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The Harry Potter series falls under a number of different genres. [Harry Potter book]

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It’s a school story, as indicated by all the time the characters spend in school…

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…it’s fantasy, due to all the magic…

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…and… it arguably pioneered the genre of protagonists-with-lightning-bolt-scars-and-abusive-cousins. [Harry Potter casts a spell on a table and it floats into the air]

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Granted, it’s a…narrow genre. [Dudley chucks a doughnut at Harry]

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Another genre the series belongs to is that of the Bildungsroman

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Those are novels dealing with the protagonist's psychological and moral growth as they progress from youth

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to adulthood.

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Oof, that’s a mouthful. [Description of Bildungsroman in a mouth]

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Both the word and the definition.

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Alright so this genre is fiction that focuses on how young people grow up, but with more emphasis

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on their psychology than… on how tall they're getting each year. [Girls height is measured]

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Since the series starts with Harry as an eleven-year-old kid, and each successive book covers another

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year in his life, the series almost can't help but touch on various themes that come [The books in the Harry Potter series appear]

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with growing up.

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And no, we don't mean outgrowing your old jackets. [Harry's top rips]

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Luckily Rowling didn't devote too many pages to that kind of thing.

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There's all sorts of pleasant stuff, like learning the value of love, loyalty, and friendship, [Harry's friends by his side]

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something Harry learns plenty about due to his relationships with Ron and Hermione.

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They also help him learn grittier lessons about courage, perseverance, and overcoming

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obstacles.

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Though, to be fair, his enemies also help him learn these lessons. [A Dementor puts down a blackboard]

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Enemies are good for something, you know.

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Although these themes come up as early as the first book, it's only in the third volume,

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The Prisoner of Azkaban, where we start to see one of the more complicated of the Bildungsroman [The Prisoner of Azkaban book appears]

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That is the tension between the emerging individual and the society in which they find themselves.

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Luckily it's not a literal tug of war, because society definitely has the individual outnumbered. [Harry Potter in a tug of war with other characters and he is flung into the air]

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In The Prisoner of Azkaban, this tension is brought out by Azkaban itself: the isolated, [Dementors surrounding Azkaban]

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foreboding wizard prison guarded by dementors.

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When Harry arrived at Hogwarts, the wizarding world seemed like a fantastic place, full [Harry walking through the dining hall]

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of clever spells and exquisitely decorated banquets.

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But Azkaban's a reminder that this society has a dark side.

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Convicted prisoners are kept on this isolated island, guarded by fearsome dementors, and [Prisoner runs away from Dementors]

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it's generally expected that the prisoners will go insane within weeks of arriving.

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Sounds like an extended stay at a Days Inn.

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When Harry learns about Azkaban, he must confront the fact that the evil of the wizarding world [Harry thinking about the Azkaban prison]

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isn't just a bunch of angry renegades with vendettas against him.

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It's also partly institutionalized within the wizarding world…and he can either accept

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this world as it is, or seek to change it.

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Admittedly, we’re talking about some pretty heavy stuff, but if Harry Potter only had [Harry debating what to do]

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to come to terms with sorting hats and levitating candles, the stories might get boring fast… [Harry falls asleep]

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