The Rev. John Killinger is the author of God, the Devil and Harry Potter: A Christian Minister’s Defense of the Beloved Novels and The Life, Death and Resurrection of Harry Potter. He lives in Warrington, Va.

Richard C. Burke is an English professor at Lynchburg College in Virginia and spoke at Nimbus 2003: A Harry Potter Symposium on “Lord Voldemort’s Gift for Spreading Discord & Enmity: The Rise of Evil in Harry Potter.”

Lana A. Whited is professor of English and journalism at Ferrum College in Ferrum, Va., and editor of The Ivory Tower and Harry Potter: Perspectives on a Literary Phenomenon (University of Missouri, 2002). She co-authored a chapter on moral issues.

David Baggett, professor of philosophy at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., co-edited Harry Potter and Philosophy.

Ravindra S. Khare is a professor of anthropology at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. He has written about Hindu gastrosemantics.

O. Kendall White Jr. is William P. Ames Jr. Professor in Sociology and Anthropology at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Va., and has written extensively on Mormonism.

The Chabad of Virginia is a Jewish community organization based in Richmond, Va. Rabbi Yossel Kranz is executive director.

Al-Meezan Newspaper is a bi-weekly North American newspaper written from an Islamic perspective. It is based in Annandale, Va.

The Presbyterian Outlook is a publication of the Presbyterian Outlook Foundation. It is based in Richmond, Va.