Hard-line Christian groups who say mild-mannered Harry Potter is an occult conspiracy are unlikely to be reassured by news that one of its key characters is gay - even though JK Rowling has confirmed the series is based on Christian themes.

Religiously constructed rows over sorcery, metaphor and meaning in Harry Potter are hardly new, as Simon Barrow has personal reason to know. He suggests we all chill out and finding meaning not menace in the narrative.