There are many fantasy readers that have wondered if JK Rowling took inspiration from the Ursula Le Guin Earthsea books. I do not know what JK Rowling has to say about this but Ursula Le Guin has commented on the Harry Potter series.

In an interview with The Guardian she was asked what her opinion was on JK Rowling’s writing style and she replied “When so many adult critics were carrying on about the “incredible originality” of the first Harry Potter book, I read it to find out what the fuss was about, and remained somewhat puzzled; it seemed a lively kid’s fantasy crossed with a “school novel”, good fare for its age group, but stylistically ordinary, imaginatively derivative, and ethically rather mean-spirited.”