Junior Booklovers Contest Winner Katrina, age 14, Winnipeg,
MB
The fifth instalment of the Harry Potter series is so good! This
book goes deeper into detail of the past when Voldemort was
previously in power, and gives a more passionate and mature
"Harry-view."
The first chapter starts off one month after the fourth book
left us, just after the return of the Dark Lord Voldemort. Harry is
found worried and very frustrated - the innocent hero is finally
feeling the weight of his fame and fortune (or should I say
curse?), and who can blame him? Harry just witnessed the rebirth of
the evil idiot who killed his parents and tried to kill him but
didn't succeed - giving Harry his name to fame as the only person
to have survived the Avada Kedavra Curse (immediate death). I would
be a nervous and moody wreck too!
After hearing nothing from anyone, including his best friends
Ron and Hermione, for a month at Privet Drive, Harry sets out in an
exceptionally bad mood to the park, one late summer evening. He
meets up with his cousin Dudley (who was causing a bit of trouble
in the neighborhood) and as they head home, they get a visit from a
very determined and deadly pair of Dementors (guards of the wizard
prison, Azkaban). So much for a nice stroll in the park. This
attack on Harry is one of many in this book, and I'm afraid, that
in the next two books to come, there will be many more.
Once the school year at Hogwarts starts (a rocky start at
that!), and Harry gets back into the groove of schoolwork, he has
other things to take his mind off of his peril, such as: Quidditch
(yes, all you quidditch fans! Its back!), studying for OWLs
(Ordinary Wizarding Levels), a little secret association arranged
by Hermione (oh the rebellion!), an evil and untactful new teacher,
and yes, a little bit of romance (yay!).
I really liked this one! It shows a bit more emotion on Harry's
side - he finally lets out some anger! - and it shows a more mature
side of our characters (yes it's true, they're growing up). I think
J.K also put more depth into this book because it is drawing us in
to the last two books, where we get down to the main part of the
whole series' plot. This book also shows so much emotion, whether
it's anger or joy - a couple parts actually made me cry (one part
in particular!). There was also a nice welcoming return of some
favourite characters from previous books, and some new ones that
start filling in the holes of the past, and questions about the
future.
Once again, J.K Rowling has amazed me with her spectacular
writing and amazing plot that can't help but pull me in each time I
pick up this book! I know that most people who have already been
sucked in by the Harry Potter Series have probably by now read this
book, but if you haven't, or haven't even read the series' previous
books, I seriously suggest you do, otherwise you are very much
missing out!
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Leaked information, stolen inventory, lawsuits -- hard to
believe it was all about a novel.
The fifth installment in J. K. Rowling's juggernaut series begins,
as always, with Harry stuck at the Dursley's house in Privet Drive
and dreaming about getting back to the magical world. The
difference is in the urgency of his feelings: Harry is frantic to
find out what Voldemort has been up to since being reborn and these
days, Harry feels everything with almost painful adolescent
sharpness. This new accelerated angst is what marks Harry for most
of the book: he flips out on just about everyone -- Ron and
Hermione get the worst of it -- and he shouts and pouts and
generally throws tantrums that make him rather annoying, for the
most part. Yet fans of the series are conditioned to give Harry a
little mental-health leeway, what with his troubled past and all.
One can only hope he grows out of it a little by book six.
The plot explodes into action, with Harry having to defend himself
against magical assailants even in the safety of Muggle-dom and
being spirited back to the wizarding world to face legal reprimand
for performing the charm that saved both himself and the rotten
Dudley Dursley. Under the watchful eyes of several colourful
characters -- some familiar, others brand-new -- Harry and his
friends begin to learn about the Order of the Phoenix, a secret
society led by Headmaster Albus Dumbledore against Voldemort and
his Death Eaters. The group is struggling not only to thwart
Voldemort's plans, but to convince the magical world that he has,
indeed, returned: the Ministry of Magic and the Daily
Prophet newspaper have launched a campaign to discredit anyone
who speaks the truth.
Still buzzing with this intrigue, Harry, Ron and Hermione return
to Hogwarts, where they discover that they are in for a rough ride:
quite apart from the usual inter-House rivalries, Hagrid's
whereabouts are unknown, the pressure is mounting as OWL exams
approach and the newest Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher turns
out to be a tin pot dictator in a fluffy pink cardigan. Professor
Dolores Umbridge is a Ministry of Magic flack with a sugar-coated
mean streak who slowly tightens her grip on Hogwarts through
disgustingly official channels.
All the while, Harry struggles with more nightmares and the
frustration of Dumbledore holding him at arm's length. All these
complications would make for equally interesting reading, however,
without all the padding Rowling has thrown in this time around: the
middle section of the book is positively flabby, with a
mind-boggling frenzy of activity crammed into the final 100
pages.
Rowling is clearly trying to flesh out some very complicated
relationships -- between Harry's godfather Sirius, Harry's late
father and Professor Snape; between Dumbledore and Minister for
Magic Cornelius Fudge and most importantly, between Voldemort and
Harry -- but one can't help but think it could have been done more
effectively with a little economy. A book the length of Goblet
of Fire would have done it neatly.
That said, Rowling still comes out with marvelous new oddities --
like the scaly, sometimes-invisible Thestrels and the Weasley
twins' demented joke-shop inventions -- and introduces some
fascinating characters, like the young Auror Nymphadora Tonks, who
can change her nose or hair at will. But at times it feels like the
cast of eccentric characters is too much to handle, though it seems
unlikely that Rowling will thin the ranks by killing off a few more
folks -- pre-release media made much of her emotional reaction when
she wrote the scene in which a major character dies in Order of
the Phoenix.
Book five, like its predecessors, ends with a familiar glimmer of
hope and leaves readers once again burning to know what happens
next ... and that sense of urgency is the undeniable mark of
Rowling having succeeded again.