Talk:Harry Potter

Guinness world record and cultural influence

@Sdkb Hey, I just wanted to start a discussion on the removal of this sentence for anyone interested and yourself I don't view this as promoting Guinness world records personally, JK Rowling is British and Harry potter was first published in the UK, Guinness world records is very well known in the UK being a British organization. Perhaps it seems strange to have mention of it if you are not familiar with Guinness World Records, but considering the context it actually is relevant.

I also don't see how this is relevant for the Cultural Influence section, how does it relate to cultural influence? Chattenoir (talk) 22:23, 22 April 2026 (UTC)

Perhaps the latter is better under a new section header? Chattenoir (talk) 22:25, 22 April 2026 (UTC)

Yes, I won't be too surprised if there is discussion to be had about the second thing (as with anything related to controversy), so please split it out into a separate section. Sdkb ^talk 22:28, 22 April 2026 (UTC)

Thanks for opening this thread, Chattenoir. While admittedly I'm less familiar with the U.K. cultural context, overall I think the main significance is the record itself, rather than the fact that Guinness World Records declared the record. We already mention that the series is the best-selling book series in history, so I found another sentence about the Guinness record to be largely redundant. All this is in context of the fact that the lead is lead is already too long and should be kept to the most concise version possible. In an article like this about a huge topic, that sets a high bar for inclusion. I could see a stronger argument for including a mention of Guinness in the body, but based on media coverage I just don't find it due for the lead. Hope that helps clarify my reasoning! Cheers, Sdkb ^talk 22:33, 22 April 2026 (UTC)

Oh, I failed to notice that it was from the lead to be honest. In that case I agree with you that it is perhaps unnecessary for the lead.

I would be happy if it could be mentioned somewhere in the body though, I don't currently see it anywhere. Perhaps I can re-add it under a relevant part of the body, such as Reception; any thoughts on this? Chattenoir (talk) 22:52, 22 April 2026 (UTC)

Yes, the "commercial success" subsection of the reception section would be a very relevant place for it. It can probably be in the same sentence as the record itself, i.e. just adding "which was declared by Guinness World Records". Cheers, Sdkb ^talk 23:03, 22 April 2026 (UTC)

Birthday

i went ahead and added Harry's birth date (31 July 1980) to the beginning sentence of the plot section. It's an important detail that I was surprised wasn't already on the page. Knowing his birthday just adds a little more depth to the page for newcomers who may not have previous knowledge of the series Staticspector (talk) 23:26, 6 June 2026 (UTC)

Which reliable sources say it's important? If there aren't any, then it's not something notable enough to mention in this article, per WP:INDISCRIMINATE. EducatedRedneck (talk) 23:51, 6 June 2026 (UTC)

Voldemort

Can we add the fact evryone callers Voldemort he who must not be named Theonlyapple (talk) 08:36, 14 July 2026 (UTC)

Wikipedia is here only to summarize what reliable sources say on the topic. If you can find such a source, feel free to propose an edit in the WP:EDITXY format, with the source. EducatedRedneck (talk) 11:04, 14 July 2026 (UTC)

Call it children's series in the lead?

@Whynsome has repeatedly attempted to remove the word "children's" when describing the series, despite it being described thus in RS and within the article. Literature critics and the Guinness Book of World Records all describe it as "Children's".

Whysome has again removed the word "Children's" and provide two sources. this one seems to just raise the question "is it Children's, middle grade, or YA?", and this one which actually charactarizes it as a children's series. It also ignores that the lead summarizes the body, which describes it as a children's series. Finally, its main objection is that, the label [of children's] undersells the series as a crossover phenomenon and a YA work per this edit summary. Wikipedia is not here to over or undersell anything, only to report what WP:RS say.

I'd like other editors to weigh in. Should the lead characterize the series as children's? As the prior longstanding consensus was yes, I've reverted it back to say that pending the resolution of this discussion. EducatedRedneck (talk) 17:38, 29 July 2026 (UTC)

Most sources seem to refer to it as, or have it under "Children's Literature", so we should keep it like that (ex. The Oxford Encyclopedia of British Literature or Children's Fantasy Literature: An Introduction). Interestingly though, The Oxford Companion to English Literature categorizes the final few books as YA or even adult literature. ARandomName123 (talk)^{Ping me!} 20:21, 30 July 2026 (UTC)

That is interesting. Does it classify the series as a whole, or only its individual components? EducatedRedneck (talk) 21:12, 30 July 2026 (UTC)

As a consequence, her original audience of child readers matured with her characters and gradually the books became young adult novels and arguably, in the case of book six, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2005), and book seven, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (2007), largely for adults, though they continue to have crossover appeal. ARandomName123 (talk)^{Ping me!} 21:57, 30 July 2026 (UTC)

Interesting. I'm starting to think we need to rework the Harry Potter#Genre and style section. There doesn't appear to be any source for it being urban fantasy, contemporary fantasy, or low fantasy. The given source characterizes it thus: The Harry Potter series of children's/young adults' novels... The "boarding school genre" source does not mention the genre, and another fails verification.

The source you mentioned should be included; though it doesn't define the books explicitly as moving towards young adult, it does provide context for other sources which do. And there's a lot of what seems to be OR in there regarding the many genres which could be removed. EducatedRedneck (talk) 02:08, 31 July 2026 (UTC)