J. K. Rowling's religious run-in

Nov 20, 2007, 13:30 GMT

J. K. Rowling, signs copies of her novel \'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows\' for children on her US Book Tour at Carnegie Hall in New York USA, 19 October 2007. EPA/PETER FOLEY

Author J.K. Rowling was terrified when a religious fanatic confronted her over her 'Harry Potter' novels.

The books - which tell the story of teen wizard Harry and his times at magic school, Hogwarts - has angered some Christian extremists who claim the series glamourises witchcraft and black magic.

Rowling relived an incident when she was confronted by one such extremist, who ignored the fact she was with her family - 14-year-old Jessica, four-year-old David and two-year-old Mackenzie - when he verbally accosted her.

She said: "One time I was in a toy store with my three children and was recognised by one girl who got all excited. The next thing that happened was a man came up to me and said, 'Aren't you that Potter woman?'

"Then he brought his face close to me and said, very aggressively, 'I pray for you every evening.' I should have said he'd better pray for himself but I was stunned. It was very frightening.

"I want nothing to do with fundamentalism of any sort. It scares me."

The 42-year-old author - who stunned fans when she recently revealed Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore was gay - also spoke about how religion has affected her life.

She added to Scotland's Daily Record newspaper: "I was officially raised in the Church of England but I was more of a freak in my family. "We didn't talk about religion at home. I was immensely curious from the age of 13 or 14, I went to church alone.

"I found it very interesting and I believed in it. But when I went to university, I became more critical. Now I'm back at the point where I started."

(C) BANG Media International