Harry Potter is easily one of the best-known book series in the world. More than six hundred copies have been sold worldwide, and thousands of people credit the series as the books that turned them into readers. Five years ago, it was difficult to go out on Halloween, or step into a school on World Book Day, and not see at least a dozen children wearing robes and sporting lightning-bolt scars on their foreheads.

However, in the past few years, the once-adored series has nosedived in popularity. The number of Instagram users with their Hogwarts house in their bio is dropping, and even BuzzFeed seems to be churning out fewer Harry Potter-related quizzes.

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Why are People Losing Interest in Harry Potter?

Difficulty Separating the Art from the Artist

A central reason for the decline in Harry Potter's popularity, particularly among millennial and Gen Z readers, is the controversies surrounding its author.

In the last few years, J. K. Rowling has received heavy backlash for her comments regarding transgender people.

The controversy began in 2017 when Rowling liked a tweet of an article that referred to a transgender woman in a derogatory manner. In the years since, Rowling has become increasingly vocal about her transphobia, going so far as to tweet transphobic comments herself.

For example, in 2020, she mockingly tweeted: "'People who menstruate.' I'm sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?" And, as recently as October, Rowling tweeted an image of a message projected on a wall reading 'repeat after us: trans women are women' accompanied by a simple caption: "No."

Rowling's controversial actions make it difficult for many previously passionate Potterheads to connect with the series they once loved. Many have decided that the best thing to do is move on to other books with less problematic authors.

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Questionable Writing

Another frequently cited reason for why people are stepping away from the Harry Potter series is due to issues with the books themselves. As time goes on, people are spotting an increasing number of plot holes.

To name just a few: why didn't Dumbledore use a time-turner when Lily and James Potter died and bring them back to life? How did Fred and George Weasley never notice Peter Pettigrew sleeping in Ron's dorm despite having the Marauder's Map? Why didn't Harry take liquid luck before going to kill Voldemort?

Unfortunately, Rowling's writing's issues go deeper than plot holes. Some people find Rowling's naming of characters to be lazy, verging on offensive.

One TikTok user made a video pointing out instances of Rowling's questionable naming of characters. For instance, the user pointed out that the series's only East Asian character is named 'Cho Chang' while 'Kingsley Shacklebolt' is the name of one of the few Black characters. The video received over one million likes, indicating just how popular the view that Rowling's writing isn't up to scratch is.

Failure to Stand the Test of Time

For many young adults, series like Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Percy Jackson appear more timeless. This can be seen by the popularity of Disney's new Percy Jackson and the Olympian series, the first episode of which was one of Disney's top five most-watched season premieres of 2023.

Meanwhile, Harry Potter has become somewhat of an internet joke amongst social media users. The Potter series is rapidly becoming associated with a bygone – slightly cringey – era.

"FFS, fellow millennials," posts one Twitter user. "Take your Hogwarts house out of your Twitter bio. We don't do that anymore."

Another tweeted, "I suddenly get why baby boomers hate millennials when I see people in their forties talking about what Hogwarts house they're from."

Once, liking Harry Potter was enough to make you one of the cool kids. However, today's young adults appear decidedly less impressed by those who wear being a Potterhead as a badge of honor.

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Conclusion

Still, this is not to say that the Harry Potter series has vanished into obscurity. It's difficult for such a world-famous series to disappear overnight. Indeed, its continued popularity is evidenced by the highly anticipated Harry Potter television series, produced by Max, which is set to be released in the next few years.

However, while it's unlikely the series will ever entirely fade from the glow of pop culture, there are signs of its decreasing popularity. Many have pledged to boycott the upcoming Harry Potter television series due to Rowling's heavy involvement. Notably, Harry Potter’s spin-off prequel series, Fantastic Beasts, was supposed to consist of five films but was cancelled after the film, The Secrets of Dumbledore, was received poorly. This raises questions as to how far the new television series will get.

All in all, it’s clear that a number of Harry Potter fans – especially millennial and Gen Z readers – are bidding farewell to the once-beloved series. While the world may not have yet outgrown Harry Potter, signs suggest we may be heading in that direction.

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