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

ISBN: 9780439358071
Source: Purchased
Series: Harry Potter #5
Release Date: June 21, 2003
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See my reviews of other books in this series

     GOODREADS SYNOPSIS:

Harry Potter is due to start his fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. His best friends Ron and Hermione have been very secretive all summer and he is desperate to get back to school and find out what has been going on. However, what Harry discovers is far more devastating than he could ever have expected...

Suspense, secrets and thrilling action from the pen of J.K. Rowling ensure an electrifying adventure that is impossible to put down.

     REVIEW:

I either say this or think this every time I review one of the books in this series - how can it even be reviewed? I'll keep it short and sweet I suppose, since really... they can't. Instead, I'll tell you about how the first time I read this book, I could barely get through it. This time, I couldn't put it down. Yes, it is long. Yes, Umbridge is the evilest of evil and insanely frustrating. Yes, Harry is a whiny 15-year-old boy all the time, and Ron and Hermione won't stop bickering. But... well you know all the reasons it is amazing, don't you?

Being the longest book in the series, it is so amazingly in depth and even if the characters can be annoying at times, it reveals so much about them, about the world, about the entire series plot as a whole. Its only the second time I've actually read this particular one (last re-read I stopped in the middle of 4), and I definitely discovered new things that hint at what is to come in books 6 and 7. Its fun to relive it all and it is absolutely enchanting... even if you do want to kick Umbridge in the face a few hundred times.

     RATING: ★★★★ 1/2

I always, always recommend this series to my friends and strangers alike. Once upon a time I'd scrunch my nose at the mention of book 5 and say... 'well... its not my favorite one..." but I definitely think it is one of my favorites in the series. I hope you all have read this one and if you haven't... what are you waiting for!?

A.

Harry Potter Read-Along/Discussion [20]

RECAP - Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - Chapters 23-29

Harry is convinced he is being possessed by the Dark Lord until Ginny points out that she has been possessed by the Dark Lord and she doesn't particularly think Harry is being possessed. That just about snaps Harry out of his sulking and things are looking up, but then Snape informs Harry that the Headmaster
wishes for Harry to take private lessons with Snape - Occulmency lessons - to learn to shut his mind to the probing of Voldemort.

Source

The horrible Occlumency lessons have left Harry exhausted and so mentally weak that he dreams of  the Department of Mysteries almost every night. However, once again, even with the craziness all around him, Harry finally asks Cho out to spend Valentine's Day with him in Hogsmeade and she gladly says yes. The mass breakout of Death Eater's from Azkaban does put a damper on things though. It doesn't help either that Hermione has asked Harry to meet her halfway through his date with Cho, and Cho does not take that very well. It seems she thinks there is something else going on between Hermione and Harry, and doesn't quite give Harry a chance to explain before she storms out of their date, crying.

Thankfully Harry's meeting with Hermione quite takes his mind off of that. She's brought him to meet Rita Skeeter who interviews Harry and publishes an entirely truthful account of what really happened the night Voldemort returned - not that anyone would believe something printed in the Quibbler... or would they?Things start to look up at Hogwarts when a few of Harry's acquaintances begin treating him a little better as if they might believe him, but of course Umbridge bans all students from reading the Quibbler.

To add to her list of atrocities, Umbridge sacks Professor Trelawney, and Dumbledore hires Firenze the Centaur as the new divination teacher and lets Trelawney stay on as a guest at Hogwarts. Things don't seem to be able to get any worse, but then somehow, Umbridge finds out about the D.A. Meetings! Harry is brought in to be questioned by Umbridge and Cornelius Fudge and finds out that Cho's friend Marietta snitched on them. Harry pretends he knows nothing and Dumbledore tells Umbridge and Fudge that the whole thing was his idea and he has plotted to overthrow Fudge. Before he can be arrested though, Dumbledore knocks everyone out, disappears, and Umbridge is crowned the new Headmistress of Hogwarts to everyone's dismay. Things only get worse, if that's even possible, with Umbridge naming Malfoy and a bunch of his Slytherin friends as the Inquisitorial Squad that do her bidding. On top of that, Harry accidentally intrudes on a memory of Snape's of Harry's dad and his friends bullying Snape back in the day, and Snape ends all future Occlumency lessons with Harry.

As the students of Hogwarts have about had enough, Fred and George decide to go all out in terrorizing Umbridge, set off fireworks and other tricks they've invented and leave Hogwarts behind to open up Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, leaving Umbridge to deal with the aftermath of their pranks.

DISCUSSION

Here we are with Cho once again, and boy am I glad she she's done and over with. After that fiasco on their Valentine's Day date, yikes! I don't know who would want to date Cho. Little snot. But I won't get into that again considering I spent a fair amount of time bitching about Cho anyways.

I wanted mainly, today, to see who could help me clarify something on Legilimency and Occulmency. Maybe I should just look it up because there are enough wiki-pages with tons of Hogwarts info. In the book, Snape has to say (or think) the spell "Legilimens", cast it on Harry, then proceed to look through his thoughts. Seems straightforward enough except that the characters make it seem as though Voldemort can basically read minds using legilimency, that he can tell when people are lying. Does he cast the spell too? Is he so powerful that he doesnt have to? He is described as a gifted Legilimens, but I just wish I knew more about this, how Voldemort uses this 'gift' of his. Anyone else have any better ideas than I do?

Oh and that little witch (no pun intended) Marietta Edgecombe who snitches on the D.A.... if she didn't get what she deserved with that permanent acne advertisement on her face, I'd say I'd like to smack her myself. What's worse is that Cho even defends Marietta, saying her mother works for the ministry and thought she was doing the right thing. That's all fine and good, but when they all realize Voldemort has actually returned, Marietta is going to be sorry she ruined her face for a bit of tattling!

...well anyways, on another note, after having skipped a week of my Harry Potter discussions, I realize that I am dealing with a bit of a slump as far as reading and posting goes, and these HP posts take a lot out of me. I am not going to end them altogether, no, but I am going to make them less frequent. Instead of every week, I'll be doing every other week. I know I'll still see you guys around.

Talk to you all soon!

A.

Harry Potter Read-Along/Discussion [19]

RECAP - Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - Chapters 17-22

Professor Umbridge has been using her new position as the Hogwarts High Inquisitor to her advantage. She has been ordering decrees to limit what the students and teachers can do, including a decree that all organizations must be approved by her. So much for the D.A.D.A club... right? Wrong. Harry and friends decide to have the D.A.D.A. meetings anyway, and the first one goes well! Its really too bad then, that while Harry is finding a way to defy Umbridge, he gets into a fight with Malfoy and Umbridge gives him, Fred and George a lifetime ban on playing Quidditch. A Life. Time. Ban.

Illustration by Amanda Grazini

While Harry and the Quidditch team are sulking, they see Hagrid returning to his hut and they sneak down to see him, only to find that he looks badly beaten. He was on a secret mission with Olympe Maxime trying to recruit the giants against Voldemort. Before Harry and his friends can really warn Hagrid about what's being going on at the school, Umbridge shows up interrogating him about where he's been.

Umbridge shows up the next day at Hagrid's class where he is teaching the students about, thestrals, the creepy horses that pull the carriages at the start of every term - you know, the ones Harry and Luna could see, but no one else could. Neville can see them too, and they find out that it's because only those who have seen death can see the thestrals. Umridge doesn't seemed pleased with the lesson though, and is definitely giving Hagrid a bad review.

Harry's days start to improve though, and he and Cho have a private moment in which Harry has his first kiss. He's on cloud nine of course, but when he goes to sleep, he has a strange dream that doesnt feel like a dream at all - Harry is a snake attacking someone - and that someone is Ron's dad. In a panic, Harry tells Dumbledore who uses his resources to find out that Mr. Weasley has indeed been attacked. The headmaster sends Harry and all of the Weasley children to stay with Sirius while they make sure Mr. Weasley is rescued and until things can be sorted out, and Professor McGonagall takes measures to make sure Umbridge doesnt interfere.

DISCUSSION

I don't even think I can begin to tell you my level of frustration when Harry gets a LIFETIME BAN on Quidditch. I mean we all know that doesn't last what with Umbridge only being "high inquisitor" for one year, but honestly. I hate the feeling of utter helplessness that almost sets in when Harry realizes that no matter what he does, it won't do any good. Umbridge had it out for him, and he had to learn to live with that. That's why I'm so glad that Harry and all the other students decided to go forward with their D.A.D.A. lessons. And thank god for them because honestly, can you imagine those poor kids going out into the world with no practical D.A.D.A. instruction. And they really do learn a few things, even in those first few lessons. Most of them didn't know how useful the expelliarmus spell could really be, but think about it. Harry uses it, and often, and he's survived a whole lot in the last 4 1/2 books.

And even through all the horribleness (is that a word?) going on in his life, Harry still finds a way to be somewhat happy... he and Cho Chang share their first kiss! I mean, its about time, don't you think. Harry is fifteen - most kids these days start at like.. ten. Sad and kind of gross, but true. Either way, I like that Harry maintained a modicum of innocence in the romance department until about year four or five. Cho annoys the heck out of me though. Yes, she is grieving, but come on. If you want a boy to like you, you don't go blubbering all over him all the time, sheesh. I'm so glad I'm not fifteen anymore!

I've heard from a lot of people that they preferred Cho and Harry to Ginny and Harry. For me, the jury is still out on Ginny and I'm hoping that re-reading the last two books will help me out with that decision, but Cho gets a firm NO from me. First of all, how would they be able to get past that kind of grief that is between them? How could they be expected to? Sure they'd be there to comfort each other, but Harry would always think Cho missed Cedric more than she was happy about being with him. Cho would always be upset about Cedric and would probably wonder how things would've been had he not died. She even says to Harry that if Cedric had known D.A.D.A. that maybe he would've lived. She obviously was not over Cedric or his death and pursuing Harry was just not a good idea all around. Maybe things would've been different with an adult relationship between two mature people, but I think Rowling made the right decision in ending that one with book 5. Not to mention she was a snot and was already jealous and suspicious of Harry and Hermione without even asking what was really going on... I'm sorry but a needy, emotional, jealous teenager is exactly what Harry did not need. So hey - three cheers for Ginny. At least she turns out to be a strong and understanding partner, even if all the feels weren't necessarily emanating off the pages... understandable considering Harry did have a lot going on by the end of book 6. Anyway, that's a discussion for a later book.

What do you all think about what's been going on in these last few chapters? Talk to you all soon!

A.

Harry Potter Read-Along/Discussion [18]

RECAP - Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - Chapters 10 - 16

Harry is finally off to Hogwarts now that he knows he wont be expelled. To ruin Harry's happy mood though, they find out that Malfoy has become a prefect for Slytherin, and wthat Hagrid is conspicuously absent from the castle. Professor Grubbly-Plank took his position temporarily, and the toad-like woman from Harry's hearing at the Ministry, Dolores Umbridge, has taken the post of defense against the dark arts. As if that isn't bad enough, it seems as though many of Harry's old friends and acquaintances have been reading the Daily Prophet. Even Seamus thinks he is crazy!

When she is teaching her first D.A.D.A class, Umbridge tells her students that they will not need to use any magic, and tells Harry and the rest of the class that Voldemort is not alive. He receives an entire week of detention after having an outburst and calling Umbridge a liar. She makes him do lines - not just regular lines - the kind that cut the words into the back of your hand. While Harry is missing Quidditch Tryouts for detention, Ron makes the Quidditch team as the keeper.

Soon after, Umbridge is named the High Inquisitor of Hogwarts and has the power to set rules and inspect other teachers. After another week of detention, and many D.A.D.A. classes in which they learned nothing, Hermione suggests that Harry start teaching them and their friends some defense against the dark arts. Harry is not keen on the idea at first until his friends point out how much he really does know, including how to produce a corporeal patronus. Hermione sets up a meeting in Hogsmeade on the next trip and quite a few people show up - 25 to be exact, including Cho Chang. After some interrogation on the part of the attendees, Harry convinces them that he knows what he is doing, that Voldemort really is back, and that anyone who doesn't want to learn how to protect themselves can leave. They all agree that they want to learn, sign a paper that Hermione puts a hex on, and agree to meet at some later date.

DISCUSSION

I'm sure this entire series can be said to be a metaphor for a lot of things. Actually, I did a couple of reports and speeches on Harry Potter in college and went on and on about how its a metaphor for how good always beats out evil, and a metaphor for the story of Jesus, and encourages self-sacrifice for the greater good.. blah blah blah. I mean I did research on all that stuff so its not complete bullshit, haha, but t
talk about government corruption, huh?  Interfering in private education to pursue a vendetta. Dolores Umbridge is a villain that I hate more than Voldemort. I don't even really hate Voldemort anymore. Most of us who have been through this story before kind of feel bad for him and Umbridge kind of trumps him on the hate scale... There's no room to feel bad for Umbridge.

And Harry... annoying, whiny, broody Harry. He is so 15. I can't stand him, but thankfully something is always going on in that school in this book so Harry's chances to whine are few and far between. Hermione is developing so much in these books, and look at her now - setting up and illegal D.A.D.A. club, putting a jinx on that paper they signed. She's a sneaky little girl! Ron and Hermione's bickering is getting worse than ever and I love it! I love watching every little change with them. I want to relive that exact moment whent they realize how much they... love (well.. I mean they are 15... so like?) eachother. It's so beautiful, even though their fighting is annoying.

This book is long. Really long and sometimes tedious, especially once you hit the halfway mark and you're like, okay, come on already, can we get to the good stuff? Right now I'm enjoying it, surprisngly, but I'm sure soon I'll be dying for it to be over. Book 6 and 7 are the only ones I haven't read more than once (I read book five 1 1/2 times) so its almost like going into it without little-to-no knowledge of the intricate events that take place since I very easily forget all the little things that happened, so its going to be a lot of fun for me.

Talk to you guys soon!

A.