What is the best way to respond to those people who are so adamantly Harry Potter that they try to damage people who read Harry Potter books?

Ignore them
Tell them to stfu
Or discuss the reasons why. (Usually it's just extreme Christian-types.)

I guess all you can really do is try to educate/explain to those individuals about the actual story/themes/morals of Harry Potter since they denounce this work of literary fiction without even knowing what it is about, and try your best not to let yourself become angry because that will just give them more reason to claim that HP is inappropriate and a negative influence. Most of us are open-minded and aren't bothered by the fantasy, we enjoy it; others see such imagination and modernism as a threat to society. It makes me a bit sad that in this day in age when we know so much more about the world and there are less mysteries to us, there are still people who take ideas and principles that are supposed to be personal and positive (i.e., religion) and construe them into fuel for paranoia and accusation against anything different to their thoughts and experiences. It is not as if J.K. Rowling is surreptitiously trying to take over the world via her Harry Potter novels- for good writers most of their motivation is personal and gratifying (but that does not mean that they should not be able to make a good living, it is still work), and J.K. is much more than just a good writer. To put this in perspective: I am a recent college graduate, going on 22 years old. I have always been an avid reader, especiallly sci-fi/fantasy/adventure, and my parents have never hindered me in this area, they are actually proud about it. I have been reading Harry Potter since I was 11 years old (half my life basically) and what attracted me to the book, besides that it looked interesting, was that I recognized the title but couldn't recall how. Months later, having already read the first 3 books (that's all that was published at the time ^_^) and waiting for the 4th, I recalled why Harry Potter was familiar before I had read it: months prior to reading the books while watching the news there was a segment about Christian radicals condemning Harry Potter as sacrilegious, that it promoted witchcraft and devil-worship and they demanded for it to be banned from public and school libraries and ultimately an end to its production and distribution in the United States; they even had huge book-burning gatherings. Even at that time,11 years old and not yet having read Harry Potter, I thought that this was insanely ridiculous and a waste of time and I was puzzled as to how people can have such intensely negative perceptions on something they have no idea about (when asked what they don't like in the book they clearly say they have never even opened it, they refuse to, but KNOW that it is full of wickedness); I guess this hatred is born from keywords such as 'wizard',' magic', or 'wand', which to them equate to blasphemy and evil recruitment. I find this to be a horrible shame, if only they knew how truly entertaining, wonderful, and positive the Harry Potter series is. It has been an immense part of my life and it always will be; I happily look forward to when I have children and sharing this with them. And if any of those Anti- Harry Potter people comes across this, I'd like you to know that the main theme of Harry Potter is love.

I am a strong Christian woman who absolutely loves Harry Potter. What is more Christian than the notion that love and friendship conqures over evil and that self-sacrifice leads to redemption and triumph. Who else knowingly went to his slaughter because he knew that is what he was destined to do in order to save those he loved? hmmmmmm. Jesus anyone?

That correlation is spot on, and even if you don't compare it to religious conviction those themes are still important and postive.

I definetely think the main problem is that people who are against the series don't know any of what goes on in the books. They just think it's a bunch of kids in magic school learning to be evil practioners and many seem to be under the impression that Voldemort is the headmaster and a representation of the devil and he is worshipped as such. Oh boy....

The majority of books that people don't agree with are those that they haven't read. I too have been guilty of that. The Golden Compass series, I boycotted and claim it to be evil, but that is only because I read something where the author explained that he is an athiest and this book was about a child's quest to kill God and the church. I have never read it because I don't want to be subjected to that kind of blasphemy, but Harry Potter is quite a different story. The themes as you said are positive. I will uphold till my death, however, anyone's right to read that other series, but my children won't be. Everyone has a right to refuse to read something, but that doesn't mean they have to downgrade something they really know nothing about. Research my friends. If you don't want to read it, research what it is about before you make assumptions. Ahhh. Closed minded people are some of the luckiest people. lol. They don't have to think. lol.

I agree, lol. Well, in regards to the His Dark Materials series, I just want to say that the author Bill Pullman is a well-known Athiest but that's not the agenda. Lyra's (the main character) mission isn't just to go and kill God (the series begins with her quest to save her friend and her father). This series is amazing and complex and is set in a universe parallel to our own, but to put it simple Pullman's God-figure isn't even a God at all. He's a false God, the first angel who fools everyone into thinking he is God because he wants to reign supreme over all creation. He is referred to as The Creator,and when he is "killed" he is an ancient man who has been bullied and encassed in crystal by The Authority (a megalomaniac angel) who is plotting his demise and trying to bring about the end of consciousness and free will. The children release The Creator and he is absorbed into nature, so it's not about killing God the main battle is with The Authority who has been running things since overthrowing The Creator.The overthrow happened so long ago that few people realized The Creator and The Authority were different beings. There is much, much more to the series but I just wanted to point out the God-killing issue. Pullman's bone to pick is not so much with God but with Authority- the kind of corrupt, institutional abuse that comes from absolute power. To me it's basically says about the bad things that are done because individuals believe (use as an excuse) that it is what God wants. This series is complicated and deep with theology that makes you think and not in a bad way (at least that's my opinion), and many Christians who read the series and enjoyed it point out that Pullman's trilogy is rather sparkling with good Christian virtues like the big three--faith, hope, and love--not to mention lessons about justice, temperance, prudence, and courage. What is of fundamental importance to the novels is Dust... and I'm not going to get into that because this reply would end up 10x longer and anyway this thread is about Harry Potter ^_^. The poing of this reply is that, like for Harry Potter, it's not fair for negative things to float around because of keywords that are interpreted negatively. But I agree that everyone has the right to want to read something or not and thank you for pointing out that this is not the same as not reading it and causing an uproar.

Excellent points all around. I love discourse with educated/intelligent people. :)

Thank you ^_^. Good literature usually attracts both intelligent conversation and hostile opposition, and this is something J.K. Rowling has always been proud of. Her novels series is a worldwide phenomenon that has brought the generations together and had a big role in encouraging the youngest age group to open their minds by opening a book. Yet every year she's featured on Banned Books Week's* list of most banned books. As she says: "As this puts me in the company of Harper Lee, Mark Twain, J.D. Salinger, William Golding, John Steinbeck and other writers I revere, I have always taken my annual inclusion on the list as a great honour".

*The American Library Association (ALA) celebrates "Banned Books Week" in the final week of each September, to call attention to the fact that people try to ban many books—including Harry Potter—every year. Their position is not that all books are good, or even that all books are suitable for children. However, the ALA feels that each family ought to be able to decide this for itself, rather than having the decision taken out of their hands by others.