Today it’s hard to remember that there was a time when the right wing was vocally opposed to all things Harry Potter. Back in the 2000s, the biggest crime a piece of media could commit for the religious right was not being “woke,” but undermining Christian values by encouraging children to cast magic spells, capture and battle pocket monsters, or use martial arts powers to blow holes in planets after six episodes of charging up their ki. In ways, it was a more simple, comprehensible time. In others, it was an even more intensely stupid one than our current moment.

But whatever you want to say about the quality of its writing (bad) and the views of its creator (cartoonishly evil), Harry Potter was a massive cultural phenomenon. Christians attempted to provide alternatives for their children, some of which — like Shadowmancer — became bestsellers even though you’ve never heard of them because Christians will notoriously buy anything that panders to their worldview. But fast forward twenty years and things look somewhat different.

Conservative Christians have been rehabilitating Harry Potter ever since Rowling’s heel turn, because while they might not like magic, most of them know it isn’t real. You know what they don’t like that is real? Transgender people. So today, the Christian Harry Potter is… Harry Potter. But that hasn’t stopped enterprising grifters from trying to brew up some magic of their own.

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