NASHVILLE — A private Catholic school in Nashville has exorcised the Harry Potter books from its library because apparently they contain real spells. <br />The Tennessean reported that pastor Rev. Dan Reehill at Saint Edwards Catholic School parish sent an email out to parents saying that after consulting with a bunch of exorcists in the U.S. and Rome, they suggested that Harry and the gang be excommunicated. <br />In the email, Reehil wrote, "these books present magic as both good and evil, which is not true, but in fact a clever deception. The curses and spells used in the books are actual curses and spells; which when read by a human being risk conjuring evil spirits into the presence of the person reading the text."<br />According to the Guardian, the seven-part Harry Potter series was published between 1997 and 2007. <br /><br />It had spells and curses like "avada kedavra" the killing curse; "crucio", the torture curse; and "imperio", which allows wizards to control people's actions. <br />According to the Tennessean, Dumbledore and Professor Snape were still casting spells from the school library last term, but were made to vanish after Saint Edwards opened up a new library. <br />Superintendent of schools for the Catholic diocese Rebecca Hammel told the Tennessean that Reehil was in his authority to say no to Harry and J.K. Rowling. <br />She also added, "we really don't get into censorship in such selections other than for making sure that what we put in our school libraries are age-appropriate materials for our classrooms." <br />Well thank god no one equates getting rid of books with censorship.
