Ghost of a flea

In a letter dated March 7, 2003 Cardinal Ratzinger thanked Kuby for her "instructive" book Harry Potter - gut oder böse (Harry Potter- good or evil?), in which Kuby says the Potter books corrupt the hearts of the young, preventing them from developing a properly ordered sense of good and evil, thus harming their relationship with God while that relationship is still in its infancy.

"It is good, that you enlighten people about Harry Potter, because those are subtle seductions, which act unnoticed and by this deeply distort Christianity in the soul, before it can grow properly," wrote Cardinal Ratzinger.

An upfront and popular page on Ubersite, in which the author berates Potter fans not just for liking the books, but also for assuring him he’d like them too (if he’d just give them a chance!). "Let me be honest," he says. "I wouldn’t. . . . In fact it is safe to say that I'd much rather have Satan tear out my rib cage and smash my face in with it than go watch Harry Potter movies, or read any Harry Potter books."