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

The last two chapters of this book are heart-wrenching.

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 - 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.

1.) Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone ★★★★★
2.) Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets ★★★★★
3.) Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban ★★★★★
4.) Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire ★★★★★
5) Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix ★★★★★
6.) Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince ★★★★★
7) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows ★★★★★
8.) Harry Potter and the Cursed Child ★★

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من باب تصمیمات اشتباه و بی‌نقص نبودن آدم بزرگا
n  n

آخ که چقدر تو پونزده سالگی کله‌م مث هری خراب بود. برای همین به رفتارش تو این جلد خورده نمی‌گیرم

5 stars (reread).

“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.”

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix follows a world where Lord Voldemort has officially returned. Harry is starting his fifth year in a world where his influence is everywhere in the Wizarding World and his followers are quickly returning to his side. In response, the Order of the Phoenix, a group created during the first war to stop him, has gathered together again, now with some new members. Problems are showing up at Hogwarts, too, where government officials are meddling in everything. Harry also has a powerful connection to Voldemort, which seems to be growing even stronger, and he soon realizes that he has direct access to the Dark Lord’s mind. It’s time for Harry and his friends to take action, but the course they choose will have terrible consequences.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is my second favorite book in this series, despite a character death that has hurt my soul my entire life. J.K. Rowling takes no liberties in this book, and was absolutely determined to make this story even darker and more complex as it goes on. There’s so, so much plot and character development, and the series has officially taken a dark, awful turn. Since this is my 24th reread of the series, I’m no longer surprised when I read it, but I’m still amazed by how incredible and captivating this book is. And how absolutely frustrating it is for Harry, honestly.

“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.”

As much as I think the characters have had some wonderful character development, I still dislike Ginny, and this book is kind of a big reason why. I’m not going to go fully into it (because I’ve had rants longer than this book on it), but I absolutely, 100% do not agree with people who say she handled Harry’s moods and depression really well in this book. She definitely didn’t, and honestly, neither did Hermione most of the time. That being said, anyone who says Harry is a whiny child in this book can fucking fight me—Ginny and Hermione included. He deserves so much better, but we know that. Also, Luna. That's all.

Overall, I loved Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix so, so much, obviously. I loved the humor and the characters and the world that’s developing so nicely. I love these rereads and getting back into the world J.K. Rowling created. I know it’s been fifteen years, but that’s not going to stop me from being absolutely devastated by the major character death in this book, and thinking he also deserves so much better. I can’t wait to get to my reread of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

“Harry witnessed Professor McGonagall walking right past Peeves who was determinedly loosening a crystal chandelier and could have sworn he heard her tell the poltergeist out of the corner of her mouth, “It unscrews the other way.“”

↠ Reread #25: February 2-3, 2019.
↠ Reread #26: May 27-28, 2019.
↠ Reread #27: July 14-15, 2019.
↠ Reread #28: January 7-8, 2020.
↠ Reread #29: March 24-25, 2020.
↠ Reread #30: January 4-5, 2021.
↠ Reread #31: August 27-28, 2021.
↠ Reread #32: December 28-29, 2021.
↠ Reread #33: September 23, 2022-September 24, 2022.

mY sCaR hUrTs aNd My ToKeN dIvErSe GiRlFrIeNd LoVeS hEr DeAd Ex MoRe ThAn Me

n  n

I finished this book and now I’m sad AF. I seriously cried through so much of the last few hours of the audiobook. One of my favorite characters is gone, and I had to listen to Umbridge for hours and hours. Yeah. Sad AF.

I am always ready to pop off on anyone who says they don’t like this book because “Harry is so angsty and annoying in it.” Well, why don’t you watch a peer die right next to you, witness Adolf Hitler’s resurrection, have a trusted adult admit they’ve been lying and manipulating you, and then get sent home for three months to live with people who loathe you, all while being ghosted by the people you actually like for weeks AND SEE HOW WELL YOU DEAL WITH IT.

On top of all of that, you’ve got a government publishing daily articles detailing why you’re a crazy person with an overactive imagination and to pay no attention to that 100% alive noseless man behind the curtains.

  

DON’T EVEN WITH ME ON THIS.

Also, I still remember reading this book on my bunk bed in 8th grade the day it came out. Never in my life had I experienced so much fiery rage toward a fictional character. Fifteen years later and Delores Umbridge still wins the award for character whOSE LAUGH COULD ACTUALLY PROVOKE ME, A PACIFIST WHO LOVES CAPS LOCK, TO RAGE PUNCH AN INNOCENT BYSTANDER.

Hem hem.

2023: Obniżam do 4 gwiazdek, bo mimo tego, że czytałam ją czwarty raz, to za każdym razem się z nią męczę.
2021: Daję 5 gwiazdek z sentymentu, bo zakończenie jest przepiękne.

My mind voice by the time I completed this book: Maybe someday you'll get over Sirius Black, hm?

You've ruined me, Ms.Rowling.

On this sunny Mother's Day, my middle child suggested that the perfect gift for me would be to finish reading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix outside, aloud to her. She wanted us to reach the dramatic conclusion earlier in the day, so the intensity of the ending wouldn't negatively impact her dreams. We've been reading book #5 at night, one chapter at a time, and the mature shift that has taken place in the last few chapters, into violence and loss, has been peppering her sleep lately with images of Bellatrix Lestrange and flashing green lights (hexes!).

So, we finished the book today (it was the first time for her, a reread for me), and even though I still consider this book to be overweight by about 100 pages, I enjoyed it even more the second time. I cried a lot more this round, too.

Without revealing spoilers, I will describe, simply, that the ending of Phoenix is intense and includes a violent climax between Lord Voldemort and Professor Dumbledore. On page 814, amid raised wands and loud explosions, Voldemort snarls, “There is nothing worse than death, Dumbledore!

Dumbledore responds to this quietly (despite all of the commotion) by telling Voldemort, “You are quite wrong. . . Indeed, your failure to understand that there are things much worse than death has always been your greatest weakness--”

I took a pause from reading here and closed the book and asked my daughter, “What do you think he means? What do you think is worse than death?”

Without hesitation, my middle child answered, “Sadness. Like the kind of sadness that never stops.”

I was taken aback by her answer. As a migraine sufferer, I would have answered “physical pain that won't stop.”

But, pain is pain, right? And, if you suffer it long enough, regardless of its source, you may get to the point where you perceive death as a sweet release rather than a “worse case scenario.”

When Dumbledore turns this thinking around to Harry and tells him “the fact that you can feel pain like this is your greatest strength,” Harry rejects this philosophy and shouts, “I DON'T CARE! I'VE HAD ENOUGH, I'VE SEEN ENOUGH, I WANT OUT, I WANT IT TO END, I DON'T CARE ANYMORE--”

Wow. How brilliant was J.K. Rowling, in using the span of this big, bold, epic, magical story. . .

to explain the loss of innocence, the frequent crippling sense of isolation, and the it-feels-impossible-to-go-on quality of adolescence?

My hat's not just off, Ms. Rowling. It's on the floor.

hrrmmpp.
This is my least favourite of the Harry Potter series, and almost borders on the "don't bother". It is saved only by the virtue that it is a Harry Potter book and moves the series along to the still yet unknown finale.
My issues with it:
- deals with complex social/political problems in a simplified, extreme, and dichotomous manner
- characterisations are too easy/lazy- all good or all bad (with the exception of Snape who's good/evil intentions are yet unknown), all courageous or cowardly, the righteous or the corrupt.
- Malfoy junior is the most incompetent nemesis in the history of evil. And whilst this was acceptable in the earlier books where there was an element of the comical in his attempts to be evil, by book 5, where the themes have become signifantly darker, he and his side-kicks' unchanging and inane attempts to foil Harry's ultimate fate have just become annoying. The only saving grace is that Harry has more than enough true and worthwhile enemies and obstacles for the reader to really get bogged down by Malfoy's silliness.
- the laudable themes of power/corruption/propaganda/censorship are played out with such naive characterisations, extreme situations and melodramaticism that it results in inflammatory knee-jerk reactions rather than furthering understanding of the subleties of these ideas.
- the plot seems confused, as if JK Rowling has all these ideas, but is unsure of where she ultimately wants to go, thereby leaving in all these subplots that neither has entertainment, wisdom nor story-advancing value. EG what's with Grawp and the freaking giants??

Overall- read it only as a part of the greater goal of coming closer to the ending of the series.

I finished this book with tears in my eyes and laughter on my lips.
Just wow, excellent book!