Bags,
I’ve never paid attention to anything dealing with Harry Potter, but after just reading the “bio” of Tom Riddle - wow, that stuff is evil.
And our nation’s kids have been soaking in all the sorcery and witchcraft and thinking nothing is wrong with it.
You need to put it in context. Even the youngest readers know Harry Potter is fictional, just like the Wizard of Oz (who scared hell out of me as a kid) or the mythical beasts of Narnia. No one loses sleep avoiding wardrobes and no balanced person who has read the HP books stays up nights worrying about horcruxes. It’s fantasy. If you want to read some real horror stories, pick up a copy of the Grimm Brothers Fairy Tales!
But there’s actually a positive and beneficial aspect which is the parallel between the forces of good vs evil that is the fundamental premise of all the books. When I first read them, I thought the author was drawing on history (WWII) but in time I came to see it could be describing present and future times just as well - the battle against the deep state, the shadow government we now fight.
This is just my opinion of course but many others have said the same thing. In any case the message is clear to the reader that evil must be confronted and vanquished whatever the cost, as the hero Harry does throughout the series.
Going back a long time, I'm suspicious of any trend that bursts onto the scene and becomes insanely popular, like this. There was a lot of media boosting of Rowling. The books are well written, but a lot of books are well written.
One thing that's clear is Rowling's books are quite deceptive and subversive. On the surface, they're chaste, with the most sexually provocative thing being a passionate kiss. Beneath the surface, it suggests extreme depravity. These are veiled enough that supporters can claim you have a dirty mind if you connect the dots.
Just a few notations:
Y'know how everyone said Rowling made up that Dumbledore was gay after the boos were written? Nope. He was never married, dressed very swishy, there were implications he was having an affair with a dark wizard in his youth, and implications he was interested in molesting the Harry Potter character.
His brother was into bestiality, specifically goats. He was arrested for performing improper charms on a goat. He raised goats. He talked about goats all the time. His patronus (a spirit force that shot out of the wands) was a goat.
Two characters (Hagird and Professor Flitwick) were cross breeds with mythical creatures. Hagrid was half giant. Flitwick was half goblin.
Tom Riddle's mother was physically abused by her father and brother, and there were strong implications she was sexually abused by them also.
Can you post Riddle bio type?