Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is not one of my favorites. It’s certainly not my least favorite, but there is a certain whiny-ness to Harry that is simply not attractive.
In fact, a lot of people spend a lot of time whining in the fifth edition. Sirius is trapped inside his ancestral home with no one but an insane house elf to keep him company. And he whines about it. Ron is recruited as Keeper for the Gryffindor Quidditch team despite the fact that he’s not the best player anyone has ever seen. And he whines about it. Harry is being treated by the rest of the world like a delusional psychopath for announcing that Voldemort has risen again. And you better believe he whines about it.
It has taken me two weeks to finish The Order of the Phoenix for various reasons, but mostly because this volume is incredibly frustrating when it comes to making actual plotline progress in the saga.
Dolores Umbridge is the sort of person who you wish fervent death upon from the moment she appears at Harry’s Misuse of Magic trial in the beginning of the book. The fact that she is soon designated as Hogwarts High Inquisitor and later Headmaster is ludicrous-- and frighteningly close to what would happen in a similar real-life political situation.
The sheer idiocy of those running the Ministry of Magic is confounding-- not unlike the idiocy of those running general government organizations. They believe what is convenient (Voldemort is not back and everything is fine... including leaving the Dementors in charge of Azkaban), they spread lies that best suit their political motives (Albus Dumbledore is trying to discredit Cornelius Fudge in order to place himself in line to be Minister of Magic), and they blame the wrong people for the wrong things (Harry Potter is an attention starved douchecanoe who is so used to being the center of attention that he cannot stand having the spotlight turned elsewhere).
Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes is a highpoint in the book, with Fred and George themselves presiding over one of the finest moments in Hogwarts’ history. Their triumphant exit from the main hall in the wake of their great portable swamp charade, when they promptly announce that they’ve had enough of higher education, summon their brooms from lockup, and ask Peeves to be sure and give Umbridge hell on their behalf is the stuff of legend. In what is certainly the only time he has taken orders from anyone, Peeves complies wholeheartedly.
But of course, we must come to the darker things afoot and the progress that is made in the saga of Harry and those fighting the Dark Lord.
We begin with Severus Snape, who we see for the first time as a sympathetic young man who, while being admittedly douche-y to people in general, is no more asking for the trouble given him by James and Sirius than Harry asks Malfoy for his constant and unending antagonism. We also have our first glimpse at his relationship with Lily, as Snape’s worst memory reveals her attempts to defend him against the bullies. This is not the last time we will see this scene, but it is the defining moment in the James-Lily-Severus triangle: Snape calls Lily a Mudblood, and loses her forever.
As I’ve said before, the Harry books grow with their audience, and Harry for the first time has the painful realization that his idolized parents, while wonderful people, were not perfect and did not always do wonderful things. The scene where James Potter bullies Snape is indeed disturbing, and Harry’s reaction of questioning whether he even wants to be compared to his father anymore is wise and filled with mature perspective. However, the guidance and opinion he gets when he is finally able to talk to Sirius and Lupin is also filled with wisdom: Yes, we were idiots, and who isn’t? But no. Your dad was not a hideous human being. At least, not any more than any other fifteen year old.
(I think it’s important too, to say that Harry does not have the luxury of becoming a bully- he’s got far more important things to worry about than what his school rivals are thinking or saying or doing at any given time... he might not ever be able to relate to this aspect of his father, or indeed anyone)
And we finally have acknowledgement by Rowling, through the voice of Albus Dumbledore, that the reading audience is ready to hear what has been kept from them for five books (five Harry Potter years), and close to seven real-life years (by way of book release dates). Voldemort came to Godric’s Hollow on that fateful night fifteen years ago to dispose of a baby who had been prophesied as a threat to his power.
Beyond the fact that he did not know the entire prophecy (and what kind of idiot acts without hearing the whole thing firsthand? I ask you), clearly Voldemort has never read Oedipus Rex. There were two babies born at the end of the seventh month that year to parents who had thrice defied him- one was Harry Potter, the other was Neville Longbottom.
The very act of choosing Harry as the baby to destroy is the one that sealed their fates forever. As Dumbledore confirmed, Harry was probably selected because his most closely resembled Voldemort’s own origins, as they were both half-bloods. Had Voldemort not acted, nothing would have occurred, and the prophecy would not have come true. But that’s not how these things work, is it? Of course Voldemort was going to act. And of course the story was never going to end up anywhere other than where it is now.
So now the second war is upon us. Voldemort revealed himself within the Ministry, Fudge was forced to admit that he had returned, and we’re ready for the warnings to The Other Minister that open Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
Final notes: the locket in Grimauld Place that wouldn’t open (ahhhhh!), and the barman at the Hog’s Head who looks vaguely familiar (HOLY CRAP MARIE). Dear Stephenie Meyer: This is how you build a series.
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