Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix
By Karin Wyle (ka404)
The book Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix creates a sharp distinction between the young, humble Harry of the previous books, and the angst-ridden, frustrated, and quick tempered adolescent that emerges from Privet Drive at the end of the summer. This is first evidenced by the description of Harry as having “the unhealthy look of someone who has grown a lot in a short space of time”. This boy had lived through much in his life, the death of his parents, the following years of drudgery with the Dudleys, the unwilling fame in the wizarding world, the connection with Voldemort that had led to various near-death escapes, and finally at the end of Book 4, the face-off with the evil one himself and the death of Cedric in the maze.
The change then continues to reveal itself in the first few chapters at the Dursleys, as Harry fumes to himself about the lack of news from Voldemort, and from his friends. He picks a fight with his cousin, blows off his uncle and aunt, and acts in a rather un-Harry-like way. When two dementors converged on him and Dudley, however, he is quick to react, protecting his cousin and fighting off the enemy with his quick training. It only adds to his anguish, as letters from his wizarding guardians scold rather than praise, and his enrollment at Hogwarts hangs in the balance of a Ministry hearing.
Harry is overjoyed by the prospect of rescue, but is quick to revert to his old anger as he shouts unmercifully at Hermione and Ron at Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place. After all the traumatic experiences he had gone through, Harry wanted nothing more than to be accepted as a valuable member to the Order of the Phoenix, something which he was denied because of age. Feeling frustrated at his apparent lack of worth, Harry is left to clean the house and look forward to the ominous hearing that would decide his future as a wizard. It is only at this hearing that he starts to comprehend the forces standing against the Order, and he is embarrassed and humiliated by the horrible lies spread by the Daily Prophet and the Ministry of Magic. He is acquitted of his minor offense, however and free to return to school. This is somewhat overshadowed by Hermione’s and Ron’s awards of prefect, which he resents and only plunges him deeper into a world of self-pity and anger at the world.
Even with all of this anger, Harry maintains his practice of self-deprecation. When the new DADA teacher Professor Umbridge takes to sickening forms of punishment, he refuses to report her, believing that Dumbledore would not care, and that it wouldn’t matter anyways. As he experiences odd dreams about locked doors, and his scar begins to uncharacteristically bother him, Harry remains steadfast in his attempt to hold things inside and prove to the world that he doesn’t need anyone to take care of him. Things spin out of control with his dream of Ron’s father, however, and suddenly Harry finds himself under more suspicion, and the unfeeling eye of his headmaster. Dumbledore’s attempts to remedy the situation do not help. Harry cannot appreciate what the headmaster is asking him in earnest to do, since he does not believe Dumbledore truly cares about him. The following occlumency lessons are disastrous, as avowed enemies face off in Snape’s office, neither with enough will to give the work a real chance.
As Harry struggles internally to come to the realization that he cannot be expected to fight Voldemort all alone, his outer world begins to fall apart. Hogwarts is under attack from the Ministry, and soon The Hogwarts High Inquisitor is snatching all that Harry holds dear from him, making him an angry teenager with nothing to lose. Dumbledore’s Army, Hermione’s brainchild, and Harry’s way of living with Umbridge’s tyranny, falls apart. Quidditch is snatched away from him, Hagrid is captured by force before his very eyes, and Professor McGonagall is struck and injured by Ministry aurors after Dumbledore flees Hogwarts. The only one who had ever really understood Harry’s feelings of helplessness, Sirius, is snatched from him while attempting to save Harry and his friends from an escapade that would never had happened if he had listened to Dumbledore. Harry has a lot on his hands, and even after he triumphs again over Umbridge and relative order is restored to his school, Harry is given the news that will forever steal him away from his childhood, the Lost Prophecy. As chapter thirty eight closes and the second war begins, it is apparently that the child once known as Harry Potter has not yet become an adult, but has also decidedly left the carefree days of childhood.

When I read your essay in the word document, it felt to me that you were shouting your essay at me, this won't help get points... ;) When I read your essay, there was no analysis, but it shows that you at least understood the book very well, and for this I will hand you 45 points...