Oh really? Let's read what Rowling has to say about that:
And what of the controversy raised by some parents who worry the tale of a young wizard promotes witchcraft and the occult? Her answer is direct and unforgiving. "I absolutely did not start writing these books to encourage any child into witchcraft," she says with an uncomfortable chuckle. "I'm laughing slightly because to me, the idea is absurd."CNN, October 1999."I have met thousands of children now, and not even one time has a child come up to me and said, 'Ms. Rowling, I'm so glad I've read these books because now I want to be a witch.' They see it for what it is," she emphasized. "It is a fantasy world and they understand that completely.
"I don't believe in magic, either," she said.
I'd be interested in your source.
BS! I have a 9-yr old daughter who told me that the last time she played at her new friend's house, the little friend wanted her to play they were witches!!!
You are RIGHT, it is ONLY a dream world and fanatasy thing to them!! /sarcasm N O T !!
"I don't know how much research she did, but there's no question that she did quite a lot," Elizabeth Kronzek says. "I think she's been interested in this stuff all her life and is probably somebody who was reading folklore and mythology from a young age. "As I was reading the books, I thought certain names were so funny: grindylows (water demons), hinkypunks (one-legged spirits) and red caps (evil goblins). I was sure she'd made them up. But I discovered that, no, these are actually from European folklore. Some of them are from very, very obscure folklore."
As quoted in a USA Today article and posted on FR Here
Read the fourth and eighth paragraphs. I suppose you could try to draw a distinction between "very obscure folklore" and "occult materials"; but I consider it a false distinction, in that what is folklore to you or me is someone that a Wiccan or neo-Druid will actually take seriously.
See also, later in the article:
"I don't think she got anything wrong in all four books," says Allan Kronzek.
Rowling, a former French teacher and single mom, has been quoted telling a curious fan: "Go and look it up. A little investigation is good for a person."
All in good fun, right?