The magic in Harry Potter can be almost exclusively attributed to ancient and modern literature. In other words, stuff about magic that other people made up. Magic wands, spells, mediumship, transfiguration and etc. can all be found in perfectly respectable literature.

Homer's Odyssey - magic wands, potions, transfirguration

Sophocles Oedipus Rex - sphinx, oracles

Virgil's Aeneid

Horace's The Satires

Physiologus

Aelian's On Animals - Basilisk, unicorns

Arabian Nights - magic carpets, genies, magic words

The Book of Lancelot - Merlin, witches, magic swords

Egil's Saga - transfiguration, magic

Nibelungenlied - invisibility cloak

Geoffrey of Monmouth's History of the Kings of Britain - Merlin, witches

Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur

Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales

Ariosto's Orlando Furioso - giffins, dragons

Alladin and Sinbad the Sailor - magic lamp, flying horse, magicians, talkig animals, mythical beasts, flying men

Spenser's The Faerie Queen

Grimm's fairy tales - witches, spells, talking animals, transfiguration

Prince Marko and the Veela - veela

Marlowe's Faust

Donne's "The Canonization"

White's The Sword in the Stone

Bronte's Jane Eyre - telepathy

Doyle's "Lot Number 249" - zombies

Dickens's A Christmas Carol and "The Story of the Goblins Who Stole a Sexton" - ghosts, time travel

Tennyson's "Idylls of the King"

Ibsen's Peer Gynt

Chekov's The Witch

Carroll's Through the Looking-glass - magic mirrors

Leroux's The Phantom of the Opera

Nesbit's The Pheonix and the Carpet, Five Children and It, The Story of the Amulet - pheonix, magic carpet, fairies, magic, magical creatures, magical amulet

Scott's The Talisman - magical object

Stoker's Dracula - vampires

Baum's Oz series - witches, broomsticks, crystal balls, magical creatures

Benson's Mr. Tilly's Séance - necromancy

Shelly's The Mortal Immortal

Stockton's Old Applejoy's Ghost - Ghosts

Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray

MacDonald's On the Back of the North Wind ,Phantastes, and The Princess and the Goblin - personification of nature, goblins

Kipling's Rikki Tikki Tavi - talking animals

James's The Turn of the Screw and Ghostly Tales - ghosts

Guin's A Wizard of Earthsea and

Grahame's The Wind and the Willows - talking animals

Kingsley's The Water Babies - transfiguration

Colladi's Pinnochio - fairies, talking animals, and transfiguration

Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia - magic, witches, astrology, giants,

Rowling admits that the Chronicles of Narnia had a huge impact on her as a child and she still reads them. She has also said that one of her favorite authors is Nesbit. All of these stories cover enough magic to account for most of the magical things in Harry Potter. (If you know of any additional literature that deals with magic or other supernatural things please email me at Sarah_Wagner@cornerstone.edu).

Sure, the stories of Merlin may have been based off a real Myrddin who may have been a magician in Camelot who may have been a Druid who may be an inspiration for modern nature-worshippers, but the Merlin we know today is far more fanciful than pagan. The whole history of magic is a very intricate and confusing subject, but it can be verified that what was once usually believed to be “magic” is nothing more than Roman and old Catholic superstition and only in the minds of the witch hunters did it deal with demons. For a good scholarly study of the history of magic I recommend Spellbound: From Ancient Gods to Modern Merlins, A Time Tour of Myth and Magic by Dominic Alexander published by Reader’s Digest.

On top of that there are many creatures and people in the books that are based off mythologies and legends from around the world that people once believed were true (like banshees) or were verifiably made up to scare small children (like grindylows). While some may view all mythology as being pagan in every sinful sense of the word (while ignoring the fact that Lewis and Tolkien enjoyed any and all mythology), the Brits enjoy these stories as good fiction and seek to emulate them. So of course Rowling believes it ridiculous that people would see her stories as full of real witchcraft. The magic in the books is about as real as a centaur because she got the idea for both from the same place. For a well-informed and enjoyable guide to the "real" people and creatures that show up in Harry Potter I recommend The Sorcerer’s Companion: A Guide to the Magical World of Harry Potter by Allan Zola Kronzek published by Broadway Books. Also useful, but not so funny, is The Magical Worlds of Harry Potter: A Treasury of Myths, Legands, and Fascinating Facts by David Colbert published by Berkley Books. While these books are geared towards Harry Potter they also explain a lot of the things that show up in Lewis and Tolkien.