Readability

The Harry Potter Book Series Word Count

If you’re a Harry Potter fanatic (and who isn’t?), you might wonder how J.K. Rowling managed to write so much content for one series of books! In fact, the book series is so popular that the characters and stories continue to live on, long after Ms Rowling finally finished her incredible books.

Jonathan Gillham

If you’re a Harry Potter fanatic (and who isn’t?), you might wonder how J.K. Rowling managed to write so much content for one series of books! In fact, the book series is so popular that the characters and stories continue to live on, long after Ms Rowling finally finished her incredible books.

A Global Phenomenon!

Did you know, the book series sold 500 million copies worldwide to millions of readers and there followed a series of blockbusting, sell-out movies too.

How Many Novels are There in the Harry Potter Series of Stories?

Before we find out how many words there are in the Harry Potter books series, let’s recap on the number of books in the complete set.

The  series of books consists of eight different books (with the same key characters and some new ones appearing along the way).  Is this an adult book series?  Yes and no - it's suitable for ages 9 and above, popular with adults and children.

Here’s the full list of books in date order:

  • Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone published in 1997.
  • Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets published in 1998.
  • Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkhaban published in 1999
  • Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire published in 2000.
  • Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix published in 2003.
  • Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince published in 2005.
  • Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows published in 2007.
  • Harry Potter and the Cursed Child published in 2016.

So – there you have it, J.K. Rowling wrote eight fantasy genre Harry Potter novels.

The Total Word Count and Individual Word Count - Harry Potter Novels

Now you know how many novels J.K Rowling wrote for the Harry Potter series – let’s give you the exact word count! All eight books equate to 1,133,244 words! Here’s a breakdown of each:

  • Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s word count is 76,944.
  • Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets word count 85,141.
  • Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkhaban word count 107,253.
  • Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire word count 190,637.
  • Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix word count 257,045.
  • Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince word count is 168,923.
  • Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows has a total word calculation of 198,227 which makes it the longest book in J.K. Rowling's series of novels.
  • The eighth book, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, published word count 49,074.

Note - the above is not an average word count - but an exact word count.

Other Books Worth Reading

If you like reading Harry Potter and you want to enjoy some other genres then you may enjoy the following famous novels:

  • Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte.
  • Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy.
  • The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck.
  • The Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry.
  • Moby Dick by Herman Melville.
  • Catch-22 by Joseph Heller.

Using an Online Word Counter Tool

Did we use an online word counter to assess the word count? No – because it would be pretty difficult to copy and paste the books into a word count tool, and they're not built to count books. You could do it but it would take an enormous amount of time! However, you could paste sections of text into a reputable online word counter to assess the quality of writing as well as the quantity of writing.

What Is The Best Online Word Counter Tool?

If you want to do this, the best online word counter tool has to be Originality AI which not only calculates word count, but also scans text for plagiarism and AI-generated text. Oh, and it has a useful character counter too – with and without spaces.

How to Read Harry Potter's Popular Books Without Reading the Entire Series

Not a reader? Don’t worry! The book series is available as an audio book and you can also download them in movie format so you can watch them all in their spectacular glory at home while curling up with a box of popcorn! Saves you a few weeks reading the series, that’s for sure!

Jonathan Gillham

Founder / CEO of Originality.AI I have been involved in the SEO and Content Marketing world for over a decade. My career started with a portfolio of content sites, recently I sold 2 content marketing agencies and I am the Co-Founder of MotionInvest.com, the leading place to buy and sell content websites. Through these experiences I understand what web publishers need when it comes to verifying content is original. I am not For or Against AI content, I think it has a place in everyones content strategy. However, I believe you as the publisher should be the one making the decision on when to use AI content. Our Originality checking tool has been built with serious web publishers in mind!

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