Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Author: J.K. Rowling

Genre: Fantasy

Rating: B

Following the disastrous results of the Triwizard Tournament, Harry Potter was sent back to his Muggle aunt and uncle's home.  All summer he waited anxiously for news of Voldemort's return, growing more and more desperate and aggravated as the days passed by and he began to feel more and more shut out of the wizarding world.  Then Dementors arrive and attack him and his cousin.  Suddenly, Harry is faces being expelled from Hogwarts, forced to face a trial at the Ministry of Magic, and it is revealed that few in the Magical world believe him anymore.  Those who do believe him, and Dumbledore, are in the Order of the Phoenix, a secret organization that operates against Voldemort.  While Harry is able to successfully avoid expulsion and prison, things are not as they used to be at Hogwarts.  He is the subject of gossip and disdain from his peers, and is in constant opposition with the new professor of Defense against the Dark Arts, Dolores Umbridge, a woman who is clearly working for Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge against Dumbledore.

There are elements of this book that are absolutely awesome.  I love the Order, Dumbledore's Army, Kreacher, the emergence of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes.  There are so many really great aspects of this novel, that just add to the world of Harry Potter and make it even better.  Really in the long run, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is great because of everything in it that isn't Harry himself.  I think my favourite elements of this book are actually the DA and the growth of Neville Longbottom.  This is the book where the secondary characters really start to take form of their own and exist beyond the mind of Harry Potter.  We've seen how Harry, Ron, and Hermione have been growing all along, but we haven't seen how Neville, Ginny, etc, have been doing so - Order of the Phoenix shows us this through the furthered interactions that Harry has with the Weasleys and the development of the DA.  We also really get to see this calling for teaching that Harry has.  He gets to show others how to do the things that he can do - he gets to expand their knowledge base and in doing so he also expands his knowledge base.  Oh, plus, as much as I hate Umbridge her constant presence places this huge amount of strain on Harry throughout the year, and thus throughout the book, ensuring that the plot is always present.  Voldemort is in many ways a rather secondary threat here, Umbridge is the big focus.  In a manner, it kind of reminds me of the Little and Big Bads of the Buffyverse.  Umbridge is definitely the Little Bad, but she gains more of a focus throughout the course of the book.

The thing that I really disliked about this book, which rather disables it as a whole, is Harry.  As much as I understand what he's going through, this is the book where he really becomes a whiny, annoying teenager.  It makes it hard to like him.  There's a point in the book where I found myself wishing that it was being told from a different perspective, because I didn't care about Harry's self-sacrificing, self-hating, hating the world, attitude.  There are moments when it's great - like when he locks himself in his room out of fear that he's the weapon being used by Voldemort - but for the most part it is less than great.  We're often told that the greatest power that Harry has is his ability to love, but in this book all we see is hate.  He hates others, he hates himself, others hate him... It's a very ugly mess and given just how long the book is makes things a bit dull after awhile.