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

Hi Lovelies!!

How are you all? The sunshine has been beautiful and this also means it’s the perfect weather for reading. I’ve got some reviews I really need to catch up on so I hope you’ll be patient with me whilst I get through them. I hope you have been enjoying the weather and making some lovely memories this summer. Anyway, it’s time for me to review the next book in the Harry Potter series: The Order of the Phoenix. Here goes!

What’s it all about?

As per all the other novels, The Order of the Phoenix begins in the summer holidays where Harry is back with his Aunt and Uncle Dursley. During one day, Harry and his cousin Dudley are attacked by Dementors. Harry openly casts his patronus to save Dudley and himself. Due to performing under age magic, Harry is expelled from Hogwarts. However, this is postponed pending a hearing at the Ministry of Magic. Harry is clearly at more risk than ever so it is decided that one evening, a group of wizards would whisk him away to 12 Grimmauld Place, the childhood home of Sirius Black. Grimmauld Place has become the headquarters of the Order. These wizards are willing to risk their own life for Harry. The likes of Mad-Eye Moody, Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks and Kingsley Shacklebolt are all part of the guard to move Harry safely.

Ron and Hermione explain to Harry that the Order is a secret organisation led by Albus Dumbledore dedicating to fighting Lord Voldemort and his Death Eater followers. From here, they learn that Voldemort is seeking something he did not have prior to his first defeat. The Ministry of Magic, led by Cornelius Fudge, refuses to acknowledge anything about Voldemort’s return. They don’t want people to panic and live in fear again. After all, they only have the word of Harry and his friends. Instead, the Ministry decide to launch and run a smear campaign against Harry and Dumbledore with the Daily Prophet.

The day of Harry’s trial approaches but Harry doesn’t get to speak. Dumbledore does this for him. He questions the use of magic in self-defence and probes to know why the Dementors are out lose in suburban Britain. Harry saved his cousins life, for sure. As a result of Dumbledore’s questioning, Harry is cleared of all charges.

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

Hogwarts should be a safe place for Harry but seeing the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher is none other than Dolores Umbridge, a senior employee in the Ministry of Magic. Like Fudge, she also refuses to acknowledge the return of Voldemort. Her and Harry clash daily, with her punishing Harry by having him write ‘I must not tell lies’ into the back of his hand with a cursed quill during detention. Despite being a Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, she refuses to teach them or let them perform any defensive spells. Harry, Ron and Hermione know the need for these spells so decide to start their own group with any students willing to join if they wish to learn. Umbridge bans any clubs that are not approved by her but Dobby informs Harry about the Room of Requirement. Here they could meet in secret and practice defensive spells under Harry’s instruction. They named themselves, Dumbledore’s Army.

Whilst all of this is happening, the absence of Hagrid is ever apparent. Upon his return, Harry, Ron and Hermione learn that he was (unsuccessfully) trying to prevent the last of the giants from joining Voldemort. Umbridge continues to increase her power and influence within the school. She begins to inspect teachers with the intension of sacking them.

One night when Harry is sleeping, he dreams that he sees through the eyes of Voldemort’s snake, Nagini, who is possessed by him. What Harry sees is Nagini attacking Arthur Weasley. Harry, alarmed, heads straight for Professor McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore. As a result of this, Arthur is rescued and saved. He could have died if it wasn’t for Harry. Dumbledore is concerned that Voldemort could use Harry without him realising so organises Occlumency lessons with Professor Snape. This should mean that Harry would be able to protect his mind against any manipulation from Voldemort. Surprisingly, Snape is also a member of the Order.

Hogwarts is becoming a darker, more miserable place because of Umbridge. She makes many changes in the school. She publicly sacks Professor Trelawney, the Divination teacher. Soon after, Umbridge learns about Dumbledore’s Army after a tip off from Cho Chang’s friend, Marietta Edgecombe. To prevent Harry’s expulsion, Dumbledore takes full responsibility for the group and is forced into hiding. Umbridge then becomes headmistress but Fred and George happily cause pandemonium around the school in revenge.

Harry also struggles with his Occlumency lessons. During one lesson, Snape is called away, leaving behind Dumbledore’s Pensieve, on which he had been storing members he did not wish Harry to see. Driven by curiosity, Harry uses the Pensieve and sees a memory of Snape being bullied by his father, James Potter and Sirius. Snape catches Harry and ends the lesson furious with him. More concerning for Harry is the fact that his father wasn’t particularly nice or friendly. He needs to speak to Sirius to find out what exactly went on. He decides to sneak into Umbridge’s office to use Floo powder to speak with Lupin and Sirius in the fireplace. This wouldn’t have been possible without the help of Fred and George. The two decide that their talents are wasted at Hogwarts so decide to leave and open a joke shop in Diagon Alley.

“The mind is not a book, to be opened at will and examined at leisure. Thoughts are not etched on the inside of skulls, to be perused by an invader. The mind is a complex and many-layered thing.”

Umbridge takes a natural disliking to Hagrid due to him being half giant, and his inspection goes badly. Hagrid confides to Harry, Ron and Hermione that he has brought his giant half brother, Grawp, to Hogwarts and has hidden him in the Forbidden Forest. He’s asked the trio to look after him if Hagrid is forced to leave Hogwarts. During the student OWL exams, Umbridge attacks Hagrid one night with a pack of Aurors. Hagrid overpowers them but flees the school for his own safety. McGonagall is injured in the attack and is put in St. Mungo’s Hospital, meaning that Harry has lost two people who support and protect him.

On the last day of the OWL exams, Harry has a vision of Sirius being tortured by Voldemort in the Department of Mysteries. Once again, Harry uses the fireplace belonging to Umbridge to connect with Grimmauld Place to see if the vision was genuine. Kreacher, the house elf, confirms this. Harry is caught by Umbridge and she summons Snape, intending to use Veritaserum to question Harry. Surprisingly, Snape claims he has none left. Harry cryptically warns Snape about Sirius but Snape feigns misunderstanding.

Umbridge reveals that she ordered the Dementor attack on Harry and Dudley over the summer to silence him. She also decides to use the illegal Cruciatus Curse on Harry to interrogate him, but Hermione intervenes, convincing Umbridge that they are hiding a weapon of Dumbledore’s in the Forbidden Forest. Following Hermione’s lead, Umbridge follows Harry and Hermione to the forest which is inhabited by centaurs. Umbridge provokes them and they take her captive. With Grawp’s help, Harry and Hermione escape.

Luna, Ron, Ginny and Neville join them in the forest and they fly to the Ministry of Magic on Thestrals in order to save Sirius. Once they are at the Ministry, they cannot find him anywhere. What they do find though is a glass sphere with Harry’s and Voldemort’s name on it. Death Eaters arrive, led by Lucius Malfoy and attack in order to secure the sphere, which happens to be the object that Voldemort has been trying to locate. This sphere is a recording of a prophecy concerning the two. As the subjects of the prophecy are the only ones who can remove them, Harry is brought there under false visions planted by Voldemort. Harry and his friends are soon joined by members of the Order and battle the Death Eaters. During the battle, Neville accidentally destroys the prophecy and Bellatrix Lestrange kills Sirius.

Harry chases after her but is clearly no match. Voldemort arrives to kill Harry himself but Dumbledore also chooses this moment to come out of hiding. Voldemort, unable to kill Dumbledore, possesses Harry in an attempt to get him to kill Dumbledore. Harry fights off the possession and Voldemort escapes just as Fudge appears. Now he has seen Voldemort himself, Fudge has no choice but to accept the truth now. He is back.

Later, in his office, Dumbledore explains that Snape understood the warning from Harry and after Harry failed to return from the Forest, alerted the Order, enabling them to save Harry and his friends. Dumbledore also shares that Kreacher had informed Narcissa Malfoy, of the close relationship between Harry and Sirius. This information was crucial for Voldemort as he knew exactly what false memory to plant to make Harry do exactly what he needed.

Harry has to stay with the Dursleys for one last summer. He learns that because Aunt Petunia, Lily’s sister, took Harry into her home, she seals the protection Harry gained from his mother when she died. As long as he is at Number Four, Privet Drive, he is safe from Voldemort and his followers. Dumbledore shares the prophecy, made by Professor Trelawney, with Harry. The prophecy had foretold the birth of someone with the power to defeat Voldemort. One of Voldemort’s followers heard this and informed him. Although the prophecy pointed at either Harry or Neville, Voldemort believed it to be about Harry, which is why he tried to kill him as a baby. The rest of the prophecy hinted that Voldemort would unknowingly mark his opponent as an equal. Eventually, one would have to kill the other.

“I DON’T CARE!” Harry yelled at them, snatching up a lunascope and throwing it into the fireplace. “I’VE HAD ENOUGH, I’VE SEEN ENOUGH, I WANT OUT, I WANT IT TO END, I DON’T CARE ANYMORE!”
“You do care,” said Dumbledore. He had not flinched or made a single move to stop Harry demolishing his office. His expression was calm, almost detached. “You care so much you feel as though you will bleed to death with the pain of it.”

The loss of Sirius, the feeling of guilt and the weight of the prophecy results in Harry becoming quite low. At least now the wizarding community know that he was telling the truth and in turn gains him more respect. His friends and loved ones give him the motivation he needs to return to the Dursleys for one final summer.

Final Thoughts

You guys all know how much I love the Harry Potter books but what is even better now is reading them again as an adult, I appreciate things I probably didn’t notice as a young reader. The language is darker the deeper we get into the series, the threat becomes more menacing and Voldemort gets worse with age. I do firmly believe that my generation grew up with Harry. What is amazing now is that we have a whole new generation doing the same. It’s so special and so magical.

Take care all. Big love xxxx