A woman claims her life changed when she finally read Harry Potter, a book series that was strictly banned in her church.

Cassie Brooks, who grew up in a strict Christian church in Memphis, Tennessee, admitted that the Harry Potter books and other pop culture phenomena were strongly discouraged.

Cassie, now 41 and living in Florida, remembers that she and her three siblings went to church as often as possible, even though her family was not particularly religious.

She said, “I was involved in everything from the children’s choir to Bible study and every children’s activity they offered.”

As Cassie grew older, her parents let her decide whether or not she wanted to continue attending church. She chose to stay in church, explaining, “It offered me community and friendship and activities and sometimes an escape from the chaos in my family,” reports the Mirror.

After experiencing major upheavals in her family life, Cassie left home to go to college and found herself living with a very religious woman she met online.

She explained: “We were part of a church that was very vocal against the Harry Potter books because they mentioned witchcraft.”

“They even burned the books. I wasn’t as radical as many people in the church, but I never read them.”

During her undergraduate studies, Cassie completed a project on the social impact of Harry Potter as part of a humanities course on “Human Individualism.”

She reflects on her mixed feelings as she delved into the world of witchcraft and sorcery: “I was curious about it, but I was also so religious that I believed that everything related to witchcraft was sinful and wrong.”

Concerned about the impact that handling the “forbidden” book would have in the eyes of her guardian, Cassie was faced with a dilemma.

Cassie says, “I did it in secret because I didn’t want to risk a fight between us. But I was also curious how such a children’s book could cause such an uproar that the church I went to actually burned the books and other books they considered evil.”

She remembers secretly huddled around a laptop with friends to watch the first Harry Potter film.

After watching the film, Cassie confessed, “After I saw the film, I wondered what on earth the church was up to.”

Her curiosity was aroused and she expressed her new-found fascination: “I thought it was a beautiful, quirky film that completely captivated me.”

An argument about her secret Harry Potter viewings led to a significant change in Cassie’s life and eventually led to her moving back in with her family. She says: “We had a lot of disagreements about things that led to me moving out, but that was a big part of it.”

When she finally confessed to her mother that she was studying Harry Potter for academic reasons, she received an unexpected reaction.

She said: “I had actually talked to my mother, who I was estranged from at the time, about it, and she mentioned her love of the books.”

By this time, four books and two films had already been released. She continued: “I remember the conversations we had about the Harry Potter films and books, and it seemed as though the gap between us was bridged as we grew closer through those books.”

Cassie plunged headfirst into the world of Harry Potter fanfiction. She revealed: “I devoured almost every story I could find. I became part of a whole online community of Potterheads who loved this fantastic world as much as I did.”

Before JK

Rowling published the sixth and seventh books, and the enthusiastic Potter fan even wrote her own fanfiction stories.

She continued, “I even became an administrator of a popular Harry Potter fanfiction website. We would host online scavenger hunts, collaborate on stories, or occasionally write contests.”

“We even developed a text-based role-playing game that ran for many years. I found a niche community that I enjoyed being a part of, and even 15 to 20 years later, some of those people are still my friends.”

The enchanting universe of Harry Potter inspired Cassie to write her own novels and she has now become an author.

In addition to her own Harry Potter fanfiction, she is also working on a coming-of-age story. She said: “It’s still a long-term project that I want to finish one day.”

The author has also created a series of children’s books that deal with everyday magical concepts.

Her goal is to use these books as tools to help children deal with real-life situations like bullying and death by building their self-confidence.

Cassie is committed to promoting inclusivity and actively advocates for the LGBTQ communities by sharing her children’s stories, being involved in the community, and offering support and resources to those in her community.