HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX

 

Author: J.K Rowling Illustrator: Mary GrandPre’ Rating: 7/10 Age: 10+ Genre: Fiction, Fantasy, Magic Pages: 766 Published in: June 2003 Main Characters: Harry, Hermione, Ron, Umbridge, Voldemort, Dumbledore, Fudge.

Synopsis:   Harry was spending another tedious summer with Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon. One evening, as he was roaming around in a park, Dudley’s gang had bullied harry yet again. Harry hadn’t taken notice of Dudley until he had spotted 2 dementors swooping around. After using magic to defend himself, Harry was whisked off by wizards to number twelve, Grimmauld Place, London. This was the home to Sirius Black also known as Harry’s godfather. Harry used magic to fight off the dementors, and since underage wizards were not permitted to use their wands outside of school, he had faced a hearing at the Ministry. With Dumbledore’s help with convincing the minister, Harry was cleared and permitted to return to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As Harry had arrived at Hogwarts with his best friends, Ron and Hermione, he soon learnt that there was a new Defence in the Dark Arts teacher named Dolores Umbridge. Harry knew he would have to concentrate in his lessons to get good marks in his O.W.Ls (Ordinary Wizarding Level examinations.) Professor Umbridge refuses to teach spells for defence in her lessons. The minister, Fudge, appoints her in a higher rank at Hogwarts, giving Umbridge the permission to inspect faulty teachers or students. In despair, Harry and his friends make a club called the D.A, Dumbledore’s Army, trying to learn all different spells so that they could defend themselves in case of emergency. 25 other students signed up, and they met as often as possible to learn and practice Defence spells. Harry wished that he could contact his godfather Sirius to discuss the situation, but Umbridge was keeping a close eye for any owl post that students could use to make contact with family from outside of Hogwarts. Umbridge openly disliked Harry, whom she considers a liar, and eventually banned him from the Gryffindor Quidditch team. This year was the most troubling year at Hogwarts for Harry, including murders, nightmares involving Voldemort, and Professor Umbridge. Does Umbridge find out about the D.A? Does her hate for Harry get any worse? Try this mysterious tale about Harry Potter’s adventures to find out more…

Why I like this book:   I enjoy this book a lot because it has a mysterious beginning and ending. Throughout the book, the opponent character, Dolores Umbridge, seems to win very easily, and also manages to find her way out of every problem. Harry deals with this well, and proves to Umbridge that he wasn’t a coward as she thought he was. Harry shows bravery even when this year seemed difficult to manage. The next book in this series is called: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Make sure to look out for my next book review as this will be the next one!