Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

More of a brick than a book, the fifth in the Harry Potter series arrived on June 21st to a welcome that most authors don't dare to dream about.

This time the unmistakeable sloshing of testosterone is in evidence. Harry is a Teenager, and this complicates everything. As well as the girl issues, Harry is a lot angrier than before, and his moods get him into trouble on more than one occasion.

J. K. Rowling isn't afraid to let her characters grow and change. In fact, she has even been heard to say that she finds it "creepy" when characters in children's books don't appear to age. As well as more evidence of sexual awakening, there is talk of life after Hogwarts, and the looming O.W.L. (Ordinary Wizarding Level) exams.

Along with this stressful background, Voldemort is loose and back in his own body, and thus more dangerous than ever. The Ministry of Magic is in denial about Voldemort, and Harry and Dumbledore are the subjects of a campaign to discredit them by the Daily Prophet. Harry's godfather is forced to hide out in his own house, unable to leave for fear of being arrested, and Hagrid is away on a mysterious mission that Harry and his friends are not being told about.

We learn more about the Black family in this book, and it becomes apparent that Harry is not the only one with difficult relations. Harry, too, learns more about his own parents during the course of this book.

Dumbledore has re-formed the Order of the Phoenix, and we learn more about its role in opposing Voldemort. Their secret headquarters leaves a few things to be desired. Harry stays there for part of the holidays and we meet several new characters who are members of the order.

You may have heard that a major character dies in this book. I won't be giving any clues about who it is in this review. I will however say that The Order of the Phoenix has some very dark, ominous moments, and it is suited to a slightly older reader than the earlier books.

One of Harry's biggest problems during his fifth year is Dolores Umbridge, the new teacher of Defence against the Dark Arts. She has been appointed by the Ministry of Magic in order to keep an eye on the school, and she has a cruel streak that she directs towards teachers as well as students. Harry has to learn to suppress his temper, or face the consequences.

At over 760 pages this book will be quite a challenge for younger children. There is a lot happening that the reader needs to keep track of. J. K. hasn't merely padded the story out with a more leisurely writing style. A tense atmosphere runs through the book, but there are moments of humour and warmth which contrast well. Whilst previous books have seen Voldemort and his Death Eaters pitted against the good guys, here we see almost everybody fighting everybody else at some stage. Harry is entering a time of more subtle distinctions between good and evil.

Fortunately for the Harry Potter industry this is a very enjoyable read. It's at least three times too long to translate into a single feature film, and it's better for the fact that Rowling hasn't bowed to any pressure to write something that would be easily filmable. Inevitably it follows the usual pattern, with the big showdown coming conveniently towards the end of the school year. But there are enough differences this time around that it can hardly be described as being formulaic. The author continues to tease us with possibilities, particularly concerning certain relationships between characters, but on the whole it's extremely satisfying.