TIME Holidays 2018

Everyone Loves When an Inflatable Dragon Christmas Display Lights Up a Fiery Neighborhood Feud

Christmas display lights up a feud
Peter Dazeley—Getty Images Christmas lights in the suburbs

Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling couldn't help but weigh in

Christmas is a magical season of lights and snow and carols and, for one Louisiana woman, inflatable dragons.

Diana Rowland turned her front yard into her version of a winter wonderland complete with multiple, light-up, multi-colored inflatable dragons. While the Westeros on the bayou display thrilled online fans—including Harry Potter scribe J.K. Rowling, Rowland’s neighbors were less impressed. A community member left her an anonymous note decrying the decorations as “totally inappropriate” for the holiday season and accused Rowland of potentially belonging to a “demonic cult.”

Rowland shared the all-caps letter on Twitter (where Rowling liked her tweet) and Facebook, joking, “Our dragon holiday display got fan mail”: “Neighbor, Your dragon display is only marginally acceptable at Halloween. It is totally inappropriate at Christmas. It makes your neighbors wonder if you are involved in a demonic cult. Please consider removing the dragons. May God bless you and help you know the true meaning of Christmas.”

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Rowland decided the only appropriate response to the note was to add more dragons into the mix: two red and green holiday dragons bearing gifts and “In the spirit of neighborhood harmony” putting halos on the dragons, transforming them into angels, citing Bible verse Ezekiel 1:1-28. Hopefully the neighbors will appreciate her efforts.

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