Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

5th re-read:

《Though condemned I am to split you
Still I worry that it’s wrong,
Though I must fulfil my duty
And must quarter every year
Still I wonder whether Sorting
May not bring the end I fear.
Oh, know the perils, read the signs,
The warning history shows,
For our Hogwarts is in danger
From external, deadly foes
And we must unite inside her
Or we’ll crumble from within.
I have told you, I have warned you…
Let the Sorting now begin.》

After so many years The Order of the Phoenix is still my favourite book of the series. Even tho, reading the whole series in one shot, I have to say that Harry is starting to REALLY get on my nerves (or it already happened the other times too, I don't even remember). Like, what the hell, from the beginning show more of the book he acts like I do when I get my period. I honestly don't care what he went through, just stahp itt, you little whining bitch. He's all "me, me, me" or "you can't understand what I'm feeling" or "boo, the whole world hates me". Get lost.
Anyway, after what happened at the end (you know what I mean. I'm in mourning since 2003) I hope that reading the other books will be all downhill from here (I'm saying this just because I almost wanted to quit the re-read of the series because I didn't want to suffer for the fifth time. It's quite obvious that Sirius wanted to cut me into pieces. AGAIN. Dammit bro!!). Ah, no, I almost forgot what comes next and I don't like it. OK, I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'M GONNA DO. I want so bad to delete all the deaths from the books omg like, Row, please do it right now. Save me from this agony because I can't do it, Siriusly (pun intended). show less

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Teenage Angst by J.K. Rowling is the fifth book in the Harry Potter series. In this book, Harry and company are made miserable by certain changes at Hogwarts, compounded by their own adolescent hormones.

You're probably thinking I don't like this book, but I do -- I think it's pretty true to the experience of being about 15, taking everything that happens to you personally, and knowing that you and your emotions are just. so. important. and nobody understands. Hey, we've all been there to some extent. (Or was it just me? Because, you know, maybe my experience of teenagerhood was unique and significant . . .) This book also introduces Dolores Umbridge, the character that everyone loves to hate -- show more as a villain, she ranks second only to Voldemort in my opinion, and I know some people who would rank her first. She's a terrifying example of bureaucracy gone as wrong as it's possible to go. To offset that, you have Dumbledore's Army, a group of students working together to improve their skills, with the ultimate goal of fighting Voldemort and the Death Eaters. They help Harry take another step towards realizing his own potential, developing leadership skills and forging bonds with students in other Houses. This book also introduces Tonks, one of my favorite minor characters. While the high level of misery means this is never going to be one of my favorites of the series, this book lands solidly in the middle of the pack, and it's still a Harry Potter, so miles ahead of many books! show less

I believe that "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" is the one of the best entries in the franchise. I love this book and the movie its based on. I believe that people don't give this installment nearly as much as credit as it deserves, and I'll try to explain why I believe so in this review.

The greatest aspect of this book is its mature tone and themes. Now, I know that people may laugh at what I just said, claiming that all Harry Potter books are for children. While I would agree with that opinion if they were talking about the first 2-3 books, I heavily disagree with it with regards to the remaining entries, especially this one. It is much more serious, dark, and depressing than any of the books in this franchise thus far. By show more the end of the book, Harry's depressed mood isn't completely gone. He's still miserable. He yells at Albus Dumbledore, he storms out of Hagrid's cabin without letting him complete his good-byes, and he wishes nothing for himself but death to end the insane amount of grief he has over Sirius Black's death. At the same time, not every good character is made out to be perfect. As I mentioned in my Prisoner of Azkaban review, I love that they made Black a morally grey character (pun not intended). It is more apparent than ever in this book, where his arrogant younger self (as well as that of James Potter) is revealed, and where his horrible treatment of his slave, Kreacher, is what inadvertently causes his own death. I love the fact that our exceedingly positive views of James and Sirius are put to question, as well as our exceedingly negative views of Severus Snape. The characters don't feel like cartoons anymore. They feel like real people, and I love that.

Yes, this book goes on for quite a long time, but I actually kind of like that. In the first 4 books of this series, practically every single paragraph is important and drags the plot forward. There is very little information contained in any paragraph that doesn't affect the overall story in one way or another. However, this book takes its time. It lets the world, the dialogue, the plot, and the characters soak in. It takes its sweet time describing scenery, and it lets us read these characters engaging in dialogue for quite some time before moving on to the next thing, and that's what makes the pay-offs immensely satisfying in the end. It's a slow-burner, for sure.

I will say, however, that the plot was not perfectly planned by Rowling here. Some things seemed very convenient. The whole section where Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Luna, and Neville get cornered by Umbridge in her office and Hermione tricks her into coming to the Forbidden Forest so that she can get attacked by centaurs feels very convenient. A lot of unlikely things happen that help propel it forward. Also, the protagonists have quite a lot of plot armor when fighting the Death Eaters in the Department of Mysteries. Lucius Malfoy orders them to kill everyone but Harry Potter, yet they resort to Stunning spells instead and never take this perfect opportunity to murder them.

With that being said, this is still a fantastic story in my opinion, and I wish more people would give it credit and analyze what it does right instead of simply dismissing it as "the long one." show less

Right, so I suspect there's some kind of jinx on this one as I'm far from being the first one experiencing health issues while reading this book. And I'm not talking about crying, that's just a sign of how incredibly well these books are all written, including volume five. I was not hospitalised, however, so I consider it a win.

I also had a feeling we were being taught an expression: "to take the mickey (out of someone)" (UK informal) to laugh at someone and make them seem silly, in a funny or unkind way. I have never encountered this expression before, so I had to look it up the first time, was quite happy with myself recognising it on the second occasion, and started thinking this was an example of intentional vocabulary building on show more Rowling's part when it appeared a third time in this same volume. Or maybe she just really liked this expression at the time. There's an apparent rise in 'mates' as well, though it already started in the 4th book if I am not mistaken.

I think I heard other readers say they were irritated by Harry's and/or Dumbledore's behaviour. I could understand Harry completely and was dead sure there was a very good reason for everything Dumbledore did from the very first moments. I think Rowling has built a wonderful ability in her readers to empathise with different characters, and gave some excellent, highly quotable lines of wisdom to young minds. This is just extraordinary, I couldn't appreciate it more.

This series is wicked in the very best sense of the word, but you all know this already. show less

“Indifference and neglect often do much more damage than outright dislike.”

4.5

This book may not be perfect, but it was inching its way toward that finish line. I enjoy comedic, childlike humor as much as the rest of the fans, but to me when the story gets a little darker (deeper), it gets even better.

We get a return of favorite characters, but as with the other books, we also get new ones. While the rest of the series introduced new characters that were fun and that we actually wanted to read about, here it just seems like two main hate-filled creatures show up: Dolores Umbridge (shudder) and Bellatrix (who I can't stand.)

Harry is now 15 and showing it through teenage angst and mood swings. Happily this didn't bother me because - show more let's face it - these are dark times in the young wizard's life and him being happy-go-lucky would just be unrealistic. Plus the teenager hormones were already tweaked anyway because of his friends, Dumbledore, and the wizarding community basically ignoring him for a summer. Then you have the Voldemort strange triangle in his head, probably fueling that anger. I noticed when watching the movie that they played up the potential possession while in the book it was hinted as a possibility, left for the reader to muse about themselves and see what happens.

Hermione and Ron show considerable patience with their temper-triggered friend, becoming of all things, perfects in the school. It was an ironic touch for the series but would have worked just as well without it. Loony Luna is a delight because the girl is simply so strange, although the convenience of her character's connected to a newspaper owning father comes into play as well. There's Fred and George, who I always loved in the books but who seem lusterless in the movies - here they rocked with their unique style of misbehavior, especially when showing up a certain new villain.

Where this book shines character-wise is Neville, who is so awesome as a friend suddenly and co-fighter. There's a teary situation in the hospital, and how he stands by Harry (stuffed nose and all) in a fight later was heart-winning. Dumbledore finally gets to show us why he has such an awesome, badass reputation in the wizarding world, and I couldn't be happier with the two scenes that showed him flexing the magic muscle.

“You know, Minister, I disagree with Dumbledore on many counts...but you cannot deny he's got style...”

Since Snape is a favorite of mine but only shows his face occasionally, it was a further delight that Harry had to learn Occlumency from the professor. The scenes were intense and, although a small subplot, mesmerized me. They showed a glimpse into the life of Harry's parents before he put them on a pedestal.

Can we all agree that McGonagall is even more likable after this book? I didn't care about her the first few, but she keeps growing on me. Here she's amazing.

Sirius...ah, Sirius. This book shows even further that he is dependent upon Harry because he misses James so much and sees the father in the son. There was a sad scene in the fire where he withdraws from Harry a bit because he's disappointed. He spends much of the book frustrated and lonely, which was realistic and deep but depressing. I love their relationship, both without families but connecting to each other due to that.

Let's wave aside the villain of Voldemort for this book, shall we? He's there, he's bad, but he's not that frequent and he isn't the one who really irritated readers in this one. Those badges go to the annoying Umbridge we all loved to hate and the evil Bellatrix. Umbridge is around for the majority of book, raising shivers of annoyance. Besides her arrogant attitude that made me want to slap her, there's the beyond disturbing punishment with that blood quill and poor Harry. It certainly brought a twisted touch to the series that was almost missing before.

I hate to see Harry tricked at the end, but you can't keep a series real and have the character be perfect in predictions every time. The book misses that perfect finish line because there are too many lucky coincidences that come in handy and save the characters throughout fight scenes, but they were still imaginative and adventurous. It's a large book, 870 pages, and if you stand back and examine it, not a lot of action actually happens. Still, it's so easy to get sucked in and so hard to look away.

There's a heartbreaking, soul-slapping death that I don't think I'll get over. I knew it was coming, but couldn't remember the order from the movies when it would show up. Sadness! It was sudden and shocking and just awful. Harry's emotion afterwards was realistic and well done.

J.K. Rowling continues this series with talent, and the books really do keep getting better and better. A timeless series that should continue to bewitch future generations. show less

Listening to this book, I feel a VISCERAL hatred for Umbridge. I can’t think of any other book villian that makes me react so physically. She’s HORRIBLE. Between her, Snape, Mr. Filch, and the Death Eathers, this series depicts some adults who are really horrible to children. I don’t think I realized this when I first read this series, but now that I’m older, it stands out quite starkly. It’s a bit disturbing when you really think about it, but true to the Grimm standard, I guess. Children don’t always get protected and cherished in Harry’s world or in ours.

Harry is in that adolescent phase where he is not quite a child and not quite an adult. He’s had to deal with some very bad things thus far in his life, and feels as show more though he’s earned some adult respect. Yet the adults around him still view him as a child and are trying to keep him safe. This is a frustrating time for any adolescent and his or her parents, let alone those who are dealing with such terrible threats. I suppose this is where the series transitions from Middle Grade to YA.

One thing that bothered me a lot in this read through is the mirror Sirius gives Harry. Sirius doesn’t tell Harry what it does, and Harry never opens it while Sirius is alive. So much of the story wouldn’t have happened if Harry had just used the mirror. What was the point of the mirror in the story? Why was it even mentioned? I don’t understand the purpose of the mirror except regret. Although I suppose it supports the theme that failing to share information, even with children, can have disastrous results.

Much like the mirror, the worst of the story might not have happened if Dumbledore had just communicated with Harry, just given him a little credit for being mature. This also is a big theme of the book, and once I knew to look for it, I felt Harry’s frustration.

Though it sounds as if I don’t love the book, that’s not true. Some of the things I love are the introduction of Luna Lovegood, the DA club, Harry’s interview with The Quibbler, and Nevil becoming more involved in the story. I LOVE that the Hogwarts teachers team up with Peeves against Umbridge. As always, Rowling writes such a deep, wonderful story that I can find new experiences on every reread. show less

Though I enjoyed Phoenix, it ranks as one of my least favorite of the series. Harry spent most of the book angry and whining, and while this was quite realistic for a teenage boy going through puberty and with his issues, it was still annoying and depressing. Even worst for me was the secondary "plot" with Hagrid and his Giant brother. This was utterly boring, and completely irrelevant to the main story. Halfway through the book, I actually started skipping the chapters with Hagrid to get back to Harry.

However, the good parts were REALLY good and made the novel a must-read. Dolores Umbridge is a fantastic villain. There's just something about evil disguised in pepto bismol-pink outfits that made her even more scary, and a real menace show more for Harry. And Dumbledore's Army? An awesome story idea! Seeing Harry take a leadership role was wonderful, plus it showcased his classmates who will become pivotal in the final battle with Voldemort. They will have to fight to save their world, and this makes it plausible that they could actually win. I also loved learning about the Order, the current and past members, what happened to Neville's parents and of course, more Sirius Black. The scenes between him and Harry are poignant and make the ending all the more powerful.

Though I had issues with the book, overall it is a strong entry to the series, with great advances to the story arc.

UPDATE: these illustrated editions are amazing! show less