Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix-J.K.Rowling

How I found this book: I had to wait for this book, like everyone else! I had finally caught up to everything, but I only had to wait a year, everyone else had to wait two and a half! It was my first Potter book release, though, and the anticipation made it a lot of fun.

Setting: The ’95-’96 school year, starting at Grimmauld Place and ending in the Ministry of Magic, with lots of Hogwarts castle in between.

Main Characters:

Harry Potter: Harry has had a lot to worry about the summer he turns 15. Still reeling over the return of Voldemort and the death of Cedric Diggory, he’s waiting for the other shoe to drop. But it doesn’t seem to be. Instead, he’s having to deal with an increasingly more antagonistic Ministry of Magic, as the Daily Prophet is calling himself and Dumbledore liars and worse. Even his own classmates wonder if he’s making it up, let alone what happened that horrible night the year before. And no one, not even Dumbledore, is telling him anything, and frankly he’s pissed off and fed up. Harry doesn’t back down from what he says, however, despite the accusations, and he finds it within himself to be the leader that his classmates need in the storm that he knows is coming.

Ron Weasley: One of Harry’s best friends, Ron has done the one thing he hadn’t expected to do, make Prefect. While he’s pleased that he too has the honor that several of his older siblings have had, he has to live with the taunts of Fred and George, who don’t hold much stock with Prefects. It’s a tough balancing game for Ron, between taking his new duties seriously, and not getting on his twin older brothers bad side. On top of that, Ron goes out for Quidditch for the first time, but unlike his brothers and Harry seems to have much more performance issues. In the meantime, there are the worries about the war, and the growing threat that no one seems to be addressing, and Harry is getting increasingly touchy with everyone as nobody believes him. Ron and Hermione decide that perhaps they should push their friend into a leadership position, to have him teach them how to protect themselves when no one else will.

Hermione Granger: The other of Harry’s best friends, Hermione is thrilled at being made a Prefect. But for Hermione, who is normally as ‘by the book’ and proper as they come, she can not stomach the idea that no one is preparing them for the threat of Voldemort, and that no one is taking Harry seriously. She and Ron decide it is time for them to learn some real Defense Against the Dark Arts, and they convince Harry that he’s just the person to teach them.

Cho Chang: Still grieving over the loss of Cedric, Cho finds herself returning Harry’s attraction, though her memories of Cedric seem to make everything so very complicated.

Professor Dumbledore: In much of the same boat as Harry in terms of public opinion, Dumbledore has busied himself with the running of the re-formed Order of the Phoenix, the organization he had put together years before to help fight against Voldemort. As much as Harry would like for Dumbledore to start giving him answers, the Headmaster seems to be trying to avoid Harry, without a real explanation as to why.

Delores Umbridge: As the Ministry, (read Minister Fudge), becomes more and more paranoid about Dumbledore and his actions, they send Delores Umbridge to serve as his new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher and general overseer. She has some very definite opinions on how the school should be run, especially in teaching the Dark Arts, something Harry, Ron, and Hermione object to. She is most concerned with squelching the ‘rumors’ of “He-Who-Must-Not-Be Named’s” return, and silencing Harry at every possible turn.

Severus Snape: The still disgruntled Potions Master at Hogwarts, he has resumed his double role as both a Deatheater in the service of Voldemort and a member of the Order of the Phoenix, acting as a double-agent. He taunts Sirius Black on the fact that he is confined to the headquarters and not out doing ‘real’ missions. He is supposed to teach Harry the art of Occulmency, but fails doing that.

Sirius Black: Harry’s godfather and owner of Grimmauld Place, he offers it to the Order of the Phoenix as a headquarters, but resents the fact that he’s kept there in secret, unable to go out and help the Order because of his status as a fugitive.

Remus Lupin: Harry’s former Defense teacher, he has re-joined the order, and keeps an eye both on Sirius and for the Order.

Nymphadora Tonks: A rather accident prone and clumsy Auror, she has a metamorphmagus, with the ability to change her shape, (most often her hair). She has joined the Order of the Phoenix. She is the niece of Bellatrix Lestrange and Narcissa Malfoy, and cousin of Sirius Black.

“Mad Eye” Moody: The real Moody this time, he is about as irascible and eccentric as the fake Moody. He is also a member of the Order of the Phoenix.

Fred and George Weasley: Ron’s older twin brothers, they have created a new business together, Weasley’s Wizarding Wheezes, and are attempting to try their products on their fellow students, much to the chagrin of Prefect Hermione. Their pranks will come in good stead with Delores Umbridge around, becoming a dictator in the school.

Ginny Weasley: Ron’s younger sister, she becomes a member of Harry’s new “Dumbledore’s Army’.

Luna Lovegood: A strange Ravenclaw in Ginny’s year, her father runs The Quibbler, a magazine that focuses on conspiracy theories and mythical (for wizards) animals. She seems to be convinced that many of these strange creatures exist, and expounds upon them when asked. She joins “Dumbledore’s Army” as well, and proves to not only be a talented witch, but a rather more insightful one than anyone realized.

Neville Longbottom: One of Harry’s roommates in Gryffindor Tower, Neville throughout the series has been something of a shy, nervous boy, who has yet to come out of his shell. But when the woman who engineered the torturing of his parents escapes from Azkaban, Neville joins Harry’s “DA”, and begins to blossom and come into his own.
Draco Malfoy: The archenemy of Harry, Ron, and Hermione, he is enjoying the reign of terror that Professor Umbridge is imposing on Hogwarts, especially since it tends to benefit him.

Bellatrix Lestrange: The cousin to Sirius Black, and sister to Narcissa Malfoy, she is one of Voldemort’s main lieutenants, and is responsible for the torturing of Neville Longbottom’s parents.

Lucius Malfoy: The father of Draco, and one of the richest and most influential members of wizarding society, he seems to be helping to convince Minster Fudge that Dumbledore and Harry are rabble-rousers and just trying to stir things up. He is also a former key lieutenant in Voldemort’s Death Eaters.

Lord Voldemort: The newly restored Dark Lord lays low for most of the book, before returning towards the end in a spectacular duel with Professor Dumbledore.

Plot: War has come to the wizarding world, only no one seems to know it. Harry Potter spends the summer he turns 15 waiting to hear the awful news of the killings and disappearances now that Lord Voldemort has returned, but the dark wizard is strangely quiet. Harry has a whole other set of problems though when he returns to the magical world. He discovers that no one in the wizarding world takes him seriously and believes he and Dumbledore are making up the story so Dumbledore can take power. This leads to new, sudden Ministry interference in Hogwarts, in the form of Professor Umbridge, the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, who seems determined to prove that Harry is a liar and that there is nothing to worry about. And worse, no one in the re-formed “Order of the Phoenix” is willing to tell him anything about what is going on with Voldemort, especially not Professor Dumbledore, who seems to be avoiding him. Frustrated at the lack of progress on anything, and knowing that his fellow students will be totally unprepared for what comes, Harry, Hermione, and Ron for a secretive group to help learn how to fight in the coming war. But what will the tyrannical Umbridge say about it when she discovers what they are up to? And why has Lord Voldemort been quiet all this time anyway?

Themes:

Kids, why do they want to grow up anyway: Throughout the series, Rowling has presented children, and in particular Harry, as being much more aware of the world than many of the adults they deal with care to admit. Often this leads to consequences as the children must act on presuppositions they have built because they lack the input from the adults that could have prevented things from happening. Many of Harry’s adventures actually start this way. While the case may be made that ‘they are too young’ and ‘you should let the adults handle it’, and I’m not denying that, and I don’t think Rowling is either, by not being honest with them from the start, it can lead to a world of hurt latter on by not recognizing that they are as part of things as everything else. That’s not to say you should send your kids to war, by no means, but don’t be secretive about what is going on…chances are, they will find out through other means and will make their own judgments on it. This goes with a lot of things in kids lives, such as drugs, sex, violence…you get the picture.

Rage Against the Machine: Being 15 is fun! You get to be angry all the time and hate authority, and no one thinks badly of you. They all shrug and say ‘it’s a phase’. It’s true, oh Holden Caulfields of the world, it is. And Harry spends much of this book being angry at everyone. Caps lock Harry screams at everyone, from his friends, to Professor Dumbledore. Sometimes he has a good reason, and sometimes…well. You can’t blame the kid, he’s going through a lot, and people seem to still think of him as this cute, vulnerable one-year-old, when in reality he’s inching ever closer to being legally a man in the wizarding world.

Girls are a VERY complicated thing: I think Harry’s first real relationship was handled so well. The first one is always strange and weird, especially when it’s wrapped up in a situation as complex as Cho’s. But I think Rowling handled it with humor and sympathy, and with all the confusion a fifteen-year-old would have about it.

Damn the man, save the Empire: Adults tend to forget that the youth are a dynamic force of change, and when they set their sights to change the world, that’s what they are out to do. The young people in this book rebel against what they see as tyranny, (it is), and go about learning how to protect themselves in the only way possible. They don’t take orders from the Ministry lying down. And you have to respect a bunch of kids who are willing to stand and fight, even when it’s the last thing their parents would want them to do. Ahh, the young and idealistic.

What happens when we die: Harry has had to deal with more death in his young life than is possibly fair. It is only reasonable that he would have questions to ask regarding it, and about how to handle it, what happens afterwards, and the separation of loss. These are important themes in Rowlings book, the fact that the dead do not come back, and that despite this, we have to go on living. It’s a hard lesson for Harry to learn, how to keep on losing but keep on living. It’s very important for him to learn though, as the story progresses, because Harry and his understanding of death is a key concept to the entire story.

Every book sucks somewhere: Umbridge….I…I still can’t stand that character. I feel physically ill reading about that character. The woman was so horrible…..ahhh….there are whole sections of the book I couldn’t read. I can say that there has never been another character in all of fiction who has elicited such a visceral reaction out of me.

What did I like: This isn’t a happy, fun book. This is an angry, frustrating book, with Harry being attacked from all sides and lashing out. In other words, it’s him growing up. Harry isn’t staying this cute, starry eyed kid anymore, but is becoming a real person, a grown up person, and it’s wonderful to see him do it. Everything from his first kiss, to dealing with death, Harry has a lot of things to understand, a lot of it he doesn’t get, and some he doesn’t handle particularly well or messes up completely, putting people in danger. In other words, he’s a human hero, and I love that Rowling wasn’t afraid to knock her boy around a bit.

How would I rate this wormy book: This one only gets a FAT WORM from me as it is actually is my least favorite of the Harry Potter series. Umbridge…yeah, she was just too much for me. And Angry Harry got a bit out of hand after a while. And Sirius…yeah, well that was awful. It was just a brutal, brutal book. And while I appreciate it for that…Umbridge…oye.