It’s time for Harry Potter and his increasingly angsty gang of friends (and enemies) to hit the big screen again, and Ed Board is ready for two-and-a-half hours of entertainment.

However, Ed Board realizes that not everyone is so enamored of The Boy Who Lived and his education in wizardry.

Many Christian groups look at the books and see stories of witchcraft, a practice commonly associated with the devil. They say such a positive spin on the occult will lead children to evil and Satan.

In short, these people are definitely not going to be sitting with a jumbo tub of popcorn on opening night. We at Ed Board, though, don’t adhere to such notions. We also don’t understand the practice of burning J.K. Rowling’s books in protest, as a New Mexico church congregation did in 2001. You had to buy those books, guys – you may have kept young hands off such corruptive material, but you also put money in Rowling’s pocket. Way to stick it to the man.

But, Ed Board digresses. If you look behind the spells and potions that permeate life at Hogwarts, you don’t find evil intentions. You find friendship, acceptance and love between people of different races and belief systems. You also find a strong moral core – the bad guys are punished and the good guys are rewarded.

In addition, Harry Potter isn’t just about the connections within the novel. It’s about the connections it makes between people. It’s a widespread phenomenon that bonds parent to child, student to peers and even stranger to stranger.

It’s getting American children to read something beyond the back of the cereal box, too, and that’s great, no matter how enthralling the adventures of Snap, Crackle and Pop may be. And honestly, when is the last time you actually finished a book for class? However, Ed Board is willing to bet that you read all of “Harry Potter.”

In short, the good of Harry Potter outweighs the alleged evil. Children aren’t sacrificing puppies to Satan because they read about a group of friends who happen to be magical. Instead, they’re gaining a shared experience that connects them to others and instills values that are inherently understood to be Christian – those of compassion and love.

So, tonight, Ed Board will be there with the aforementioned popcorn and a box of Milk Duds, cheering for Harry and his Hogwarts friends.