Worst Witch Was Before Harry Potter

It's hard to find any books that havn't borrowed from others written before them though. Whilst the Worst Witch itself is quite unique, it really only combined a story about girls at a boarding school and a story about witches, both of which were far from original ideas. Another book often mentioned as being ripped off by Harry Potter is Lord of the Rings, something that borrows heavily from ancient mythology. On the other hand, I think J.K Rowling opened herself up to this by taking such an agressive stance against books she felt stole from her stories, aswell as her refusal to acknowledge previous books that inspired her, trying to make out she came up with the whole thing herself, wheras many other writers are more than happy to say who and what inspired them. Maybe she did come up with it entirely herself though. Some HP fans have also let the side down by mindlessly attacking books like the Worst Witch as rip-offs of HP, which has of cource got WW fan's backs up. Overall, I don't think HP is stolen from WW, and I don't think Jill Murphy should sue JKR, but I wish JKR would admit where she got her inspiration from, and would lay off other writers who might be inspired by Harry Potter.

I think it is horribly unfair to say just because Worst Witch and Harry Potter have schools for magical youngsters they have to be copied... I've read both, and I can say the similarities end at the concept of the school.

I looked and I do not believe JKR is guilty of anything other than thinking up a damn good story. So what the characters are similar. So what there are other stories about witches in schools. Isn't there a quote about how there are only 8 basic stories in the world? Unless there was a Voldemort in Worst Witch that tried to kill one year old Mildred and killed her parents because of prophecy overheard by a double agent which is the reason why Voldemort keeps trying to kill her as she ages and he broke his soul into 7 pieces... you get the idea.

The underlying story is different, the rest is just details. I do not hold the idea that JK has characters like an old Headmaster, a bullying unliked teacher, and a bullying unliked student as an enemy. How many people went thruough school liking all their teachers and every other student in the school? I personally see more similarities between Dumbledore and Gandolf. Isn't HEADmaster and HEADmistress a British thing? Like a Principal?

As a writer, I can tell you that I do not think it is odd to not know where you get your ideas. Generally, mine come to me in my dreams. But sometimes things just pop into your head. I also believe in the theory of a "muse". A Greek mythological being. That Theory states that the only creativity is the muse who shares it with the world using humans as their vessel.

I also don't think JK is nuts about suing. I think her issue, from what I've read on her site, is people using her characters for profit. Understandable, IMO.

People will believe what they want to believe. I see Worst Witch and Harry Potter as two seperate entities about witches. I am glad they both exist.




Let's face it, this is not the worst thing you've caught me doing - Tony Stark.

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I definitely agree JK was inspired by something but plagiarism is a bit much. She may not know what really inspired her, it could have been a subconscious thing but she didn't invent this whole world single-handedly.

It's one thing to take ideas from other works and make them your own, plagiarism is flat out copying a story and passing it off as original.

I challenge you to find any novel which is completely original, every book I have read has had similarities to another I think it's inevitable, even if ideas are influenced are borrowed it's how you adapt them to fit into your storyline. Forget about the fact the books and ideas are similar (not stolen -_-) and just enjoy these two great sets of books. Really bugs me when people do this.

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anyone who sees the date that the worst witch was published can see which one came first