Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
By Alexia Malfoy
Student ID: al324
Years had gone by since "The Goblet of Fire" had been released, and me, like others, was eagerly awaiting the Order of the Phoenix. I was so eager, were the rumors I heard true? Or was it just another hoax? I had to find out. It took me less than 2 days to read it, and I admit I cried. The book touched me, inspired me and drew me to become creative again. That what those things do to me.
I felt so sorry for Harry during the entire book. Him talking about how he hated being cut off, his random out bursts, him and Cho not working out, and it always seeming like Harry was being pushed around randomly. I didn’t blame him one bit for being so upset. I think anyone would have been if they had been in that position.
The introduction of characters was a very good idea, but I felt rather weird with how randomly Luna Lovegood just appeared out of no where. You get on the train and, poof, there she is. I was excited about a new character, don’t get me wrong, I was thrilled beyond belief. I’ve learned J.K. has a reason for everything in the books, and all we can do is sit back and wait to see what happens. To me she provided a bit of comic relief and mystery all in one. I can’t wait for there to be more from her.
In the beginning I liked how she just picked up right from where the 4th book started off. No getting into Voldemort and Harry’s past in-depth, just getting straight to the story and what’s going on. I thought that was a wise move. I mean if you’ve read the other four, why repeat that Voldemort tried to kill Harry? I also enjoyed how Harry seems a bit older now, more adult than in the 4th book. He seems to know that his life is in danger now that Voldemort’s back and that he may have to defend himself. It seems like the events that have occurred in his life have finally started effecting him and making him mature.
The fight with the dementors scared me because I was wondering what was going on. In the book they state that dementors shouldn’t just be wandering around their neighborhood. I mean it was freaky. Then finding out Mrs. Figg was a squib, when most thought she was a witch, shocked me. I expected her to jump in at some point and start fighting off the dementors with Harry. It was funny when she was fighting Mundungus and hitting him with her purse. She is truly as they describe her "a batty old lady".
Then there was the whole thing Aunt Petunia knowing about Dementors and Azkaban and the howler for her. It bothered me through the whole course of the book when had sent that howler. I wanted to know. I mean who in the wizarding world would know Petunia? In the end it only made sense that Dumbledore sent it. I still find it rather odd that she was able to retain some of the information from when she was younger about the wizarding world. I would hope that at some point they lightened up on Harry, but I seriously doubt that will happen. I mean they will always be the Dursleys.
I actually dropped the book when I read Harry got his expulsion letter. I just froze. How could that happen? I mean he had been defending himself from dementors and now he was going to be expelled? That was totally unfair. I wanted to jump inside the book and go kick Fudge; it just made me so upset! In fact Fudge made me angry during the entire book. He was just such a little cocky person. The Ministry all together made me mad. I didn’t like them at all.
I loved learning about the Order of the Phoenix. There was so much speculation as to what they were or what they did. When I saw Mad-Eye and Remus I started to smile. It made me thrilled to see them again. Then there was Tonks, good old lovable Tonks. She is so much like me, clumsy, funny but with good intentions. I liked that she made Tonks able to change her appearance at will and that she just seemed to be so fun loving. I also loved the part when Mad-Eye took his eye out and began splashing it in the water. I laughed so hard.
The house of the Order seemed very off when I read the description of it. With all the snakes and such it gave the feel of it being the house of a dark wizard, which it did end up being. The portrait of Sirius’s mother was excellent, as was Sirius’s entrance. The cleaning, Kreecher and pretty much everything to do with the house the Order was in was very intriguing and the explanation of Sirius being basically kicked off his family tree as well as Tonks made me rather sad.
Harry’s trial at the ministry pushed my hatred of Fudge to the limits, and it also kindled what, I didn’t know it then, would become my severe hatred for Umbridge. I wanted to scream everytime she said anything. They were so unreasonable! It was insane! I wanted to hop inside the book and beat them both senseless.
The rest of the story to me is a total blur. There are a lot of high lights though. Harry’s dream where he bites Mr. Weasley scared me a lot. Then when they take him to St. Mungo’s and they wander around and see Gilderoy Lockhart. I loved that part. Then when Neville comes out and you hear about his parents, it pulled at my heartstrings and made me feel so sorry for Neville. He seems like such a sweet character. It was probably the sadness part of the book, well, one of the saddest parts.
I really hated the part when Harry wanders into Snape’s worst memory and sees how truly terrible Remus, James, Sirius and Peter treated poor Snape. I mean he may have been a slimy little worm, but you just don’t treat people like that. It was probably the thing that made me not like Sirius just a bit, but then again I started to think about the fact that he was just a kid and probably being stupid. I do understand why Snape hates Sirius so much, and it made me wonder why Lily ever married James, course he probably grew up a lot since then. I could just picture them being terrible to poor Snape and I didn’t enjoy it.
One of the best parts was when Fred and George started to pull pranks non-stop. I love them and to see them at their best made me love them anymore. Plus the fact that they were terrorizing Umbridge helped too. The fireworks in the hall, flooding of the entranceway and getting everyone else in on the act. In the end when they took off my jaw literally hit the floor. I was shocked, but it did seem reasonable. I mean, whether they graduated or not wouldn't change whether they started their joke shop or not. They seemed determined to have their own shop and make Umbridge’s year terrible. It made me happy to see them take off, and to see the other students take their places and terrorize Umbridge.
The saddest part was the fight at the ministry, the entire thing. I was terrified and on edge when they were running from the Death Eaters. It seemed like there wasn’t any hope for them to survive, like they weren’t going to make it. The different rooms were amazing, so abstract and bizarre I had a hard time picturing them, but the room with the arch made my skin crawl for some reason. When they said they could hear voices coming from ‘behind’ it, it made me curious. I wondered why. When the Order arrived and the battle began I was afraid that Ron or Hermione would die, or something terrible was going to happen, and then it did.
When Sirius fell away into the veil I stopped reading. I dropped the book and just froze when Remus said he was gone, he couldn’t come back. Sirius was my favorite character, tied along with Lupin and perhaps Tonks as well. I remember pushing myself to read, telling myself over and over that Sirius couldn’t die, Rowling wouldn’t do that, he would come back. But he didn’t.
The fight between Voldemort and Dumbledore was amazing. Voldemort and Dumbledore were both showing their powers to the full extent. It was short, but it kept me in awe for a while. I re-read it several times and tried to envision all the workings of the scene going on and finally Dumbledore winning. When Fudge and the ministry officials came in and had to face facts, I was happy, but nothing could lift the weight that Sirius’s death had placed in my stomach. It was odd, I waited for him to come back, return from beyond the curtain and be back, but he didn’t.
When Harry was taken back to Dumbledore’s office I knew something big was coming, the lost prophecy was just a bit of a clue considering it had been dropped during the battle and lost. You didn’t see a lot of Dumbledore during the book and he rarely talked to Harry, and there just seemed to be a large void where he was supposed to be. When Dumbledore talked to Harry, explained everything and told Harry the prophecy, I think my brain almost went into meltdown mode. There was so much information, maybe even too much to understand. The fact that Harry and Voldemort could only die at the hands of each other and Neville and Harry were both born at the same time and Voldemort marked Harry as his equal. The fact that Trelawney had made the prophecy and that Dumbledore sat there calmly in his desk while Harry raged. The anger inside of Harry must have grown so intense, especially after Sirius being killed and losing probably the closet thing to a Father he had ever had. All the anger that had been closed up inside him seemed to spill over and finally he let it all go. He asked questions and for the first time he received answers, ones that made sense.
We never see Dumbledore express much emotion, but when you see him cry at the end it makes you feel like you should break down inside, like the last hope for strength in the world has broken down and now everything is lost. Dumbledore, to me, is like a rock that no one could budge, but suddenly for some reason he is breaking down, being crushed, and showing true human emotions, other than happiness. It made me realize how human Dumbledore really is and that he also very old. It was a very touching way to make closure.
The end was filled with laughs and tears. When Peeves chances Umbridge from the castle, and McGonagall lent him her cane made me happier, but Sirius’s death still bothered me. When Harry found Sirius’s two-way mirror and tried to use it to talk to Sirius I cried. To see someone, anyone, so utterly helpless and angry it was terrible. Then he went to talk to Nearly Headless Nick and asked about why people become ghosts, and it was explained. I found it amazing. I mean I didn’t seriously expect that it would be something that straight forward. It is true though, when Nick said that people often don’t choose it because it is very lonely and you are stuck being a ghost because you have to wander the world forever. It was very sad.
I understood why Harry skipped the feast, and wandered the castle. He must have felt miserable. When he talked to Luna, who you couldn’t help but feel bad for, and asked about what had happened to Sirius. She understood he missed him, but she said he’s not dead, you could hear them whispering just beyond the veil and that they would see them again. It made me wonder what she meant. I mean it could be something like heaven or maybe sometime we’re going to see a world where you can see the dead. I do hope we see Sirius again.
I felt bad for Harry that he had to leave, but I do believe he got a lot of closure in the situation with the fight and probably felt a lot better with the fact that the wizarding world now didn’t think he was nuts. Also with the promise of the Order visiting over the summer gave him something to look forward to. I think that he definitely had some closure.
The book overall was very exciting and extremely sad. I didn’t like some of the stuff, but over all it was not disappointing by any means. It is probably one of my favorite books in the Harry Potter Series.
Very Touching!
What can I say about this report? It has to be the best I have read so far. It really touched me to hear how you felt durring reading certain parts of the book. I can tell it is your true work and not someone elses. Your emotions really supprot every aspect of the book. I admit I actually cried when Harry tryed to talk into the two-way mirror as well. Im pleased to hear you enjoyed the book so much. I agree, it was extremely exciting and very sad. Wonderful job! Your report has brightened my day, to see such talent is remarkable :D
60 Points
