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Good morning. ‘Mr. and Mrs. Dursley of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.’ So begins Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone which was published on this day twenty years ago. It began a series of books, movies, video games and even theme parks which have become a central part of contemporary culture and are a graphic reminder of the power of story. The initial hardback print run was just five hundred copies but the books have now sold in the region of five hundred million and translated into seventy nine languages. They also became a central part of our family life. They encouraged our children to read, and led to discussions about plot and character, death and sacrifice. The audio version also sustained us on long family car journeys, even after the kids no longer travelled with us! Some religious leaders condemned the books for their exploration of witchcraft and wizardry, but as my fellow theologian here at Durham University, Philip Plyming pointed out a decade ago, that was to misunderstand the nature of the story. If you stayed with the story, rather than making snap ethical judgments, you encountered deep themes of the complexity of choices, good and evil, the search for identity, and personal transformation. He pointed to resonances with Christian faith, which would become more striking in the conclusion of the story where love and self-sacrifice are the ultimate way to overcome evil and the echo of St Paul’s words to the Corinthians that the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. Certain stories, if I give time to them, have the power to take me beyond the perfectly normal existence of Privet Drive into an extraordinary world from which in turn I can look back and see afresh the reality of human life in its deeper joys and struggles. Whether in Hogwarts, or in Narnia or Middle-earth, children and adults can be entertained by a narrative which raises questions about life - which at times can be very painful and yet point towards a hope centered on a higher power. In a risky world, where terror attacks, accidents and human error dominate the news, story can be both fun escapism and an encounter with truth. That truth can renew commitment to serve others, to stand for justice and the oppressed and to believe that in the end the last line will be ‘All was well’.