Very true Imladris, that has been an argument in the recent degades, that nothing is completely original. No story, novel, movie, is completely original, there's atleast one part that is taken from a previous work. Which is why I don't like the word "stealing."
If you want to put it as J.K. Rowling "stole," then you must say Tolkien "stole" from Beowulf, and other Anglo-Norman mythologies. It's a natural thing for authors, directors, painters...etc to do is to use things from previous experiences. There are two ways to explain why authors (or whoever) take from other authors. Either one they use what is called intertextuality, which is purposefully using a previous author's work to draw attention to it, or provide a point. The other is simply that the author (or director...etc) read/saw something previously and were influenced by it in either a positive (or negative) way and unconsciously wrote it into their story.
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