I, too, am an avid fan of the books and had the same hesitancy over letting my DS8 read them. We started them because the first grader in his gifted pull out was reading them. We are working on book six right now. He reads the books at school and I read to him at night before bed. Book five led to some lengthy discussions on the politics of fear and how it is easier for some people to deny what they are afraid of rather than face it. Actually, all of the books have led to some pretty good conversations about human nature and good and evil (and the grey areas in between.)
**spoiler alert** I am really worried about the final book. He asked me straight out if Dumbledore dies prior to our beginning book six, and I have a policy of never lying to him, so he is prepared for that. He has not asked me about the siblings of Ron and the twins are some of his favorite characters. I am not sure how he will handle that one. He did not seem to have much of a problem with Sirius, but I don't think he was attached to the character like he is with the twins.
Interestingly, we were in Toronto last week and went to the Science Center there and were all excited about a Harry Potter exhibit. It was expensive, but since it was vacation, I happily paid the price and in we went. It turned out to be nothing more than movie props and costumes. I kept my thoughts to myself, not wanting to ruin it for him, but then he turned to me and expressed his disappointment. He was even disappointed by the gift shop - "there is really nothing here worth spending money on." Which, to me was a lesson well worth the price of admission.
