These searches DO work!
Anways, I'm glad I found this thread because I have read all four HP books after taking my 11 year old sister and her friend to see the movie.
I love the books because they have heart, plain and simple. And I agree with sistermoon. As long as we are teaching our kids right and wrong where's the problem?? Be worried when your kid starts siding with the villain.
I can't agree with the whole "it's unholy" schpiel. Stories dealing with mysticism and magic are in every culture. If you are going to say the Potter books are detrimental and should be avoided then you might as well take Sabrina the Teenaged Witch off the air. Cinderella's Fairy Godmother, the Wicked Witch of the West, the three fairies in Sleeping Beauty, and the evil witch queen in Snow White will have to go then, right? The Irish have fairytales about leprechauns. Are they demonic? What about the talking candlestick and clock in Beauty and the Beast? Where do you draw the line?
If my sister wants to chatter on about how cool it would be to play Quittich (wizard sport) or have a painting wave hello to her, then so what? It's a fantasy! A dream! If her escape for the day is to attend the Hogwarts School of Magic then so be it.
Potter and his friends have qualities I would like in my own child. They are kind, faithful, moral, and compassionate. And in a world where the hero is often huge, handsome, and wielding a gun, I find it comforting that my sister is admiring a skinny 11-year old orphan with a courageous heart and a wand.
Peace and Happiness!