HARRY POTTER - CHILDREN BANNED FROM HARRY POTTER EXPERIENCE

Fans of the HARRY POTTER books and movies can experience life as a student wizard at Hogwart's Academy for just $447 (GBP235) - but children are furious they've been banned from the event.

Professors and academics are meeting at England's Reading University this summer (05) to devote three days to the boy wizard stories, by holding seminars about Potter's life, playing magic sports like broomstick flying, and testing out potions made by evil professor character SEVERUS SNAPE.

But young fans of the tomes complain that the stories were written for children, so they are furious organisers have excluded under-18s from the Hogwarts experience.

One fan says, "They are being really silly. The real Harry Potter fans will have a much better understanding of the books than some stuffy professors. Why do you have to be 18 to go?"

SERENA CULFEATHER, spokeswoman for ACCIO - the fan club which is organising the event - adds, "The appeal of the Harry Potter books is so wide-ranging that we felt a conference exploring the text was long overdue."