In some ways, the Darker aspects of Harry Potter (especially the later books) are more like LotR than Narnia (until The Last Battle anyway). Though Harry Potter shares some of the key themes and a couple of plot points found in Narnia. I think they all are kind of on the same level, even though the styles are very different.

GB

Funny timing. I just started Sorcerer's Stone yesterday.
I didn't really get all the hype about the series, but I'm thinking maybe they get better as they go along. I can certainly see the appeal.
I've also seen bits of the films here and there, and I think that the 'christian allegory' is presented much better therein. I pretty quick picked up on it and was surprised to find it a little missing in the first book.
I don't really have much of a problem with the magic so far--it seems more like very advanced technology than anything else. As for Harry getting out of EVERYTHING he does, that annoying, but it's not an uncommon theme in some books.
About characters who resemble each other...I don't know how many of you have read C.S. Lewis' Lefay Fragment (it's a VERY early draft of MN, mostly about Digory), but I have and I noted that it suspiciously resembled the first few chapters of Harry Potter. I know Rowling is a Lewis fan (didn't know she was Anglican, though!), and I was wondering if I was the only one who had picked up on the Digory/Harry thing.

I wasn't sure about all the hype when I first started reading the books myself. But I think it's important to distinguish between media generated hype and popularity. The Potter books were hyped because of their immense popularity, not the other way around.

As far as Christian "allegory", the most prominent aspects of the Potter story that are applicable (in Tolkien's sense of the word) to Christianity are to be found in later books. But it should be noted that many of the themes ascribed to Christianity from the books are in fact universal archetypes, found in many ancient Hero Myths. So the connection to Christianity is definitely there, but it's a lot looser than many Christians care for, hence some of the controversy .

I haven't read the Le Vay Fragment, so I can't comment directly on that. But, Rowling and Lewis are both drawing from an existing pool of literary archetypes and British "children's" authors' traditions, so it's not surprising that there would be other similarities, as well as the obvious Rowling "shout-outs" to Lewis in her books.

GB