J. K. Rowling: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

My first read of the new year was a long one, and one I dreaded reading. It was no need for that. This went by really quickly and left me wanting more.

Do I even need to write a short summary? Harry Potter is in his fifth year at Hogwarts. Harry's a teenager and lusting for Cho. And of course there's a new defense against dark arts teacher. She's horrible. And yeah, Voldemort is a constant threat. Dumbledore seem distant and Hagrid actually is distant - as in not present. It's new school year to survive for the boy who lived.

As I have said before, I'm not a Harry Potter fan. I don't like the character. But, these books are growing on me!

First of all I want to talk about the character I dislike. Harry Potter is usually an obnoxious do-good-er and everyone loves him and he can't do anything wrong and so on. In this installment he is moody and broody and a lot of the time straight out angry. And I love it! Finally he's not all good. Finally he has feelings and actions that are not so welcome and he's actually getting lots of punishment for it.

As for the punishments... They are due to the new teacher, professor Umbridge. She's maybe the cruelest and most evil character I have ever read about. Making a teenage boy actually have to do self harm every day for a couple weeks straight? Wow, that's a harsh punishment! Professor Umbridge is really a nasty person. But this is what makes this book so good. Especially towards the end when professor McGonagall sets her straight. I loved this part, and McGonagall is sort of my new idol now. She's so awesome!

I've previously complained a lot about this series being way too childish, but with this book it's clear that it's no longer a series meant for kids, but rather for young adults. Finally! The immature humor which was so apparent in the first books are gone. And replaced by teenage love, lust, confusion, anger, sadness and every other feelings the body and mind can produce.

As a last note I really enjoyed the descriptive language. So many scenes were so imaginative and beautifully described. I'm not talking about the magic or the action in the scenes, but the words used to describe everything. Rowling made art with her words in this.

/menenia

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