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

Book Details
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
Paperback, 870 Pages
2004, Scholastic Paperbacks
ISBN: 0439358078
Series: Book 5 of Harry Potter

Synopsis
The book that took the world by storm....In his fifth year at Hogwart's, Harry faces challenges at every turn, from the dark threat of He-Who-Must-Not-Be- Named and the unreliability of the government of the magical world to the rise of Ron Weasley as the keeper of the Gryffindor Quidditch Team. Along the way he learns about the strength of his friends, the fierceness of his enemies, and the meaning of sacrifice.

Review
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is the darkest book in the series thus far from beginning to end. Harry Potter is cranky from the moment the book starts. That's par for the course when Harry's stuck with the Dursleys, but when Harry and Dudley are attacked by dementors in the muggle world and Harry heads off the the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix, his sullenness continues. You'd think he'd be excited to be away from the Dursley's, but he's mad that everyone else got to be involved with the Order while he was stuck with the muggles. His incessant complaining, out loud and in his own mind, makes him appear believe he's much better and much more deserving of being there than anyone else. The Order has been working to protect him, but Harry's only concern was that he was left out.

The sullenness is intensified once we see Sirius again. How alike he and Harry are. Sirius, a wanted man, seems to be only concerned with the fact that he's trapped at the house and can't go fight evil with the rest of the Order. The moodiness of the two of them was my least favorite part of the book. The constant attitude towards everyone, even though they were the ones being protected, was just obnoxious.

I did love when Molly Weasley and Sirius nearly came to blows over the right to act parental towards Harry. While not Sirius's fault he spent so many years in Azkaban, he hasn't been around for most of his life. From the moment Molly met Harry, she's taken to caring for him as a substitute mother figure, a bond that Harry hasn't found elsewhere. But Sirius is his godfather. Both have strong arguments, but the discussion isn't as important as the fact that Harry now has multiple people who want to be there for him and fill the void the death of his parents left.

Minister of Magic, Fudge is yet another character who takes an obnoxious turn in Order of the Phoenix. So scared of losing power to Dumbledore, he turns a blind eye to the obvious return of Voldemort. His power-hungry ways turn him into the ultimate weapon in Voldemort's arsenal. While he discredits Dumbledore and Harry, working so hard to make the wizarding community believe it is safe, he opens the door for Voldemort to operate unhindered.

We see Arthur Weasley a good deal in Order of the Phoenix and he's adorable as always. The way he delights in muggle ways, it's as if he's a tourist overly excited to be in a foreign country. I find Arthur to be a great opposing view in these books, given Voldemort and the Death Eater's obsession with purebloods.

In Order of the Phoenix, we meet Luna. She's very different from all of the other characters in the series so far. She's open to thinking well beyond that of the average wizard, which often makes her appear vaguely insane. I love that she's so supportive of Harry without any type of proof or even knowing him all that well, but the dreamy quality of her personality can be grating at times. Speaking of grating, Dolores Umbridge takes the cake. The vilest of evils is the one that lurks behind a mask of politeness. She's not kind, but has a way of seeming as though acting as if her every action is intended for good. While no one could like her, she is definitely a compelling character.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix brings about something no one could have seen coming: a reason to sympathize with Snape. He's messed up, and rightly so given what's revealed about his past at Hogwarts. This marks the first time we can really see him as less than a villain. It gives some credence to Dumbledore's faith in him, even though we still don't know why that trust is there.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix brings about heart-wrenching loss. Coupled with Dumbledore's unexpected confession, the end to the series finally begins to take shape. The Order of the Phoenix is long, with a huge cast of characters to keep track of, but every page leads the reader on a wonderful adventure.

Rating

Links

J.K. Rowling's
Website