Pop star Katy Perry says when was still growing up she did not often see eye to eye with her evangelical parents Keith and Mary Hudson. However, she did heed their advice on at least one particular matter—not to read the "Harry Potter" books written by J.K. Rowling.
"I know Harry Potter, but I've never read the books, nor have I seen the movies because growing up, I was not allowed to read the books," Perry told PEOPLE.
The Christian ministers raised Perry to reject witchcraft and sorcery. Now that she has risen to fame, Perry decided to dabble into it with her new fragrance, which she called "Mad Potion."
"Growing up, I wasn't allowed to have any fantastical, enchanting stuff around me," she revealed. "It's funny that now I'm doing a little bit of a magic-potion-themed perfume."
Perry believes that it is okay to use magic, but only if it is used for good. "Well, only use your powers for good," she said. "But I think there would be a lot more acceptance, compassion, and empathy if I could [practice magic] because the world is going through a lot of stuff right now."
Meanwhile, a lot of Christian parents are upset that "Harry Potter" has found its way into the U.K. school syllabus. School behaviourist Tom Bennett said parents with evangelical Christian backgrounds, Muslim backgrounds, or those who belong to Jehovah's Witnesses do not like their children exposed to these works of fiction because it promotes "witchcraft and Satanism."
"'Harry Potter' deals with the occult. There are many, many parents who are uncomfortable with their children discussing or looking at or reading anything at all that has something to do with the occult," said Bennett.
"[Parents] said they'd rather their children weren't exposed to literature or fiction which normalised or trivialised or even applauded or encouraged what they would regard as witchcraft," he added.
