When it comes to which opinion outlined is correct, it all depends on what your views on when it comes to your own religious faith. Being a Christian myself, my view on this matter is that Harry Potter is a fictions character whom I was obsessed with as a child. I owned all the books, movies and toys possible and I was always fixated on letting my imagination take me to Hogwarts. My parents were never heavy church goers but my family and I still have faith in our religion. Researching this subject has put into perspective for me however, how some reactions around the world have caused J.K Rowling to be subjected to a lot of controversy when it comes to her creation of the figure of her imagination. Whether the view is having no religious affiliation within Harry Potter, having lots of Christian symbols or even viewing Harry Potter as anti-Christian novels, it all boils down to what the reader believes. Yes, by all means it is possible for children to become so fixated on wanting to be a witch or wizard that they decide to become a believer in wicca, however, I believe this matter is taken to an extreme. Amongst all my research, the thing I did not come across is if this really happened in some cases. The information to prove this theory could be evident, but I have not read it for myself. Having people burn the books and associate Satan with Harry Potter was an eye opening scenario for me. Yes, the information presented by some critics is believable, but how believable?  I refuse to believe for a second that my parents were the strange ones who would let me read these books under the covers with a flashlight at night without thinking that I would join the occult. I wanted to become a witch and study at Hogwarts, but not because I wanted to be frowned upon by my faith. I wanted to do these things because I had an imagination and because I loved being subjected to the Hogwarts life. I wanted to run into platform 9 and 3/4 and catch the train to Hogwarts, and buy my first broom at Diagon Alley, and know the feeling of triumph when learning a new spell. These books created a memory for me as a child, not a religious decision. Having children experience literature and imagination is the real point of J.K Rowling's creation I think. She wanted children to be able to experience the joy she received from writing this factious place and be able to imagine themselves being part of Harry's life, every step of the way. So if you have a different view on this topic, than by all means stick to your own opinion and let me have mine. In the meantime, think about how great it felt when you were ten to be able to escape the world for just a second and enter the fictions would you were reading in a book. If you have not read these books or one similar, than I strongly believe you should take the opportunity to do so. Being 23 years old and still imagining myself as wanting to be a small child again getting lost in a book, I have Harry Potter and J.K Rowling to thank for this. Although critics have developed a dark cloud over these books and their religious affiliation I want you to take a minute and think about your own opinion on this. Got it? Good. Now throw it all out the window and think for a minute on what it would be like to fly a car and have all your mail delivered by owl. How awesome would all this be? The point is, opinions come and go but Harry Potter books and movies stay in children's lives forever. Thanks Mom & Dad for letting me stay up late and read "just one more page" and not saying anything when I would wake up for the school the next morning tired and zombie like from staying up reading and not saying a thing. I'd like to think I turned out just fine because of this. 

  

   The biggest thing to take from all this is the love of reading. Without books and literature people would not be able to learn and grow. Whether you are a Christian, Jewish or Muslim, your faith has been taught to you by a holy scripture. Being compared to the Bible in the Christian religion is a wonderful comparison. However, damaging this and turning it into something negative is cruel. The Harry Potter series is a promotion of literature and imagination, not Satanism. No matter which way you look at it, Harry Potter is still successful, despite its controversy. I believe this says a lot for the characters contained within the books spines and for J.K Rowling as a person. How about you?