/lit/ - Literature

>>21450665
You tards it was popular because it's engrossing escapist fiction set in a world you want to be real and filled with charm. The plots were all interesting and mysterious and there are dozens of good characters.
>things like the sorting hat and houses and school competition really appeals to people, everyone likes to think about what they'd be like in the same world
>magical school setting is more interesting to actual kids than almost anything else - you mention Howls moving castle and Earthsea which are both great but they're not as directly spellbinding. I would bet money the Eragon trilogy is more immediately captivating to most interested readers between the ages of 6 and 13 than Earthsea is, and that's an actually poorly written series but it contains a few of the same things rowling uses to hook people
>Harry is an orphan and he's rich, he is the secret heir to magical powers (something more incredible than his actual destiny) and will be undertaking the adventures alone - this all appeals to children especially
Besides that the popularity can be explained by the books being good. I don't give a shit about the movies but the first few are pretty good too, though I didn't like the direction it took at 3 and I haven't really seen any of the others. But having a good series of movies helps a lot. LOTR has the best ever but something like Earthsea or most of them don't.

>>21324273
Yes