Everyone Is Angry At These Parents For Telling Their Daughter She’s A Wizard Who Is Going To Hogwarts

Many of us were fed the lie that a large man with a white beard was coming down the chimney to give us presents each Christmas. We were heartbroken when we found out it wasn’t true. We did, however, soon shrug it off when we realised all our friends had been similarly swindled and it was normal for kids to believe such things when they’re young.

But how would you feel if you realised your parents were the only ones who convinced you that you were a wizard who would be enrolling in Hogwarts in a few years? That’s exactly what two Harry Potter fan parents in America have done, and the internet is furious.

In a post on Reddit the parents wrote: ‘We have raised our almost eight-year-old daughter to believe she's a witch from an old wizarding family. We're looking for more sophisticated and creative ideas from the r/HarryPotter community to keep this thing going. Since our daughter was 5 and my wife and I first started reading her the Harry Potter books, we have told her that she is a witch and that the Wizarding World is real. She is almost 8 and as her questions have gotten deeper, we've kept building the illusion with more details about our family genealogy and its connection to book characters, stories about times we used magic (and the life and moral lessons we learned about it). She has processed many difficult subjects like racism, climate change and even the Coronavirus through this lens.’

One Twitter user called the lie 'absolutely grotesque', others questioned whether the story can be true. Many appeared to be furious and concerned for the little girl’s wellbeing. One commented: 'That is horrific, you are a TERRIBLE parent, and I hope no one helps you. This is a soul crushing lie,' and another said it's ‘kind of like believing in Santa Claus I suppose except one day she’ll realize her entire childhood was fake and that she did it all for nothing and college will be disappointing at best.’

Some were angrier still, writing: ‘Shame on you, you're a terrible parentand when your child gets older she is going to absolutely despise you for how you decided to raise her.’

But the parents tried to justify their decision to spin the web lies by saying they know it’s gas-lighting and she will eventually be disappointed, but that they are ‘adding magic to her childhood’ and giving her motivation to ‘reach her full (magical) potential (since she needs to study hard to be accepted to Hogwarts).’

They go on: ‘We've asked serious questions of her teachers and they think it’s more awesome and creative than damaging. (At the very worst case, my take is that its analogous to children being raised to believe that traditional religious stories are true and that when the truth hits it will teach her to ask critical questions and not accept everything she hears or reads at face value.)

We're looking for more ideas for how to inject little bits of Harry Potter magic into everyday life using technology, crafts and adding more details to the fanfic that is our lives.’

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