Christian parents should be fine with letting their children watch the new Harry Potter series

When I was younger, the Harry Potter books were still coming out. I remember my dad specifically taking my older sister to wait outside the bookshop to get a copy of The Deathly Hallows – and then, horror upon horror! – making her go to bed rather than read it through the night.

For us, the stories were about friendship, bravery, and trust. The role of magic—while incredible—played a smaller part in the stories. Not only this, but as we got older and started to experience more of the world, Harry Potter enabled us to apply the lessons we’d learnt from the series to real-world scenarios, without the emotional weight that comes with watching real-life films. The situations that helped guide us through the tough teenage years were ones that encouraged ethics and maturity, rather than an exploration into the occult, paganism, or witchcraft.

The elements of sorcery in Harry Potter and other series like The Lord of the Rings are often seen as bad. Some Christian parents worry that by opening the door to fictional magical worlds, it will open a gateway into the real, mysterious world, where the lines are loosely drawn and anything can happen.

writers like Tolkien and C.S. Lewis invite magic into our lives as mythology, not as manual

However, in Harry Potter, it is clear to me that ……