What made it stand out against other fantasy series in its time? Is it the characters, world, the magic or plot?

Imo its a easy entry to new readers to fantasy world and very easy to read. This clicked big time in non fantasy readers. Its not another sword and sorcery medieval world building epic which made it stand out.

 

The reason Harry Potter got big is because J.K. Rowling got lucky. One day she was in a pub when a revolutionary idea popped into her head- what if people could just shit on the floor and it would vanish right after (this was in no way inspired by JK Rowling shitting her pants in a Pub, and any who say differently hates women).

The idea consumed her. She knew if it could somehow become a reality, it would change the world. She knew that she did not have the expertise or the skills to ever make her dream a reality- but maybe she could inspire someone who could.

It would eventually worms its way into every conversation she had, and it ultimately caused her to lose her job and marriage. She was destitute, living on the streets- but still, she had hope in her heart (and nose plugs, because she was just shitting on the ground quite a bit).

One day as she preached on a corner her vision of a vanishing shit future, she realized something- her message wasn’t getting through to people. She needed to be subtler. She needed to rope them in.

Thus, Harry Potter was born- though his original name was Hairy Plopper, and the first book had an entire subplot where Hermione tries to unsuccessfully figure out where the vanished fecal matter goes. An editor read it as a cold submission and loved it, but asked her to make some little changes.

The vanishing poop would have to go. She was aghast, devastated. She knew that she could get her foot in the door though, so she swallowed her pride and became commercialized.

7 books she tried to work it in, and every time it got to the chopping block floor. She became distracted, lost focus. The books and the adoration were enough. She let her dream vanish like a fart in the wind.

Until she discovered Twitter, and she realized that this was how she could spread her shit ideas to the masses. They would love it!

They did not love it. They laughed, mocked her. It hardened her heart, and broke her. Instead of poop vanishing once it hits the floor, its now a stream of verbal diarrhea against those who would stand against her shit vanishing dream.

TL;DR: They’re fun YA stories that hit the sweet spot where kids and adults could enjoy them, and it had the charm of fantasy but a lower bar to clear to enjoy

 

Well said.

Also, the books aged with the readers in terms of level of adult themes and violence. Compare PS, where 99% of the book is just school shenanigans, with PoA, with child abuse and psychotic mass murderers and soul sucking demons introduced in the first 30 pages.

If you were 11 when PS came out, it means you were about 21 when DH came out. Your level of maturity coincided perfectly with the book's level of maturity.

 

He ate his vegetables

 

That + growth potions to correct all the abuse Dumbledore & the Dursleys inflicted on Harry.

 

Creatine.