The Chronological order of Release of the Harry Potter Movies

The chronological order of release of the Harry Potter movies

J.K Rowling’s bestselling books feature a lot from the wizarding world. All Harry Potter movies are magical and a movie marathon on all eight movies has a lot to tell about ‘The Boy who lived’. Well, Some five years after following through the battle of Hogwarts, we also get the introduction of a spinoff and prequel of the Harry Potter films known as Fantastic Beasts that hit the theaters.

All magical stories span from 1926 and have almost the same movie titles; the world of wizards grabs the imagination of numerous fans all over the world but contrary to other series of films that feature numbers to help you keep track, Harry Potter movies only have titles.

This article lists all the Harry Potter films to watch in chronological order together with the spin-off feature films.

Notably, Harry Potter’s story is different from most epic movie franchises in that you must watch them in order according to the sequence of the story. Following an order while watching the movies allows for consistency; besides, you get to stick to the plot threads as they develop one by one from the very first to the last. Any slight deviation from the required order will cause confusion and you will spoil the story.

Release order for Harry Potter movies

Following is the chronological order of the harry potter series.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s stone

This is where it all begins; where you first meet Harry Potter as he joins the rest at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry after he learns he is a wizard and the truth surrounding his family together with the horrible evils that exist in a magical world. The setting of the movie dates back to 1991 but the film's actual release date was in 2001.

In the movie, you get to see several major characters including the renowned arch-nemesis of Harry Potter, Lord Voldemort. The whole movie revolves around a unique philosopher’s stone that belonged to Flamel Nicholas; this is also where Muggles meets Harry Potter. Other new friends Harry potter makes are Ron and Hermione.

In the movie, you won’t see Nicholas Flamel until later one in another Harry Potter series entitled ‘Fantastic Beasts: The crimes of the underworld’.

Harry Potter and the chamber of secrets

The second movie in the series and the second book continue the adventures of Harry Potter and his friends. Some things change, for instance, Lord Voldemort gets stronger and as the children grow older, things become a little darker.

The house Elf Dobby tells Harry Potter in advance not to get back to Hogwarts since Dobby learns of a plot in motion that will cause terrible things to happen. Unfortunately for Harry, he doesn’t take the warning seriously and opts to go back to school with a flying car during his second year at the school when the chamber of secrets is opened.

The setting of the film is in 1992 but the release date was set in 2002.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

During their third year of study, Harry Potter, Hermione, and Ron go back to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and they get tangled into mysterious events revolving around Sirius Black an escaped prisoner who is a major threat to them.

The prisoner has a great impact on Harry Potter’s story and there is a likelihood of Harry being in grave danger because of the escaped prisoner. Moreover, the introduction of dementors brings in more darkness and an increased sense of looming danger. During this period, you will be able to notice how Harry readily embraces his destiny and how Muggle’s family storyline gets less significant. The upside of this entire situation is the school’s new dark arts teacher who gradually helps scared Harry learn how to bring up a defense against the dementors. The film’s setting is in 1993 while the year of release was 2004.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

In this fourth film, Harry Potter gets into a competition involving rival schools of magic however, he faces constant destruction from recurring nightmares. The film is special from the rest because the featured characters are now in their teenage years with Harry being almost 14 in the movie. New teenage themes emerge like relationships and the introduction of the Triwizard tournament and the Quidditch world cup.

Hogwarts hosts the popular Triwizard tournament that brings together the three schools for dangerous, powerful, and magical contests. Harry Potter doesn’t qualify for the contest because of his age but somehow the Goblet of fire, described as an exceptionally powerful object chooses Harry in fourth place as a Triwizard champion.

The initial film setting was in 1994 but was released in 2005.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

In the fifth film of the Harry Potter series, Lord Voldemort is the greatest threat. Previously, there is a warning about his return but most especially from the ministry of magic ignore that to keep themselves from dealing with the scary truth.

Harry Potter and Dumbledore become the main targets of the wizard authorities; gradually, authoritarian bureaucrats seek to seize total power at the school of Hogwarts. Meanwhile. Harry who is in his fifth year takes on the responsibility of teaching a couple of students known as the Dumbledore’s army how to fight off their enemies.

To counter the seemingly real threat from Lord Voldemort, a resistance group is formed and it takes up the name ‘the order of the phoenix’. The resistance seeks to fight the dark lord and those who deny the fact that there is a great problem with the Ministry of Magic. The film, based on a 1995 set was later released in 2007.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

In his sixth year at Hogwarts, Harry Potter finds a certain old book with the initials ‘property of the half-blood prince’; this interesting discovery allows Harry to learn to find out more about the dark past of the Lord Voldemort only for tragedy to occur. This film mostly sheds light on the story of Albus Dumbledore and Severus Snape in several ways and the involvement of Harry and the other heroes with the dark lord and his Death eaters. All the perilous engagements between the two make all the events in this sixth film worth looking into.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1

The final film in the Harry Potter franchise comes in two parts; there is a close connection between the two with the first film released in 2010. The main story in this part of the movie is mostly about hunting to destroy Horcruxes; Lord Voldemort focuses on finding the Deathly hallows so that he gains the title as a master of death.

Harry Potter with his friends Ron and Hermione skip their final year at school in pursuit of Voldemort to bring him to total destruction; their mission is to find and destroy the ultimate source of Voldemort’s immortality which is the Horcruxes. While on their mission, they happen to know about the Deathly hallows which are three extremely powerful objects of magic in the wizarding world made by Death; the objects are stone, a wand, plus the cloak of invisibility.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

The second part of Deathly hallows and the final movie of the eight-part series of Harry Potter was released in 2011. Somewhat similar to the first part, Harry, Hermione, and Ron continue in their search of the remaining Horcruxes that fuels Voldemort’s power; all their efforts to destroy this Dark lord proceeds amidst tension and battles at Hogwarts. A lot of the action now focuses on Hogwarts and it involves some previous parts from earlier films including the Chamber of secrets; the search goes on up to the final clash, an action-fueled battle between Harry and Lord Voldemort.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

The following two films are a spinoff of Harry Potter: Fantastic beasts and where to find them and Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald released in 2016 and 2018 respectively. The films get their names from a Hogwarts textbook with the same title; they also contain several wizard world themes but in an entirely different setting. In the first film, for instance, Newt Scamander, the protagonists of these films arrives in New York to start a magi zoologist venture; the setting of the magical plot dates back to 1926.

Additionally, the movie is set several decades before the arrival of Harry and his friends at Hogwarts School of Wizardry. Newt Scamander is seen in Harry Potter and the prisoner of Azkaban and he writes the book Harry’s fantastic beasts and where to find them, a textbook in the J.K Rowling series of books; the book features some fantastic beasts that manage to escape from Newt’s magical case when he is in New York.

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald

The magical congress of USA captured Gellert Grindelwald in the previous film but he escapes custody and works toward the creation of a new world order that limits rulership over other non-magical beings only to pure-blood wizards. The team of Newt Scamander with his former mentor and Professor Albus Dumbledore seeks to defeat the dark wizard. In the film, you can see the young Dumbledore and other characters referenced in Harry Potter movies like Nicholas Flamel. The setting of the film is 1927 but it was released in 2018. We are waiting for the third release of this series sometime in the future.

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