fate to fight the wizard Lord Voldemort.
Harry Potter has also been adapted into movies by Warner Bros. The first six films were released between 2001 and 2009. The final book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, was made into two films and released in November 2010 and July 2011.
Warner Bros. are to make five new films based on Rowling's Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, scripted by Rowling and set in the 1920s; the first was released in November 2016.Harry Potter Wiki: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (film trilogy) Accessed June 2015 A play, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, also premiered in 2016.Daily Mail - Harry Potter Biggest West End Show Ever (published and accessed 26th June 2015)
See also Timeline of Harry Potter Fandom.
== The Harry Potter Phenomenon ==
Harry Potter is a massively popular series that has touched even people who aren't active in fandom.
==The Fandom==
The Harry Potter fandom presence online is massive. On FanFiction.Net it still (as of 2017) has more posted works than any other fandom.With over 761,000 fics, HP has three times as many fics posted as Twilight, the second most popular book fandom with over 219,000 fics. To compare: The most popular anime fandom, Naruto, has 411,000 ; the most popular television fandom, Supernatural, has over 118,000 ; the most popular game fandom, Pokémon, has over 90,900 . Numbers taken from Fanfiction.net on 9 March 2017. Het, slash and gen are all popular, although femslash is less common. J.K. Rowling is supportive of fan activities; she has given her blessing for fanfictionRowling backs Potter fan fiction, BBC 27 May 2004. Accessed October 2008 and gives awards for her favorite fansites.J.K. Rowling Official Site
Fandom has embraced myriad forms of fan activities, such as fanfiction, fanart, fanvids, conventions, podcasts, cosplay, Hogwarts Houses, knitting, wizard rock, Quidditch, wikis, discussion forums, etc. While the canon was still open, speculating about future plot developments was also widely popular. Hot topics included which ships were going to happen in canon (Harry/Hermione vs. Ron/Hermione) and whether Severus Snape was loyal to Lord Voldemort, Albus Dumbledore, or just himself.The Great Snape Debate - Borders Exclusive During the long wait for the next novel, some theories became quite fanciful.
Indeed, the fandom is so large and diversified that fans in one corner may have no idea what is happening in another corner. This balkanization is often deliberate.
==Fandom Demographics==
It has been suggested that a large number of Harry Potter fans got into fanfiction, fanart, and even fandom in general through anime and manga fandoms rather than through Western media fandoms. This is hypothesized to have had a stylistic effect on fanworks and contributed to a lower overall age than in some other Western fandoms. It has also been suggested that Harry Potter fandom has an unusually high proportion of fans who have never been in a fandom before, i.e. was a threshold fandom.
==Shipping, Slashing, and Arguing about Canon==
With such a large cast of characters, HP also has a large number of potential pairings to ship. Many ships are popular enough to have multiples archives, fests, or Livejournal communities devoted to them; some ships have so much fannish infrastructure and so little crossover with other ships that in practice they act as separate fandoms.
Shipwars and debates over which pairings count as canon are common in many fandoms; however, Harry Potter fandom is particularly notable for the large proportion of fans who supported pairings as canon that were later proven not to be. These included Harry/Hermione (see also Harmonians) and Remus/Sirius, among others. The latter is especially unusual for being a same-sex pairing.
See also List of Harry Potter Pairing Names.
==Fanfiction==
Harry Potter fan fiction appeared mainly in the form of online fan fiction. Based on the timing of the books and movies (post-Internet), printed fanzines were not the norm. However a small number of fanzines - gen, het and slash, were printed. In addition to traditional fanzines, Harry Potter also created a small but thriving amount of doujinshi 'fanzines' in both English and Japanese. The presence of a large number of anime and manga fans most likely also contributed to the wider acceptance of doujinshi fanzines.
For a list of Harry Potter fanzines on Fanlore, see: List of Harry Potter Fanzines.
For a list of Harry Potter doujinshi on Fanlore, see: List of Harry Potter Doujinshi.
Online fanfic was first posted in 1999"My personal fiction place on the website! It contains one of the first ever Harry Potter fanfictions (written in late August 1999) which sparked the HP frenzy at FanFiction.net. It also has the first Severus Snape-sympathetic story written! Furthermore, this section houses "The Enemy Series," which has been slowly coming out since late 1999 into 2002." -- Fanworks, accessed August 18, 2016 and was probably by Gypsy Silverleaf."I'm actually one of the first writers ever, I got the administration over at FanFiction.net to start the Harry Potter fan fiction section, I wrote the first Severus Snape-oriented fic, and I started the Draco/Hermione ship. Scary, no?" -- Fanworks, accessed August 18, 2016
The first four Harry Potter fic pioneers were: Gypsy Silverleaf, Katie Bell, Elizabeth Notrab, and Flourish Klink. Others followed very soon afterward."The First Four Fanficcers to post their fanfics online were: Gypsy (also the first Harry Potter fanfic archivist at harrypotterrealm.com), Katie Bell, Elizabeth Notrab, Flourish (yes, that's me). Slightly later, but just as ancient, were: Tinderblast, Colin, Blaise, Meagan, Morrigan, Cairnsy, CLS, the WolfieTwins, Alicia/Sue Spinnet, Masoumi." -- Flourish Klink at Some Notable Oldbies, a FictionAlley primer, accessed August 18, 2016
An early description (~2002) of options for fans of Harry Potter fic is this one by Flourish Klink: 
HP fanfic is incredibly diverse and can be classified by character generation or time period, as well as by gen, het, or slash. There are stories about Harry's parents' generation at school or during the first war with Voldemort, the survivors of the war, Harry and his peers at school, Harry and his peers as adults, and the next generation of characters who are briefly mentioned in the epilogue of the seventh novel. Still older generations have been explored in stories: Dumbledore, Voldemort, Grindelwald, and some of the Hogwarts teachers. Founders Fic plays with the original Hogwarts founders (Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin), who were alive during the Middle Ages. Finally, cross-generational ship fic, as well as not so shippy fic, is popular.
HP fanfic can also be sortedSorted, get it? by the era in which it was written. Before the seventh book was published and canon closed, the period following the publishing of each new book represented a new wave of fanfic with new genres, tropes, and canon interpretation. The three-year summer between the fourth and fifth book saw a vast increase in the size of HP fandom and, consequently, its creative output. Starting with the fifth book, major recurring characters died in each subsequent book, forcing fans of those characters to decide whether to write canon-compliant stories, bring the character back to life, or simply ignore canon.
Given the time span covered in the books, HP "futurefic" is relative. Many stories were written about the second war with Voldemort before it took place in canon. A large body of work featuring aged-up versions of Harry and his peers appeared long before the final book was published, but the epilogue, which showed Harry at age 36, jossed most of these. A story written in 2005 about Harry and Draco raising a kidSnakes and Ladders by Alvira. Posted: 2005-01-24 (Accessed 4 April 2011) is very different from a story written in 2007 about Harry and Draco's canonical children."Coda To An Epilogue: Twenty Years Later, Or The Kids Are All Right" by Maya, posted August 2007.
Some unusual form of fanfiction includes audio dramas like "Under the Red Moon".
More information about het, femslash, and slash stories can be found in the articles on specific pairings.
===Little Black Dresses===
Various characters have been described as the HP fandom Little Black Dress, including Harry Potter, Severus Snape, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and others.
===Tropes & Subgenres===
Fannish tropes and genres of all kinds can be found in HP fanfic, but the following exist only in HP:
* Aurorfic
* OBHWF
* Severitus (trope)
* Veelafic
* Wizarding Politics
* Epilogue? What Epilogue?
* Re-sorting fic
* Lie Low At Lupin's
===Examples===
* (Severus Snape/Ron Weasley) by starstruck19860
* Parfois, les Serdaigle aussi sont courageux ! by Fred et George (French-language Marauders era) (2002-2009)
* 19 Years and 5 Minutes Later by TheMightyFlynn (Harry/Draco, Ginny/Harry, Astoria/Draco) novel-length slash fic with over 100K hits on AO3 and The Optimal Balance, the sequel to "19 Years and 5 Minutes Later".
* Thoughts of Pudding by Brian64 (Harry/Luna/Hermione) (2008-2012)
==Fan Art==
Individual HP fanart is often located on DeviantArt, where there are many groups dedicated to characters and ships (for example, the Draco x Ginny Club, or the Ron/Pansy Club), though some people prefer LJ and its ilk. There are also a number of individual websites and blogs, hosted privately by fan-artists (such as GoldSeven, which features the art of Jenny Dolfen). Many fansites and archives also have fanart galleries, such as MuggleNet and FictionAlley.
===Communities===
* HP Fringeart
* Pornish Pixies
* hpart (link)(hpart WebCite)
* HP SmArt (link)pagewww.webcitation.org/67vV9QBad hpsmart WebCite front page); WebCite profile page.
* HP Art Daily
* HP Art Xchange (link)WebCite hp-art-xchange
=== Zines ===
* Galactic Dust Bunnies 2014 Sketchbook
==Vids==
===Fanvids===
* The War by agentofCHAOS13x
* Not Enough by Leanna aka lightofshadows6
* Kick Me When I'm High by Leanna. Semi-humorously examines Ron/Hermione's relationship, implying their relationship is not the best.
* Breathe In, Breathe Out by zeta0497
* It's OK to be gay! by Ariel333Lindt (October 24, 2009)
===Fan Songs/Filk===
* See Ella Martine, who wrote several character-themed songs.
==Plays==
* A Very Potter Musical Series (2009–2013)
* Puffs (The Only Good Harry Potter Spinoff Is Coming to a High School Near You America’s second-most-popular student play is a very unauthorized wizard story. J.K. Rowling could learn something from it. (2023)
==Roleplay==
* Zauberhogwarts German-language roleplay site
* Witchcraft & Wizardry TTRPG by Stories Told on Twitch
* Pottermore
* Ardnieu University
* , the 2027-2028 school year.
* Hogwarts Is Here, an online school with Hogwarts courses from year 1-7 and roleplay forums.
==Mailing Lists==
Harry Potter fandom had a significant presence on Yahoo! Groups but, like other fandoms, was affected by the removal of adult groups from the Yahoo! Groups search directory in 2001. Many groups dwindled or were deleted after the majority of their members moved to LiveJournal.
Some significant lists, past and present, include:
* HP-BDSMslash
* HPforGrownups
* ParadigmOfUncertainty
* Armchair Slash - Harry/Draco
* hpslash
* WIKTT (When I Kissed The Teacher) - Snape/Hermione
* The Old Crowd
* HP_Fanfic_Recs
==On LiveJournal==
By the end of 2002, many Harry Potter fans had migrated to Livejournal. Many of the older HP LJ communities first saw significant traffic in early 2003.
A partial list of Harry Potter journaling communities can be found at :Category:Harry Potter Communities. The list overlaps with other kinds of Harry Potter fan communities.
In 2005, a master list of Harry Potter LJ communities was posted to newbieguide, an introduction LJ community for newcomers to Livejournal. It can be seen here.WebCite for the LJ newbieguide. FanHistory.com also has a list of Harry Potter LJ communities on or around 2006 that can be seen here. Fans would often list their favorite LJ communities such as Beren's list in 2003 here,WebCite for beren writes LJ community list. perle9240's 2006 list here,WebCite for perale9240's Harry Potter LJ list. slinkhard's 2006 list by pairing,webcite for slinkhard's list. or Maddy Riddle's undated list here.WebCite for Maddy's LJ community list.
Other masterlists
* hp-ficathons (link) - list of challenges, fest or ficathons in the HP fandom on LJ
* hp-masterlists (link) - A searchable resource for finding Master Lists to fests, challenges, exchanges, big bangs, etc. in the Harry Potter fandom.
* potterfests (link) – all Harry Potter fests, exchanges, challenges, and bigbangs with a current Masterlist of all Challenges and a Weekly Schedule of Upcoming Events.
Additional LJs
* HP100 - drabble community on LJ
* hpslash (defunct)
* ParryHotter
* afamilyaffair
* Crack Broom - long-running multi-ship recs community
* The Babbling Chronicles - for badly written quotes from fanfics
* 93 diagon alley link
* The Black Tapestry link
* One Bad Man - daily reccing comm for Severus Snape and Lucius Malfoy (2010-ongoing)
===Strikethrough===
When LiveJournal began deleting journals and communities that featured underage sex in 2007 a number of Harry Potter communities were affected as well, such as the popular Pornish Pixies. As a result, a portion of the Harry Potter fandom (especially Harry/Snape fans) moved to other journaling platforms such as JournalFen and InsaneJournal, where they could continue their practice without fearing oppression from corporate entities.
The main Harry/Snape fest Snarry Games moved to InsaneJournal for the 2008 round of the Games. Even after LiveJournal reinstated some of the deleted journals and people slowly started to move back, Snarry Games remained on IJ.
The main het Christmas exchange Smutty Claus moved the fest to JournalFen in 2007, but in 2008 Smutty Claus was back on LiveJournal.
== Archives ==
See List of Harry Potter Archives.
== Fan-Run Conventions (fan cons) ==
===Harry Potter Symposiums===
* Nimbus (Orlando, FL 2003)
* Convention Alley (Ottawa, Canada, 2004)
* The Witching Hour (Salem, MA 2005)
* Lumos (Las Vegas, NV 2006)
* Phoenix Rising (New Orleans 2007)
* Prophecy (Toronto 2007)
* Sectus (United Kingdom 2007)
* Portus (Dallas, TX 2008)
* Terminus (Chicago, IL 2008)
* Convention Alley (Ottawa, Canada 2008)
* Accio (United Kingdom 2008)
* Azkatraz (San Francisco, 2009)
* LeakyCon (Boston 2009)
* Infinitus (Orlando 2010)
* LeakyCon (Orlando, FL 2011)
* Aeternitas (New Hampshire, 2011)
* DiaCon Alley (Canterbury, UK, 2011)
* Ascendio (Orlando, FL 2012)
* MISTI-Con (Laconia, NH, 2013)
===Other===
* Oxt00b (2003)
* CauldronCon (2005)
* Lubricus (2011)
== Challenges ==
:For the full list of challenges on Fanlore, see :Category:Harry Potter Challenges
Harry Potter has had more than a hundred exchanges and fests. Some continue year after year. Some are a single event. Either way, there have been and will continue to be a huge number of Fests & Exchanges in Harry Potter fandom.
There are Big Bangs and holiday exchanges and every type of fest from Death Eaters to Gen and everything in between.
Check out the List of Harry Potter Fests & Exchanges and feel free to add whatever fests or exchanges that are missing.
* HP SAFFICS - 
* HP Shipuary - 
* HP Flowers - 
* HP Fruit Fest - 
* Harry Potter Cottagecore Fest - 
==Fannish Awards==
:For the full list of awards on Fanlore, see :Category:Harry Potter Awards
*Wandlore Awards
==Newsletters==
* Daily Snitch
* HD Prophet (Harry/Draco)
* HGSS Digest (Snape/Hermione)
* Hogwarts Today
* Potter Prophet
* SnapeNews (Severus Snape)
* SSHP Prophet (Harry/Snape)
:See also List of Newsletter Communities: Harry Potter and :Category:Harry Potter Newsletters.
==Meta/Essays/Discussion Communities==
* HP_Essays ("HP_Essays is a community dedicated to essays, discussion and analysis of the Harry Potter books and movies." (2003-2016))
* The Laurentian Letters edited by Stephanie Dutchen, Amanda Lowanski, Phyllis Morris and Diana Patterson (2004)
* , by Abigail Nussbaum (2005-2007)
* The Harry Potter Lexicon and the World of Fandom: Fan Fiction, Outsider Works, and Copyright (2008)
* Cultural accumulation and improvement in online fan fiction (2020)
* Harry Potter and the International Order of Copyright (2003)
* Harry Potter and the Dubious Hullabaloo (2007)
==Podcasts==
After podcasting took off in 2005, HP fen were quick to jump on the bandwagon. Popular HP podcasts, past and present include:
* FictionCast
* MuggleCast
* LeakyMug
* PotterCast
* PotterFicWeekly
* Slashcast
* Snapecast
* SpellCast
* The Shrieking Shack (podcast)
For a more comprehensive list, see List of Harry Potter Podcasts.
=== Podfic ===
* Warmth by emeraldlove - a Podfic by Cailynwrites and ETL_Echo_Audiobooks (James Potter/Lily Evans Potter/Severus Snape) [2023]
==Meta/Further Reading==
See :Category:Harry Potter Meta
* there are many essays at Scribbulus
* Reputation by Lindsay the Ethereal (November 1999)
* Harry Potter - Banned?, titled at Harry Potter's Realm of Wizardry as Who to Die by Michela (December 17, 1999)
* , by The Brat Queen (essay addressing censorship) (undated, but probably about 2000)
* OT: Harry Potter Slash Fiction and an Appeal, a conversation spanning five pages at alt.startrek.creative.erotica.moderated (2001)
* When Harry™ Met Selling: Can Harry Potter survive a multi-million-dollar marketing blitz and the pressure to save the Christmas retail season and still keep his innocence? by Michelle Chihara for "News Review" (November 15, 2001)
* The Very Secret Diaries of Aja (2003)
* We Didn't Start the Fandom (a Harry Potter filk that parodies Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire". It details much of the history and wank of the Harry Potter fandom up through 2006 (pre-Deathly Hallows).) (2006)
* by Emma Love (2006)
* Made in China: JK targets Potter fake by Murdo Macleod (2007)
* , a klutz (November 2010)
* Drarry, Snarry and Snape: The Queerest of the Queer - Heteronormativity and Queer Theory in Harry Potter Slash Fan Fiction, a Master Thesis from 2011
* The secret life of Harry Potter, an article from 2011
* Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, reviewed by Katy Armstrong, at Strange Horizons (September 2016)
* , by Aja Romano (September 2016)
* (December 2022)
* by Timothy Burke
* Harry Potter Spell Quiz
* Professor Julian Wamble's videos taken from his course 'Harry Potter & The Politics of Social Identity'
==References==
Category:Harry Potter
Category:Werewolf Fandoms