The Bulgarian Orthodox Church has lashed out against popular fictional boy wizard Harry Potter, warning that magic spells are both real and dangerous.

In a front-page article in the June edition of the official church newspaper, followed by an interview by a senior church official with the mass-circulation daily newspaper 24 Chassa (24 Hours) on 26 June, the church said "magic is not a children's game".

Bishop Gavrail told the newspaper that the church was not in favour of J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter books and films, because magic existed in reality. The bishop's comments followed reports that a Bulgarian boy, Stanislav Ianevski, had been cast for the next Harry Potter movie, "Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire". The boy would play the part of Viktor Krum, who in the story is a Bulgarian champion in a fictional team game called Quidditch.

Bulgarian church warns against the spell of Harry Potter