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Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
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HPatOotP: Part 1: Chapter 1 - Chapter 9
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I have just finished this section. I will leave it to others who will write up good summaries of the chapters.For me, the oddness is the protection the Order gives Harry. He is being protected all the time by a number of people - this increases when he is going to Platform 9 3/4. However, as soon as he is on the train - nothing.
Surely people who want Harry would know when/where and how the train will depart. They would also know the route and could probably intercept it en-route. So why stop the protection? Is the Hogwarts express protected? We know the dementors entered the train a couple of books back - and magic can be done on it as well.
In my defence - this is the furthest I have read the Potter books. I remember reading about Luna Lovegood, but nothing after that. All this may be answered later.
Started early on this one i was cutting is close with the Goblet of Fire.
Mod
God Harry can be whinny. Teenage self-centered melodrama. He's always so quick to think the worst of his friends. "I'm more capable than Ron and Hermoine, why am I stuck here and they are off having a great time without me".
I know that's a feeling I used to have. Hell I still have it sometimes. "Everyone's have a great time without me." I think it's part of what makes Harry such a great character. I don't like to see him being whiny and moping, but it sure makes him feel more alive.
Mod
This could just be one of those things we as adults are reading too much into. Maybe the idea is simply that now that he's on the train he's under Hogwarts protection somehow.
Emo Harry is full on throughout. I forgot how really hard this book always is for me to get through because of Harry's attitude and Umbridge's dickbaggery. I love Luna, loved her from the first minute. She was such a good addition and a lot like Neville in how loyal she was.
Oh and Sirius doesn't help the situation at all. Instead of being a good, solid support for Harry he mopes around with his woe-is-me attitude. I know it's hard for Sirius being stuck there, but he should feel a responsibility to take care of Harry more than being his buddy. The scene with Mrs. Weasley saying that Harry is basically her son always makes me tear up a bit. The way they just accepted Harry into their family was always one of the coolest things about this story to me
Mod
I think the good outweighs the bad. Dumbledore's army is great. And the way that the Weasley Twins leave the school.
Umbridge is one of those characters you love to hate, and not because she's exactly evil per-say. Just so set on towing the party line about Voldemort and overly strict in her punishments. In many ways this makes her worse. The indifference of her and others like her make it easier for Voldemort and his followers. If the ministry was united with Dumbledore a lot of lives would be saved.
And yeah, Luna is probably my favorite "minor" character. Though I like Neville a lot too. I think she compliments Neville a lot.
Mod
I think this book is just full of characters you like being annoying. Just because your an adult, doesn't necessarily make it easier to "act grown up".
I know I'm guilty a lot of days of blowing off things I know I should be doing in favor of things I'd like to be doing.
Like today I should probably be caulking my bathtub, but I'm watching TV and catching up on book reviews instead.
haha, well said. The D.A. was awesome, especially love Dumbledor taking it all in stride toward the end when Fudge and Umbridge think they're going to expel Harry.
Agreed that the bad outweighs the good. Each time I've reread this one, I've liked it more. But it's always the book that takes me the longest to get through because of everything that's happening.
Fred and George leaving is one of the highlights of the series, and the events leading up to that.
I haven't read this book in so long, but I just read the first chapter last night. I also forgot how teenage melodrama Harry is. He can be really full of himself at times. But that's how teenagers are in general. You hit a certain age were you think you know everything and you fill entitled. Also as an adult you get into a situation were you fill you can do a better job as your co-worker and you question your boss.
This allows all ages to relate to Harry, if you put yourself in Harry's shoes.
However, from the outside looking in (like a parent or boss) this melodrama is very annoying.
Ch. 1-My problem with this book is that Harry is kept in the dark for no real good reason. Keeping someone in the dark generally makes them act rashly. Harry is kept in the dark to serve the plot.
-EMO HARRY.
-It's revealed later but Umbridge ordered the dementor attack to provoke Harry and to expel him.
Ch. 2
-I like how Rowling tweaks common sayings to make them more magical. ''No use crying over spilled potion.''
-Petunia recalls how she knows about dementors. She heard that ''awful boy'' telling Lily about them years and years ago. Harry assumes that boy is James. It's actually Snape.
Ch. 3
-We meet a few new characters. The real Mad-Eye, Tonks, and Kingsley.
-One thing I really like about this book is experiencing day-to-day magic usage outside of Hogwarts. The practicality of it. Simple things like Tonks packing and cleaning the cage out.
Ch. 4
-Tell us how you really feel, Harry. Don't hold back.
-Unsurprisingly, Percy is a giant prat.
-My impression of Grimmauld Place is so vivid. Dank, musty, gloomy... I would feel like I had to get out and get some sunshine if I were stuck there. Also I think my asthma would go haywire. Poor Sirius.
Ch. 5
-This chapter is kind of an infodump but I can't think of any other way to relay that info/update.
-Rowling does a great job of describing a character in a few words. Mundungus for example.
Ch. 6
-So much about how wizards live. I love this chapter because it's showing and not telling.
-First mention of Regulus.
-The locket horcrux is spotted in this chapter. They toss it out.
-House elves and their loyalty is a lot more flexible that we've seen before. Kreacher interprets what Sirius says as he sees fit and Kreacher downright lies to Sirius. We see it later in the book.
-I feel your dread of the hearing, Harry. I have a court date October 28th I'm dreading (I'm not in trouble. I'm a witness).
Ch. 7
-I really enjoy Harry's trip to the Ministry.
-The Muggle-Worthy Excuse Committee... I don't know why I find that so amusing but I do.
-The Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office seems like it should be rather important. Charming Muggle artifacts could break the Statue of Secrecy and expose wizards. I would think that protecting their secret would be highly important.
-First look at the hallway to the Department of Mysteries.
-I think Bode is mentioned later. He's an Unspeakable, works in the Department of Mysteries. I think he's strangled by Devil's Snare while at St. Mungo's. Maybe that's Podmore...
Ch. 8
-The way they keep track of underage magic is really inconsistent and clearly not well thought-out by Rowling. The Wiki entry on the Trace has more examples (like how Riddle was able to kill his father and grandparents in a Muggle village yet not be detected yet Harry is blamed for a house elf's magic). http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/The...
-Imedla Staunton is absolutely perfect in the movie as Umbridge. So dead on as to what I imagined.
-Clearly the Ministry has it out for Harry and Dumbledore.
Ch. 9
-I feel like Azkaban severely stunted Sirius's emotional growth. He does act more like Harry's friend than his guardian and thinks he got his best friend back. He's not exactly supportive when he should be.
-I never thought Harry would be made prefect. As Fred and George have said, he's gotten into too much trouble and as Dumbledore says later, he gets enough attention as it is.
-''What are Fred and I, next-door neighbors?''
-I would think the head of house would choose prefect. They should know their students better than Dumbledore. They actually see them in classes and discipline them, give them points for doing well.
-Poor Mrs. Weasley.
I've only read each of these books once before. I remember not liking this one because Harry is so angry. I'm feeling a bit more tolerant this time around because I would be angry too at being left in the dark when so much is going on.
Mod
Yup. Chapter 32. Page 746/747 (hardcover edition): "What Cornelius doesn't know won't hurt him" ... "He never knew I ordered dementors after Potter last summer, but he was delighted to be given the chance to expel him, all the same..."
Mod
-Petunia recalls how she knows about dementors. She heard that ''awful boy'' telling Lily about them years and years ago. Harry assumes that boy is James. It's actually Snape.good one! Man, all these times I've reread this series, and I never picked up on that. I always assumed it was James, and I never made the connection when we see Snape's memories in book 7
I know, just throwing it there for reference. I had the book in front of me. :-)
Ron getting razzed by F&G is great; ickle Ronnie
Mod
As to the whole "Harry left in the dark" part:
It's frustrating as a reader, but it does make sense in a way. I think it highlights that as smart as Dumbledore is, he's not perfect.
Things would be far better if he kept Harry close and informed, especially as he's now 15 years old, rather than trying to protect him by making it appear that he doesn't care much for Harry. Who knows what might have happened if he'd treated Harry like an adult much sooner. Maybe fewer people would have died.
You can argue that it's done "just to serve the plot" but in my experience it's pretty common for adults to treat teenagers that way. I think it's more Dumbledore wanting to keep the adult burden from Harry as long as possible than anything.
The Howler was from Dumbledore. That's a good point, Rob. I always figured that Dumbledore would trust Harry more after going through so much adult stuff but maybe he doesn't want Harry to bear even more of a burden. Maybe he doesn't want Harry to worry about things that he can't control or for Harry to take things into his own hands... to make sure Harry can still be a kid and maybe focus on his studies. Okay. I think I'm converted now.
I think if Dumbledore tells Harry too much, then Harry would feel I obligated to take things into his own hands. Harry is a very fearless and determined character. He has proven this throughout the series and that is what Dumbledore is protecting. Dumbledore probably feels that if he tells Harry that he would act rash. In previous books Harry takes things into his own hands, even though he has came out on top. Maybe Dumbledore feels this is too big for Harry and needs to intervene for a bit before Harry can be brought back in.
Mod
But why is Hermoine there? Prorection? I'd guess there is no real reason other than to make Harry more angry/feeling left out.
Mod
He rightly wants to treat Harry like an adult, but for mostly the wrong reasons. He wants Harry to replace the best friend he's lost. He wants to give Harry too much information and doesn't realize it will put too much of a burden on him.
But you have to think about why this is. Harry is almost 15. Which probably means Sirius is in his early 40's assuming Harry's parents were in their early 20's when they had him.
He's spent part of his 20's and all of his 30's in prison. He's lost his best friend and was betrayed by another. No he's finally free and he's got it worse than Harry in many ways. He's more capable than Harry too, but he is allowed to do even less.
It's very frustrating to read, but also totally well done too. He serves as a nice contrast to Dumbledore.
What I wonder is, if Dumbledore was honest with Harry and said: "Look Harry, you've been through too much, you shouldn't have to take this on yourself." And then explained to him that publicly he had to keep his distance and tell him some, but not all of what's going on if that would satisfy Harry. My bet is not.
I've said during previous reads that Harry is a lot of the things Snape claims him to be. Arrogant and self-centered. A 15 year old has no business in the middle of a deadly war between wizards.
However given who he is (and the fact that he's a horcrux) and what's happened to his parents it's inevitable. He should be informed. He should be trained/prepared. Dumbledore wastes precious time with this bad decision, and only spurs Harry on to do the stuff he's trying to protect him on as a result.
But that doesn't mean he should be rushing off to break into the ministry of magic with a bunch of other teenagers to fight adult wizards with far more skill and experience.
I still like this book least. Too much emo Harry and other characters letting h get away with it.
I'm really feeling that this time. I'm trying to speed through it just to get it done.
Mod
But I just got to the train which means Luna! On to the next section!
I feel like I could make a killer emo playlist for Harry. Just imagine him laying in his four-poster, listening to American Football all morose... (yes, it doesn't work out because American Football wasn't released until 1999. Just go with it).
Mod
I'm older, and british - so i have no clue at all.
It's a good emo record.
Mod
I'll have to take your word on it.
I love Luna.I posted in the GoF thread but meant to put it here, I think this book (and subsequent books in the series) did wonders for kids in the age of 9/11 in the US and its aftermath. These books, without ever really using the word "terrorism" show what it is and how it works. And maybe even provides a little hope.
Mod
Now that you mention it though, I can see some analogies.
I'm stuck here because Harry is annoying me too much - as are the adults. But this weekend I'll try to get some reading time. Teenagers...take all the magic out of things. Darn Harry :)
Alex wrote: "Dumbledore's names are awesome. Wulfric? I wonder if he's related to Ulfric Stormcloak."He is now. Head canon! Ulfric is a distant relation. He and Dumbledore don't get on too well but Ulfric is a little afraid of Dumbledore and shows him grudging respect, sometimes sends letters to Dumbledore asking him advice on how to deal with dragons.
I think I jumped the gun with Luna. She might not be till the next section.
This is more of an overall question, but I started wondering today - where did all of Harry's money come from? I don't get the impression his parents were rich - but....were they?
Well, they implied James was. We never really learn much about the family, but the implication was that James had a lot of money and wanted to use it to "do good." He was a direct descendant of one of the brothers, wasn't he?
Thanks terpkristen - you resolved my current world issue.My favorite part of this section was the introduction to the ministry of magic because it was....magical. I liked the paper airplane interoffice memos, and the names of the departments. "Muggle-Worthy Excuse Committee" (pretty sure I have some students on that one) "Ludicrous patents office" is another good one. "Firearms" called "firelegs". Anyway, I enjoyed the whimsy - a nice break from all the emo drama.
I was glad someone mentioned the locket horcrux showing up when cleaning out the room - I would have totally missed that!
Mod
http://youtu.be/9ZlBUglE6Hc
NOTE: While this section is meant to focus on the specified chapters of this book, this read is meant for people who have already read the entire series.
As a result, unlike most of our group reads, full spoilers for the series will be allowed without spoiler tags in every discussion post.
If you haven't read some/all of the books (What's wrong with you?) proceed at your own peril.