My 9-yr-old finished it yesterday. I dunno, doesn't feel so much like occult as just Fantasy genre. I've read the same story a hundred times before. Any kid that uses HP as a bridge to Satanism was probably headed there anyway.
Now, you want scary....I read "The Amityville Horror" in about two days when I was 11, and THAT was a mistake. Did not sleep for at least a week. That was horrible because it really did feel like the occult. Ugh, still gives me the willies.
well they are ostensibly witches and warlocks which are commonly recognized occult figures and they are apparently the "good guys" in the Potter books. as the Pope, when he was Cardinal Ratzinger said, it tends to blur the distinctions and i just don't think kids need that. i think bright lines are goods when teaching kids. I am far from a book burner and don't begrudge anyone reading it, but i just don't like the idea of it, basically.
When I read Insomnia by King...it gave me insomnia.