Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix J.K. Rowling 870 pp.

J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is the fifth book in the Harry Potter series. In brief, Harry is brought from seclusion with the Dursley’s to Hogwarts, where he tries to work around the heavy-handed rule of the Ministry-of-Magic-appointed Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Dolores Umbridge. During his year at school, he is intermittently visited by visions of Voldemort’s crimes against the wizarding community, and ultimately led to a confrontation with Voldemort and his servants at the Ministry of Magic. During this confrontation, we learn that Harry and Voldemort are fated to fight and that “neither may live while the other survives.”

If the plot summary above seems rather short compared to the other novels in the series, do not fear, it is deliberate. Order of the Phoenix is a filler volume between books four and six. The only major plot thread not included in the summary is Harry’s creation of Dumbledore’s Army, a student-run organization to train in fighting the Dark Arts. This volume is weaker than any other in the series, without any significant action taking place for the reader to follow and enjoy.

In each volume of the Harry Potter series, excepting Order, the variable portion of the title refers to an object or person with whom Harry will interact over the course of the book, each playing its role in the development of Harry’s fight against Voldemort or understanding of himself. Order of the Phoenix bucks this trend with all possible effort. The eponymous Order of the Phoenix is purposefully excluded from Harry’s life to the greatest extent possible. While this could work if Harry were to have more things to do in the novel, most of the text dwells on Harry trying vainly to get involved with the Order and thus the plot.

Harry’s vain ambition to become involved with the Order of the Phoenix in the fight against Voldemort demonstrates the core theme of this novel-Harry’s impotence. Every plot thread taking place in the book consists of actions going on outside of Harry’s ability to influence. On the rare occasion when he, and thus the reader, is able to become involved in the main plot of the book, Rowling immediately swoops in with a narrative smackdown, punishing Harry for daring to involve himself in the story.

Rowling wastes no time establishing this pattern. In the opening chapter Dudley is attacked by a dementor and Harry rescues him. While Rowling does deserve credit for following the rules she has established about Harry using magic outside of school, driving Harry away from the action from the get-go sets up the rest of the book for ineffective drama. When Harry does emerge from his seclusion with the Dursleys, he is immediately sequestered again. From this point on, Harry slips into a brooding angst which is immediately recognizable to anyone who has been fifteen, but does not make for enjoyable reading.

Once he is at school, Umbridge takes over the role of pushing Harry to the outside of the story. Her constant rulings and restrictions on life at Hogwarts are purposefully over-done. Umbridge plays her role of overbearing guardian of Hogwarts to perfection, but if the character has a flaw, it is perhaps that she is a little too easy to hate. I found myself wanting to sympathize with her more than I could with Harry because, unlike Harry, she is a moving agent in the plot. She has a goal, she takes steps towards accomplishing that goal, and despite her setbacks, succeeds in some areas. Rowling does not give me this satisfaction-Umbridge’s policies fly too far in the face of decency and fact to make her anything more than a caricature of over-regulative guardians.

Finally, at the end of the book, Harry’s visions lead him to escape Hogwarts to the Ministry of Magic so that he can save Sirius from imminent demise at the hands of Voldemort. Harry has learned of this threat through the visions he has snatched unintentionally from Voldemort’s mind. Rowling then throws the reader for quite a nice loop, these visions have been nothing more than a long con on Voldemort’s part so that he can lure Harry to the Ministry for this battle. Ultimately, by playing into the con, Harry causes Sirius to arrive at the ministry, leading to his murder and punishing Harry for daring to be involved in the plot one final time.

At the end of the book, Rowling attempts to make amends for the dreadful content of the longest volume of the series by revealing a grand prophecy-that Harry and Voldemort are fated to fight until one of them kills the other. Taking a step back from the book itself, one wonders what reader of fantasy would not have simply assumed that Rowling was playing into this trope all along.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix sums up nicely then in one sentence. Harry Potter spends a book outside of the story, constantly punished for trying to become involved, so that Rowling can establish her fantasy series is playing by the traditional rules of its genre.

Would I recommend Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix? Short answer: No. Long answer: Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.

Score: 1.2/5

Would I keep this on my bookshelf? Only to complete the series.

-Mr. Cheddar