Canon

Template:Entirely Out-Of Universe

 File:J.K.-Rowling-2021-Photography-Debra-Hurford-Brown-scaled.jpg  **Canon** is a term used to describe a fixed collection of material that is considered part of the Harry Potter world. The Harry Potter Wiki uses a ***three tier system*** which determines what sources are true and what sources are not.
The Wiki believes that ***J. K. Rowling***'s word is law. Any material she has written or was involved in or has stated is canonical is the highest level of canonicity - even the illustrations, drawings, hand-lettering etc. that she created are part of that.
The Wiki also considers the texts written in their original language, ***J. K. Rowling's British English*** and editions with corrections she approved are the most valuable.
Any extra material she has provided for select editions or copies of the books as well as her own pronunciation, intonation, etc. are considered tier-one canon as well as thing she says in videos, interviews and audio recordings of her reading her writings or talking about their content also belong to this category.
When J.K. Rowling contradicts herself, the newest source is to be taken as the "most" canonical. When J.K. Rowling makes obvious errors that the reader can see (i.e. mathematical errors, dates of events errors, characters saying the wrong things, etc.), they are either rectified in later editions or remain mistakes, some of which lead to plotholes.

## J. K. Rowling's Wizarding World canon tiers

### Tier One: **J. K. Rowling**

This tier only contains all the material proved to be coming from ***J. K. Rowling*** herself. She either wrote the following sources herself, was involved in writing/developing them and/or stated to consider them as canonical herself. Texts in their original language, with J.K. Rowling's corrections and editions with extra material are the most valuable but ***American English editions*** may occasionally have more material, for example ***Dean Thomas***'s description was left out of the ***British edition*** of Template:PS after the intervention of her editor (you can see the differences between editions of the books here). When Rowling wrote some words in another language than ***British English***, her words have more value than translation of the same terms (for instance the word "muggle" was translated to "moldu" by Jean-François Ménard, the man in charge of the French translation of the Harry Potter series, but years later in Template:COG Rowling herself used the term "Non-Magique" which is now the most canonical term). Most of the sources below include some content not coming from Rowling herself such as ***book covers*** or illustrations (check their copyrights); this type of content is excluded from tier-one. Only the ***visual arts J. K. Rowling created herself*** as well as her own pronunciation, intonation, etc. (from videos and audio recordings of her reading her writings or talking about their content for example) belong to this category. When J.K. Rowling contradicts herself, the newest source is to be taken as the "most" canonical. If published, the Encyclopaedia of Potterworld should belong to this category.

### Sources included in Tier One

* The Hogwarts Library books Template:C:
	+ Template:QTA
		- *Editions since 2012* feature a different library borrowing log replacing the one in first editions as well as the additions of a hand drawing of a noughts and crosses game and an arrow and heart on the same page.
		- *The Audiobook* contains over 90 minutes of bonus content: in 2014 J.K. Rowling wrote some additional content for Pottermore, including the History of The Quidditch World Cup and commentary of the 2014 Quidditch World Cup final by Ginny Potter and Rita Skeeter.
		- The *Bloomsbury 2017 edition* features interior illustrations by Tomislav Tomic replacing the illustrations by Rowling.
	+ Template:FB
		- The *editions published prior to 2017* included a foreword "by Albus Dumbledore" and interior illustrations (such as handwritten notes) by J.K. Rowling.
		- The *2017 Editions* feature information about 6 new beasts, some corrections, a new foreword "by Newt Scamander" and new interior illustrations replacing the previous foreword "by Albus Dumbledore" and illustrations by Rowling.
	+ Template:TBB
		- The *Limited Collector's Edition* includes a reproduction of her handwritten introduction and illustrations from J.K. Rowling that have never been released through another source.
		- The *Bloomsbury 2017 edition* features interior illustrations by Tomislav Tomic replacing the illustrations made by Rowling.
* Short texts set in J.K. Rowling's Wizarding World:
	+ Template:DP
	+ ***Information from the original 101 Famous Wizard cards***
	+ ***Harry Potter prequel***
* Content from J.K. Rowling published in Pottermore Presents:
	+ *Hogwarts: An Incomplete and Unreliable Guide*
	+ *Short Stories from Hogwarts of Power, Politics and Pesky Poltergeists*
	+ *Short Stories from Hogwarts of Heroism, Hardship and Dangerous Hobbies*
* Other content and statements pertaining to J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World from:
	+ Template:JKRS
	+ Template:JKRT
	+ Template:PM
		- The original interactive site that had J.K. Rowling's involvement during development, and included pieces written by Rowling as companion readings to the book chapters.
		- Content that could be found on later versions of the site that have been written by Rowling herself.
	+ Template:WW (content written by Rowling only)
	+ ***Auctions and exhibitions***
		- Following the exhibition Harry Potter: A History of Magic opening at the British Library on October, 20 2017, two books: Harry Potter: A History of Magic – The Book of the Exhibition and ***Harry Potter: A Journey Through a History of Magic*** (October 2017) will be published featuring unseen sketches and manuscript pages from J.K. Rowling.
	+ Documentaries
	+ ***Articles and interviews***
	+ Template:WBS and Template:WBP
* Original scripts for films and plays set in J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World:
	+ Template:CC's **story**
	+ Template:FB
	+ Template:COG
	+ The script of ***Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore***
* Any other element (from other sources) that can be proved to be coming from J.K. Rowling herself

### Tier Two: **Based on J. K. Rowling's work**

These sources do not contain information directly from the "mouth" of J. K. Rowling, but they are projects based on works by her, and in which she was involved in some capacity at some point.

### Sources included in Tier Two

* Book covers and illustrations not created by J.K. Rowling.
* Films
	+ The eight *Harry Potter* films:
		- Template:PS
		- Template:COS
		- Template:POA
		- Template:GOF
		- Template:OOTP
		- Template:HBP
		- Template:DH
			* Template:DH
			* Template:DH
	+ Other films set in the *Harry Potter* universe:
		- Template:FB (all elements except the ***script/dialogue*** unless the actors ad libbed or improvised)
		- Template:COG
* Template:PM (content found since the ***2016*** relaunch that was not written by Rowling herself)
* Template:WW (content that was not written by Rowling, including feature articles)
* Official books about the making of the films:
	+ Template:HPFW
	+ Template:HPPS
	+ Template:HPLE
	+ Template:HPV
	+ Template:HPV
	+ Template:HPV
	+ Template:CB
	+ ***Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Art of The Film***
	+ Template:WWMM
* Exhibitions about the making of the films:
	+ Template:MHP
	+ Template:HPE
* Theme parks based on the *Harry Potter* universe:
	+ Template:WWHP
* Template:CC's **script** (only the story was co-developed by J.K. Rowling and considered canon by her but she did not write the play)

### Tier Three: **Licenced**

These sources are where J. K. Rowling or Warner Bros. (the makers of the *Harry Potter* films and her primary licensee) licenced the use of elements of the *Harry Potter* universe to a third-party.

### Sources included in Tier Three

* Other video games based on the *Harry Potter* universe:
	+ Template:QWC
	+ Template:LEGO
	+ Template:LEGO
	+ Template:LEGO Template:C
	+ Template:FBC
	+ Template:WBS Template:C
	+ Template:WBP
	+ Template:HM
	+ Template:WU
	+ Template:MA
	+ Template:HL

* Template:CC's *production*, including casting and sets.
* Trading cards based on the *Harry Potter* universe:
	+ ***Famous Wizard Cards*** Template:C
	+ Template:TCG
* Other official merchandise

## Fanon

Main article: Fanon
At the opposite end of the spectrum from canonicity is fanon, which consists of information, stories and supposition that has been created by fans, that are not actually addressed in any of the canonical sources listed above.

Fanon is not considered part of the Harry Potter world created by Rowling and has no place on the Wiki.

## Uncertainty

The canonicity of the short film Template:QH is uncertain, given that it centres around a major anachronism - the date of Queen Elizabeth II's 80th birthday - and contains other elements that appear to contradict the continuity of the novels and the films.

Rowling was reportedly at work on a *Harry Potter Encyclopedia* project, but at this point work on it has apparently been discontinued in favour of *Pottermore*. Nevertheless, should it someday be completed, the information within will presumably be considered canon.

As expected, many fans have varying ideas of what is canon contrary to the Wiki's view. The HP Lexicon has the policy that only sources from JKR is canon.

Many fans have debated the canonicity of *Harry Potter and the Cursed Child*. The play is based on an original idea by her and she had some part in the development of the plot. However, she did not write it and fans with a negative view of it have commented that it cannot be considered canonical, as it contradicts previous canonical material. It is not known exactly what she came up with. Some fans believe the dialogue is not canonical and separate the script from the plot entirely. However, Rowling has stated that the story of the play is considered canonical by her and since her word is law on the Wiki, the play is considered canonical as well.

## Notes and references

Template:Reflist

1. ↑ Differences between editions of the books
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Including the content no longer found on the current version of the website.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Canon from her Twitter account, documentaries, interviews and articles she did not write herself may have been provided without a time of reflection as long as when Rowling is working on a book, a text or an article and may contradict information from other sources of canon. Her exact quotes are also most valuable than reports of her comments.
4. ↑ http://www.harrypotter.bloomsbury.com/uk/british-library-editions/
5. ↑ J.K. Rowling is credited for "Words and Creative Thoughts" in Template:WBS while her website said that she wrote "spell descriptions and stories". J.K. Rowling is credited "for her creative contribution and writing" in Template:WBP, a press release said she created ***Zygmunt Budge***, the ***Wizarding Schools Potions Championship*** and its location especially for Book of Potions. It seems like she was less involved in Template:WBP compared to Template:WBS but both games include texts not coming from her. Distinction between the parts from J.K. Rowling herself and the parts from the developers is not possible.
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Only the story was co-developed by J.K. Rowling and considered canon by her (J.K. Rowling (@jk\_rowling) on Twitter: "The story of #CursedChild should be considered canon, though. @jackthorne, John Tiffany (the director) and I developed it together.") but she did not write the play.
7. ↑ The movie script was written by Rowling but the book was edited to match the final theatrical release of the film: some scenes were deleted or edited, the actors ad libbed lines, etc. Some of the home medias of Template:FB contain 11 deleted scenes (lasting 14:33 in total): *Major Investigation Department; Jacob Tenement; Newt's Case; MACUSA Cell; Creocreatura; Tracking Demiguise; Suitcase Celebration; Skyscraper Roof; Obscuris Unleashed, Part 1; Obscuris Unleashed, Part 2; Newt Goodbye* which script is not featured in the book.
8. ↑ J.K. Rowling wrote letters to some of her fans containing new information and created/approved/was involved in the creation of some original content for non tier-one canon's sources such as the **Harry Potter video games**, the film series (for example, some ***Black family*** members appears only on the version of the ***Black family tree tapestry*** shown in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and were not included on the version of the tree which J. K. Rowling gave to a charity auction in ***2006***, according to director ***David Yates***, Rowling provided the filmmakers with a copy of the Black family tree going back eight generations; so the filmmakers presumably received a more complete version of the tree than the one auctioned off, which only goes back six generations), the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, etc. if it ever happened that one specific element can be proved to have been originated directly from J.K. Rowling herself (or at least that she considers it canon) then this one element can be added to the tier-one. Unpublished/unused material Rowling created (such as drafts, cut content, proof copy, changes editors forced her to do, or ghost plots) have a specific status.