Harry Potter 5 Discussion

HOOBOY.

That? That was a long book.

Let’s dive right in.

This was (based on memory) my least favorite from my original readthrough, and the first one I didn’t watch as a movie. This was my least favorite so far of the new readthroughs, as well.

I can never decide if I want to do the good or the bad first, so I’m gonna roll a die. Bad first, end with good this time.

The Bad

Harry. I actually kind of hated Harry in this book. He spent the entire time feeling sorry for himself, entitled, and whiny. While this may have been an entirely believable reaction for a teenage boy in his situation? It was incredibly tiresome to read.

Worse than that? It made him a TERRIBLE friend.

Ron, his best friend on the entire planet? Finally gets a tiny portion of glory for himself. Harry begrudgingly congratulates him on becoming a Prefect, but then pities himself for not having Ron around. Then? Ron realizes a DREAM and joins the Quiddich team. Harry practices with him ONCE and then barely even thinks about the fact that Ron probably would like to have his help practicing a lot more often than that.

I just. Really really hated the main character throughout this book.

And then at the end, Dumbledore basically tells him, “You were right to be petulant, I should have done everything you wanted.”

I have heard it said that there are very few (if indeed, any) people who, when asked who their favorite character in the Harry Potter series is, actually name Harry (apologies for all the commas there). This book is a hella good reason why that is.

Okay, enough on that. I’m sure there are plenty of people who can point out that this is exactly what teenage angst is like from inside the head of a teenager. I won’t argue that. It’s not FUN TO READ. I don’t care if it’s accurate. It was a slog to get through those scenes.

I really did not like the entire Grawp subplot in this one. Period.

There was another infodump at the end of this one, as Dumbledore explains his actions throughout the year. At least there was only the one, but I still felt like it was tiresome. I would have preferred Harry find this out throughout the book rather than be told it all at the end.

The Villain was cartoon-horrid, with zero shades of gray to her at all. These books have a history of incredibly negligent and dangerous detentions (hello, forest during the first book?) but to have a teacher deliberately harming a student? She was sickening, and everyone I know hates her, but I feel like it’s a cheap shot. I prefer my villains to be shades of gray. (Loki is the pinnacle of villains for me, closely followed by Magneto from the comics).

Hermione.

I know, I know! I LOVE HERMIONE, and she was in fine form during this book! What could I possibly complain about?

… honestly? She was too good in this book. She was point-on with regards to pretty much every piece of advice she ever gave, and could immediately discern the complex emotional tangles behind strange behavior and explain it to Harry and Ron. It was a little too perfect for me and it kind of made her character less interesting. (Also, the house elf side plot was still not working for me.)

The Good

I know it seems like I rag on these books a lot, but I’m trying to learn and to pay attention to things that I never noticed when I first read through. Sometimes, it’s the bad I forgot. In the case of this book, I had forgotten many many wonderful things.

GINNY. Oh, my gooses. Ginny came ALIVE during this book! She was vibrant and vivacious and sassy and powerful and I adored every one of her scenes. ESPECIALLY the one where she verbally jolted Harry out of his self-pity by reminding him that he wasn’t the only person to have suffered at the hands of Voldemort. Ginny was FANTASTIC in this book. Way to pull a character out of the background and let her shine.

Luna was good. Many people adore Luna? I do not yet adore her, but I do like her. I liked how she had her own take on situations and refused the status quo, and my heart ached at the end when I found out how folks stole her stuff from her. I really liked Luna in this book.

RON. Oh my gosh, poor Ron! Still trying to be a good friend to Harry while finally getting some attention himself! I really really wish that Harry had been a better friend to HIM in this book, but I was so very very glad to see him become a hero on the Quiddich field, and just how much that must have meant for him. I wanted to hug him SO HARD.

The Dumbledore’s Army subplot was the highlight of the book. I loved that Hermione talked Harry into it. I loved the secret room. I loved the training and the secrecy and the feeling that many students had that they weren’t getting what they needed from the school.

Which highlights another awesome character. Neville. Neville, who despite books and books of being trampled on (and honestly, even in this book he kept arguing that he was useless despite proving again and again that he wasn’t!) finally managed to be good at Defense Against the Dark Arts. He learned spells almost as fast as Hermione, and the dark backstory of his family drove him to great things. It was a marvelous combination of dark and light and I loved the turn his character took here.

The final fight was EPIC and amazing. Fun to read and full of excitement. (even if there were rather a lot of characters getting conveniently knocked out)

Thestrals were fantastic, though I quibble that at the very very end of book 4, Harry still saw the coaches as being pulled by nothing. I forgive though, because the idea is so dark and lovely.

FRED AND GEORGE. I really don’t need to go into any details here.

Molly. Oh, Molly Weasley. her heart-wrenching scene with the boggart. I cried, I am not even going to lie.

Snape got some really nice character work in here. Still being a villain without being the total black and white. (And yes, dear reader, he is still a villain here, as he actively keeps the hero from his goals more often than he helps).

Bad To Worse

I want to point out that this book is why I often dislike it so intensely when writer suggestions include “put your character in bad situations, then make it worse and worse!”

From the perspective of not pulling punches and making your characters be in actual danger? This is fantastic advice.

Too many people use it to leech any happiness from a storyline and this book is the best example I can think of for that. Every time something good happened, something bad happened to combat it. There was so little Fun And Games to this plotline that it was a slog for me to get through many of the plot points.

For all that I loved aspects of it? I never want to read this book again.

I will allow rather a lot of wiggle room in a plot that is fun to experience. This is a personal choice, and I am in no way pretending it’s a universal truth. However? A writer should write books they would want to read, and I want to read something that’s a heckuva lot more fun than this was.

Your Thoughts

As always, I would LOVE to hear your thoughts on the book and/or movie. In this case, the movie especially since I am completely unfamiliar with it. What did they cut? Did the movie feel as depressing as the book, or did it gloss over some stuff and highlight the good?

Related posts:

Harry Potter 3 Discussion
Harry Potter 1 Discussion
Harry Potter 2 Discussion