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There are many different Harry Potter works including:

  • books
  • short stories
  • movies
  • card games
  • video games
  • toys
  • amusement parks
  • web content

Which ones are considered to be canon?

ibid
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    Related - http://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/23956/are-there-any-works-of-fiction-canon-in-the-harry-potter-universe?rq=1 – Jane S Feb 10 '16 at 05:24
  • Not a dupe, just related :) – Jane S Feb 10 '16 at 05:34
  • @JaneS yeah, but it still took me a couple of minutes to see the connection – ibid Feb 10 '16 at 05:37
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    Man, you get away with all kinds of list questions. I never seem to be able to. :/ – RedCaio Feb 10 '16 at 05:38
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    @RedCaio Yeah, ibid is a ferocious asker, dope! :D – Dawny33 Feb 10 '16 at 05:40
  • Merge completed. Unfortunately the top-voted answer is now not as good as yours or DVK's, but hopefully more votes will sort that out. Comment purge commencing ... – Rand al'Thor Feb 10 '16 at 15:25
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    A new book is coming: https://www.pottermore.com/news/ww-publishing-cursed-child-script-book-announcement – David Banner Feb 10 '16 at 17:01
  • @DavidBanner The cursed child book appears to be identical to the play (it says "script book"), and would have the same canon status. The expanded Fantastic Beasts appears to be from Rowling. The Jim Kay illustrations are not canon. – ibid Feb 10 '16 at 17:09
  • Possible duplicate of Are J.K. Rowling interviews Harry Potter canon? What happens to canon if there's a discrepancy with the book? –  Feb 17 '16 at 02:27
  • @Axelrod The questions are somewhat different and the one answer over there doesn't answer this question at all. – ibid Feb 17 '16 at 03:55
  • I think it depends on who you ask. I believe Lord Voldermort considers all those silly little stories told about that Potter kid to be greatly exaggerated and is far too busy to comment on the matter of best cannon at this time. But he thanks you for your interest in field artillery. – Elliott Frisch Feb 17 '16 at 06:01
  • @ElliottFrisch Lord Voldemort did comment – ibid Feb 17 '16 at 06:03
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    @ibid I don't know how he finds the time. – Elliott Frisch Feb 17 '16 at 06:06
  • @ElliottFrisch Dead people have lots of free time. I do believe that I saw a campaign flyer of his around somewhere. – ibid Feb 17 '16 at 06:10
  • @Ibid I thought something was fishy with this election cycle. – Elliott Frisch Feb 17 '16 at 06:13
  • The answer answers your question. Directly. Considering your voting record, I'm sure you can see that. –  Feb 17 '16 at 17:03
  • @Axelrod On closer reading I can see that the first paragraph of it does address my question, though that isn't it's purpose. Eitherway this question has superior answers. – ibid Feb 17 '16 at 17:09
  • What does "considered to be canon" mean? Considered by whom? – Blackwood Dec 12 '16 at 04:21
  • @Blackwood - The fandom, the authors, the studios, etc. Feel free to VTC as too broad or opinionated, though it has received some excellent answers. – ibid Dec 12 '16 at 04:24
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    I won't VTC as I know there are people who like to have these discussions. I just think that canon is whatever you want it to be. There is no clear authority to say otherwise. – Blackwood Dec 12 '16 at 04:27
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    @Blackwood - Some franchises have clearly established canons and dedicated teams of people who's job is to maintain them, publish "encyclopedias" of them, and keep future works consistent. – ibid Dec 12 '16 at 04:43
  • I'm afraid I'm being grumpy. I posted an answer that tries to describe how I view "canon". – Blackwood Dec 12 '16 at 04:52
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    @Blackwood - As it stands right now, the top three upvoted answers all begin by stating that there is no "official" Harry Potter canon. – ibid Dec 12 '16 at 05:01
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    IMHO the highest cannon in a fiction francise should be the prime version of it. In Star trek TV and movies are the prime version, in superheroes comic books are the prime version, in LOTR the books are the prime version. And it seems to me that the book series that started it all has to be the prime version of Harry Potter. So since some of the answers claim other sources have higher cannon than the 7 Harry Potter novels I am glad I am not a Harry Potter fan - I'd have too many arguments about that. – M. A. Golding Jan 14 '17 at 04:02

6 Answers6

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As Stu Wilson said, there's no "official corporate position" of JKR on the topic; so the exact hierarchy of canonicity is somewhat subjective and personal.

Having said that, I would like to offer what my personal preference is, together with objective explanation of why that order was chosen. (For other commonly accepted opinions, see @ibid's answer)

  1. Pottermore.

    • This is more canonical than interviews for 3 reasons:

      A. Interviews are spur of the moment things where JKR may say something off the cuff. She made mistakes in interviews before. Pottermore is "official" content she spents time to think through.

      B. Much of Pottermore content is much newer than a vast bulk of JKR interviews.

      C. JKR officially noted in 2012 that Pottermore is currently a replacement for her originally-planned HP Encyclopedia.

    • Pottermore is also more canonical than books for the reasons B and C above.

    • Note: This only applies to Pottermore content by JKR. Pottermore content NOT known to be by JKR slides down to same level as films.

  2. Original JKRowling.com website.

    I view it as Pottermore-lite, except that it was much earlier AND wasn't billed as "official encyclopedia stand-in".

    This also includes things like W.O.M.B.A.T.S. and various "gazette" type promotional materials that were at some point posted by JKR.

  3. JKR interviews where JKR clearly announced that the book is wrong (or where there's no discrepancies with the books).

    This includes things like "No, Harry wasn't a Horcrux, no matter what Dumbledore said in DH".

  4. JKR interviews and Wonderbook content where JKR contradicted the books but didn't actually acknowledge that the book was wrong (and the book was earlier than interview)

    But in case of conflict between books and interviews; I view the situation as more of "needs deeper digging" than easy and obvious "book is wrong" kind of dilemmas.

    Note: Wonderbook content not 100% known to come from JKR slides down to just above the films.

  5. HP books 1-7

    Also on this level will be the Fantastic Beasts screenplay if it is proven conclusively to be 100% in JKR's control.

  6. Supplemental JKR books (Beedle the Bard, QTTA, HP Prequel story about the bicycle, Fantastic Beasts, Daily Prophet, Wonderbook content)

    I don't have a very good reason to view main HP books as more canonical than supplementary books; so I can easily agree if someone insists on switching them in the hierarchy. As we know from this excellent asnwer, there are some discrepancies so the order may mattter.

    Also on this level is the Famous Wizard Cards from the EA games which have been confirmed to be written by JKR.

  7. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by Jack Thorne

    This has been marketed as "The Eighth Story", but wasn't written by Rowling.

  8. JKR interviews where JKR contradicted them in later books

  9. Wonderbook content which is NOT 100% known to come from JKR

  10. Fantastic Beasts Film where not proven to be from JKR screenplay

    Higher up than the other movies as JKR exercised greater creative control.

  11. HP Movies 1-8

    Personally, I don't really consider movies canon almost at all. BUT, they are marginally canonical in a sense that JKR did approve a lot of things in the movies and had feedback into them. Some people consider them to be almost as canonical as books. I consider them significantly LESS canonical.

    CAVEAT: The only case where a movie is full canon is when it's a details that's KNOWN to be approved by JKR explicitly.

  12. Facts sourced from Harry Potter amusement parks and Video Games

    This is even less canon than movies but probably a shade above fanfics if there's a reasonable suspicion JKR approved of a specific fact.

  13. Assorted fan fiction

    This is NOT canon at all as JKR didn't approve any of it.

High level, my hierarchy is:

  1. 100% sure JKR word that is planned writing, acknowledging discrepancies with prior canon (e.g. Pottermore content by JKR, jkrowling.com). Pottermore is higher within this subgroup due to being considered an official replacement for encyclopedia
  2. 100% sure JKR word that is ad-hoc (interviews/twitter), acknowledging discrepancies with prior canon
  3. JKR word where there are NO discrepancies, or they aren't acknowledged, and is planned writing
  4. JKR word where there are NO discrepancies, or they aren't acknowledged, and is ad-hoc
  5. Books 1-7
  6. Supplemental books + any material 100% authored by JKR if proven so (screenplays)
  7. JKR's prior word, contradicted by LATER info in #1-6
  8. Info from works that are under some level of creative control of JKR, but not proven to actually come from her fact-wise (movies #1-8; FB movie; Cursed Child). Within this, ordered by the degree of JKR control, e.g. #1-#8 are lower since she exercised less control.
  9. Tertiary works (Video games, Parks)
Community
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DVK-on-Ahch-To
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  • I happened to read this on Twitter today -- J.K. Rowling's author site is now jkrowling.com. All things Potter have been redirected to Pottermore, if I'm understanding correctly. It used to be that jkrowling.com was only about HP, but now that she's written more novels that aren't Potter-centric, jkrowling.com is her generic authorial site. You can access the original HP-centric jkrowling.com by the Way Back Machine -- there's some good info hidden away there. I agree - fan fic is never canon, even if it's extremely canon-compliant. – Slytherincess May 01 '14 at 02:09
  • You might want to note that, while JKR obviously hasn't "approved" any fanfic, she has said in general terms that she doesn't object to it, IIRC. – Kevin Feb 11 '16 at 05:02
  • It may have taken 2 1/2 years, but your answer is finally the top-voted answer. Congratulations DVK-in-Wherever. – ibid Dec 29 '16 at 10:16
  • @ibid - damn, where were you when I was coming up with my updated username earlier this week? I'd have used your version! – DVK-on-Ahch-To Dec 29 '16 at 13:08
  • @DVK-in-Florida - I only really accepted your answer so that Stu's wouldn't be on top of the page. Now I guess I can unaccept it. – ibid Dec 29 '16 at 18:22
  • @ibid - oh no! I shall mourn my 15 rep breaks down and weeps desolately, like Anakin Skywalker forced to spend a vacation in the desert – DVK-on-Ahch-To Dec 29 '16 at 18:39
  • @DVK-in-Florida - But it now is the best answer here. (At the time it was really outdated I think.) Any thoughts now about what to do with FB seeing as the released screenplay ended up being more of a transcription of the finished movie than a copy of Rowling's script? – ibid Dec 29 '16 at 18:45
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    @DVK-on-Ahch-To , why do you place Pottermore and interviews higher in your list than the books? – Myungjin Hyun Jul 13 '17 at 07:25
  • @HarryWeasley - it's right there in the asnwer :) "Pottermore is also more canonical than books for the reasons B and C above." – DVK-on-Ahch-To Jul 13 '17 at 13:06
  • I believe one should consider a source either canon or not, there may not be "canonicity to some extend" even if there is no official policy on that. Like, 1-7 books are definitely canon, fanfics are definitely not. We can argue if the CC is canon or not, but we can't say "it's a bit of canon, but not all the way through". Thus, the information that CC has been marketed as "The Eighth Story", but wasn't written by Rowling" is just a known fact that does not answer the issue of it's canonicity. – Shana Tar Sep 30 '18 at 11:22
  • Do we have any idea where Wizards Unite falls on the canon scale? – DCOPTimDowd Sep 10 '19 at 22:16
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Officially, there is no official position; however I would list the following as canon in this order:

  • the books
  • associated works written by JKR (this includes Pottermore.com)
  • jkrowling.com
  • Interviews

The movies I would not consider canon at all, even though they do follow the books closely, there are enough inconsistencies to merit removing them from canon.

Kevin
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Stu Wilson
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    J.K. Rowling has stated multiple times in multiple interviews that when the books were being adapted to film, she was conscious of the fact that the books are "here" and the films are "there": They form two separate universes or versions of the one story - even though the original is obviously in the books. Therefore, to me, any book that J.K. Rowling has written within the universe of Harry Potter belongs to the only canon that exists. The films, which I still love, are not really part of the same universe and so are simply adaptations. Video games etc are just merchandise. – Arachno-Sapien Jan 30 '14 at 00:32
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    @Arachno-Sapien: A typical attitude among British authors is that there are all canon. Authors just want to tell stories and if canonicity gets in the way then canonicity is ignored in favour of using the correct technique for the given medium. The best way to reconcile this is to use the Marvel/DC formula and just take that the two versions are just different universes that happen to contain similar people/characters. – slebetman Feb 17 '16 at 10:37
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    This is currently the fastest answer to any question on Sci Fi. It is posted more than four years before the question. – b_jonas Sep 18 '16 at 21:08
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    @b_jonas - Duplicate question got merged. – ibid Nov 13 '16 at 19:18
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Neither J.K. Rowling nor Warner Bros has made any official policy over what constitutes Harry Potter canon. (but see the end of this post)

There are differing opinions among fans.

Here are the canon policies of two of the most popular Harry Potter fansites, along with some other popular opinions: (Note: A detailed list of all of Rowling's Harry Potter writings can be found here.)

The Harry Potter Lexicon

Information which has come directly from JKR in either written or spoken form is considered canon. All other sources, including the film version from Warner Bros., are NOT considered official or canon

  • Primary canon

    • The seven Harry Potter novels (Bloomsbury editions, with corrections)

  • Secondary Canon

    • Other Harry Potter books by Rowling (the Scholastic editions, the companion books, the text from the Sony Wonderbook games)
    • Other writings by Rowling (including the original jkrowling.com, JKR's Pottermore writings, The Famous Wizard Cards, The Daily Prophet newsletters, The Black Family Tree, The Harry Potter Prequel & The Fantastic Beasts screenplay)
    • Anything from the movies, games, parks, play etc. which is specifically known to come from Rowling
    • Illustrations by JK Rowling

  • Tertiary Canon (considered to be canon where they don’t conflict with the above sources)

    • online chat and interview transcripts where Rowling is quoted exactly (including Twitter)
    • TV Programmes on which Rowling appears (including 60 minutes, Harry Potter and Me, and A Year in the Life)
    • other interviews where Rowling is not quoted exactly, but her comments reported
    • deductions made from canon, where such deductions are self-evident or virtually certain.
  • Non-Canon
    • Everything else (including Movies, Games, Parks, Plays, fanfiction, etc.)

Harry Potter Wikia

Basically put, everything is canon unless specifically contradicted by a "higher" source.

  • Tier 1 - JKR (These sources come from J. K. Rowling herself. When J. K. Rowling contradicts herself, the newest source is to be taken as the "most" canon.)
    • Books (The 7 Harry Potter novels, Quidditch Through the Ages, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, The Tales of Beedle the Bard)
    • Other writings by Rowling set within the Harry Potter universe, (e.g. the Harry Potter Prequel short story and the Fantastic Beasts script)
    • J. K. Rowling's Official Website
    • Pottermore
    • Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
    • Interviews
  • Tier 2 - JKR Involved (These sources do not contain information directly from the "mouth" of J. K. Rowling, yet they are projects in which she was involved.)
    • Movies (The 8 Harry Potter films, The Fantastic Beasts films, Queen's Handbag skit)
    • The Wizarding World of Harry Potter
    • Book about the films (Harry Potter Film Wizardry, Harry Potter Page to Screen: The Complete Filmmaking Journey, Harry Potter Limited Edition)
    • Exhibitions about the films (The Making of Harry Potter, Harry Potter: The Exhibition)
  • Tier 3 - JKR Licensing (These sources are where J. K. Rowling licensed the use of the Harry Potter universe to another company or individual.)
    • Video games (The 8 *Harry Potter video games, Tie-in video games, such as Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup, LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4, and LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7)
    • Famous Wizard Cards
    • Harry Potter Trading Card Game
    • Other official merchandise
  • Non-Canon
    • Fanfiction

The Seven Book Purists

Only the seven books themselves are canon

(This is a very popular opinion, but I don't know any websites that have adopted it.)

  • Canon
    • The seven Harry Potter books (Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows)
  • Uncertain (Yes, even this policy isn't completely straightforward.)
    • Differences between the Scholastic and Bloomsbury editions
    • Corrections made in later printings of the books.
  • Non-canon
    • Rowling's other Harry Potter writings (including the companion books, and Pottermore)
    • Interviews
    • Movies
    • Videogames
    • Fanfiction

The J.K. Rowling’s Canon policy

If Rowling said it’s canon, then it’s canon.

Many people have pointed to JK Rowling's tweet where she says that The Cursed Child should be considered canon. Therefore, we now have a new canon policy:

  • Canon
    • Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by Jack Thorne
  • Non-Canon
    • The Seven Harry Potter Books
    • Rowling’s various other Harry Potter writings (e.g. the companion books)
    • Pottermore
    • The Movies
    • The video games
ibid
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At this point, I would say only the books should be considered canon.

For me, any "revelation" that JKR has made since the publication of each individual book has been irrelevant or inconsistent with the characters, and the movies made a lot of terrible mistakes. (For example, at the end of the second film, after Dobby is freed, Lucius Malfoy begins to say "avada-" and is then blasted by Dobby. It's safe to assume the next word would have been "kedavra", which is not consistent with Lucius's character, or the setting - outside of Dumbledore's office, broad daylight - .)

Additionally, JKR was a bit sloppy and didn't recheck the books for plot holes, and then made up silly excuses in interviews to cover them up (Fred and George not noticing Pettigrew!) . She has also been inconsistent with her answers (For example, when asked about the number of students at Hogwarts, her answers are all over the place.)

All in all, I personally believe after a book is published the author can't change it. If any of the sources other people mentioned here either expand the universe or clarify the books, then they are probably fine. If they attempt to change what was written, or contradict the original text, they are not canon.

Lord Voldemort
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Books:

  • Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
  • Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
  • Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
  • Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
  • Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
  • Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
  • Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
  • Tales of Beedle the Bard
  • Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them
  • Quidditch Through The Ages
  • Book of Spells
  • Book of Potions

Short Stories:

  • The Harry Potter prequel story 'Drumsticks'

Pottermore website

Miscellaneous information from J. K. Rowling

  • Interviews
  • Tweets

The movies are not considered canon as on several points they conflict with the books.

2

I left a couple of rather grumpy comments on the question suggesting that "canon" is whatever you want it to be. Even if a company, or even the author assert that a given list of works constitutes canon, there is no need to go along with it.

I suppose I should say what I want it to be, although I doubt that my opinion will be popular.

Harry Potter is primarily a series of books, and so I consider the books themselves to be canon. I don't consider derivative works, such as the films, games, etc. to be canon even if the author had some part in developing of approving them.

I will consider commentary or minor works by the author as canon provided it can believably be said to represent what the author meant at the time of writing the main books (it is possible that JKR has gone beyond this).

It isn't that I'm biased towards books. I take a similar position on franchises (such as Star Wars) that are primarily films. In that case, I would consider the films to be canon, and not derivative works, such as novelisations.

Blackwood
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    How about the three side books, the writings published online, or the long texts written by the author for inclusion in video games? – ibid Dec 12 '16 at 05:06
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    This seems simplistic. You need a more nuanced approach when dealing with a canon as complicated as this. What makes the books more 'canon' than the side books or the one-page short story about young Sirius Black? – Valorum Dec 12 '16 at 07:18
  • @Valorum It is simplistic because I don't see the benefit of going into more detail. I would count "side" books and short stories the same way as "commentary by the author" - canon if it can believably be said to represent what the author meant when writing the main books. – Blackwood Dec 12 '16 at 12:22
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    @Blackwood - OK, so as a minimum you need to put that down. The problem with reductionism is what happens when you come across something that fits into neither box a or box b? – Valorum Dec 12 '16 at 15:19
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    @Valorum Fair enough. I'll do that. – Blackwood Dec 12 '16 at 15:26