[Emni Windrunner]

Okay, I have a few things to say in reply to your post, Mornie.<P>Firstly, the books are meant to be read with children, not just by children. They were marketed to all ages, not just children. And, being blunt, Book 4 is different from the others in that it is where the face of evil is bared to the reader and the characters; even if I'd let my kids read the first three unsupervised (which I wouldn't, because I'm into the involved parenting thing), they wouldn't go near the fourth one without me. If you would read HP, Mornie, you would be able to tell that much of the narrative is directed to a more mature audience than, say, ten year-olds. Rowling is not necessarily responsible for how her book is marketed.<P>Secondly, Harry does <B>not</B> use magic to defeat Voldemort! In Book 1, he is saved by luck (more on that in a minute, since you brought it up indirectly); in Book 2, he's saved by his wits and his nobility of character; in Book 3, he's saved by the cowardice of the villain (Wormtail, not Voldemort); in Book 4, he barely escapes, and that's by sheer luck, too! In only one of those cases did magic have something to do with it, and that was purely accidental since neither he nor Voldemort knew about the Priori Incantatem.<P>As for the "blessing" you spoke of Mornie--the one placed on Harry by his mother--that did not happen as you seem to think it did, and it most certainly was <B>not</B> magical. Harry's mother died to save him when he was an infant. Because of her sacrifice, he had some protection from Voldemort. It was not a magical protection, but it was a supernatural one; you might call it spiritual protection. That is not to say that her spirit is protecting her--it's not at all implied that that's the case; rather, the sacrifice itself protects him. Lily Potter is not a goddess figure. She is a real woman, a normal woman, and a loving mother. If she ever comes across as larger-than-life, it's because Harry never really knew her and he's idealizing her, which any kid will do for a parent he or she never knew.<P>Finally, in answer to your question about why Harry goes to a school for witchcraft and wizardry...Well, if you have abilities that could give you power in the ordinary world, you could be very dangerous if you weren't trained; any of us could. The point here is that people not trained are potential loose cannons, and people not trained to use abilities responsibly may well use them to dominate others without those abilities. It's the same rationale the Jedi Knights used in Star Wars for the training of everyone with Force-sensitivity. Harry's not in school to learn how to worship the devil or how to rule the world with magic; indeed, he's there to learn that it is not for him to rule the world, and how to defend himself against the devil (hence the required class Defense Against the Dark Arts that he must take all seven years he's at Hogwarts).<P>You have some valid concerns, Mornie. The only problem is that they are secondhand because you have not read the books and your sources may or may not have done so, either (I don't know if they have or not; many criticisms I've run into saying that HP Occultic have been uninformed. I'm not challenging the integrity of your sources, just letting you know that some are more reliable than others). I would encourage you to read just the first book and to see what is in it. If you still don't like it--for whatever reason!--that's fine, but you will have a lot more credibility in your arguments just from the fact that you <B>have</B> read Harry Potter.<P><BR>PS Nothing in Harry Potter has to do with cults. Please note that there is a big difference between <B>a cult</B> and <B>the Occult</B>, as defined in one of my earlier posts.<P>[ July 25, 2002: Message edited by: Emni Windrunner ]<P>[ July 25, 2002: Message edited by: Emni Windrunner ]<p>[ August 17, 2002: Message edited by: Emni Windrunner ]