What Garvan says about the guy in Missouri is true. It happened in one of our churches in a neighboring congregation.

His parents were homeschooling him and carefully selecting readings that accorded with the Christian worldview. Their first mistake came when they allowed him to read the Narnia books, which they thought reflected the Bible despite the magical elements. I can't remember exactly how he got his hands on Harry Potter, but it was something like he went to a bookstore one time with an auntie who asked him what kinds of books he liked, and he said "Narnia", so she bought him a Harry Potter book.

That night, he awoke in a cold sweat screaming. His parents kept asking him was what the matter and he replied using strange words that they hadn't heard before. Under the covers of his bed they found one of the Harry Potter books, he had read about three-fourths of it. He wasn't able to function normally and his parents sent him to a Christian counsellor, who suggested sending him to a Christian camp for psychologically-disturbed children.

When Pastor K came to hear of this story, he related it to us in a memorable sermon called "Hogwarts: Hogwash". He also told us that there is a homosexual character in the books, which hardly seems appropriate for children. And he said that even though Lewis and Tolkien claimed to be Christians, we should not be wary of letting our children read their books or watch the films, because children may confuse fantasy with reality. (e.g. many children poke around in the wardrobe after reading C.s. Lewis, hoping to find a magical kingdom there, just as children try summoning up the Devil after reading Harry Potter) I myself read Lewis and Tolkien and enjoyed them before I was saved, but if Nancy and I are lucky enough to be blessed with children, we will not be permitting our children to read this material. Any other parent should think hard before sending their children into this world of uncertainty.