Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter, #5)

by J.K. Rowling

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June is a terrible reading month for me, has been since 2017 so far and even when I wanted to read more in it. I still ended up only completing one book, dropping another and also putting one on-hold till the interest comes back. In comes the idea to continue my reread of Harry Potter and to be very honest, it was one of the funnest reading experiences I’ve ever had.

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The Order of the Phoenix was the second book I’ve ever read in my life, after Goblet of Fire being the first and that was about 15 years ago so I’m a lot older now, I’m a lot more proficient in English and my mindset is totally different. I still didn’t expect the amount of fun I had while reading this book, it’s the biggest of the bunch if I’m not mistaken so small details here and there would surely not have been easily registered in my mind after the first read, so this reread journey felt like I’m seeing the entire series from a whole new standpoint. The main thing I’m enjoying this time around though is the fact that I can focus on the characters a lot more than before, Harry’s rage, Hermione’s tendency to be vicious when goaded and Ron’s immense desire to please.

The way Rowling wrote these characters makes them insanely relatable at their age, I’m not a teenager anymore, but being around the YA community for instance gives me a clear idea that the majority will find themselves filling one of these shoes in some way. Maybe not entirely, but still a bit of it. Personally and given that she’s my favourite character in the series, Hermione was just amazing in this book. The ideas she came up with, plus the return of our transforming friend was really really fun to see for me, but the hidden countermeasures she took was easily the highlight I loved to see.

Ron was a bit of a different case, there were some instances in the book where I thought that Neville was a lot braver than him based on previous books, but he still remains the balancing character when it comes to his two friends. I think his existence in particular is polarizing in the community, some find him great and others find him kind of pathetic. I’m in the middle so far, but I am leaning more on the pathetic side than not. His relationship with Hermione though, for me personally, is a definite terrible move on Rowling’s part, they’re not good for each other, at all and that opinion has yet to change, in fact, this reread is just solidifying it.

Harry to me, is the one who probably got the most development in this book. It was a great thing to see him being put in situations where he had to question his self worth, being the one who’s always celebrated and now being the one who’s not, was awesome. Even more so when the book shows how enforced these feelings are on his psyche, how it’s not just how own feelings he has to deal with and how he needs to adjust to those around him. The characters were just fantastic, Molly and Ginny Weasley in particular of the side characters were the highlights to me. The former because of how much she wanted to protect Harry’s childhood and the latter because of her slightly shown badass-ery, which I can’t wait to see more of.

Umbridge‘s reveal in this book or let’s say, induction into the series is always an amusing thing for me. Despite the evil nature of this women, her love for pink and cuteness when it doesn’t fit whatsoever with her description is just amusing. It doesn’t help that I was hearing her theme from the film whenever she was near the characters, literally gave me a smile on my face whenever she did something. Especially whenever I imagined her against McGonagall, I’m soooooooo bummed out that the film didn’t include how amazing Minerva McGonagall was in this book.

I can’t wait to reread the entire series and see what I’ll think by the end, but so far, I honestly have nothing, but praise when it comes to my enjoyment :)

Final rating: 5/5