It is hardly necessary to introduce Harry Potter, the boy wizard. The first four books about him have been printed in more than 50 million copies and translated into over 40 languages. To say that Harry is a success would be an understatement. Yet there are plenty of people who don't like him.
The chief concern, from a Christian perspective, has to do with the prohibition in Deuteronomy 18 against occult practices. Might not books like Rowling's give young readers an interest in magical experiences while at the same time presenting the occult as harmless? As a Christian, I feel that such concerns should be taken seriously. The Bible is quite consistent in forbidding divination, witchcraft, interpretation of omens, sorcery, spellcasting, asking spirits or calling up the dead. In the book of Acts we learn that people who had just been converted to Christianity burned their occult books. The pagan practices and superstitions were something they needed to abandon in order to receive Christ.
There is also genuine cause for concern about occultism today, because it is no longer just an insignificant undercurrent in dark corners of our culture. Occult themes have become part and parcel of suspense movies and television series. End-of-the-world scenarios with devils and antichrists appear in rock songs and computer games. New Age cultists openly declare themselves "witches" and claim that there is nothing wrong with that. Thus, we have an "occult wave" which on the one hand means that people delve into superstitious ideas, gnosticism and other stuff from the darker side of the spiritual world -- on the other hand that these very serious matters are no longer taken seriously. Devils and demons have been reduced to nasty characters in entertainment, or funny Halloween costumes.
Christians are right to react when evil is celebrated as good. But in doing so, we should be wise -- not blinded by superstitious fear. Not everything which in some superficial aspect has connections to the occult or to magic, is evil or bad.
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