Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Spoiler-Rama)

[amishler]

Per Moos' suggestion, the following thread is a place to discuss your thoughts on the new Harry Potter book without those pesky spoiler tags. This post will be pretty much spoiler-free, but if you don't want to read any spoilers for the book, I would suggest you don't hang around.

 

I'm at work right now, so I'll post my extended thoughts on it later. Overall, I liked it very much, though I thought the ending was kind of anticlimactic, especially after all the action leading up to it. If I ranked the books in order of preference, it would probably be 3, 4, 5, 1, 2.

[Phil25]

I love the fact that Harry's such an ******* in this one.

[Moosferatu]

Hey, Amishler! Rated them exactly like you. Cool.

 

Ok, here is what I think about Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. While waiting for it to be released, I was hoping that it was going to be the best one yet. I mean Voldmort is back to stay and there is a war brewing. I was expecting something to break away from the layout of the rest. I was expecting to find out a lot more about Harry and Voldmort. Unfortunately, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix met very few of my expectations. While it definitely wasn’t the worst of the series, it wasn’t the best either. My personal favorite has always been Prisoner of Azkaban, followed by Goblet of Fire, Sorcerer’s (Philosopher’s) Stone, and finally Chamber of Secrets. I would say that currently The Order of the Phoenix is either on the same level or a little above The Sorcerer’s Stone. Not nearly as good as I had hoped.

 

There were several things that I did like about The Order of the Phoenix, but I am going to focus on the things I didn’t like, since it is more fun. So the spoiler alert is now on.

 

 

One of the things that really bugs me is how stupid Harry seems to be. He goes through all of these things every year, yet he never seems to learn anything from his experiences. I think it might be in about every book that Harry doesn’t tell something to Dumbledore, and latter regrets it. Five years later has Harry learned his lesson? NO! He still does stupid stuff like not telling Dumbledore what is going on with his dreams and ask for help. Along with this he also seems to be more forgetful than even Neville. Example: Sirius gives Harry a special way to talk to him. Does Harry check it out to see what it is? No. Does Harry stash it away in his trunk, sneak into the High Inquisitor’s office to talk to Sirius, and not remember about the gift until Sirius is dead? Yes! What could be more logical? Give this boy a medal! There are numerous other examples of his stupidity throughout the book I will mention a few more later.

 

This one ties a little into the above. Previously Harry has been pretty believable as a character. I mean he seemed like he could have actually have been a real person and expressed IMO fairly accurate emotions. Now I about almost the same age as Harry is supposed to be (I’m a year older) and I had a little trouble believing some of Harry’s emotions. Some of them were good like usual, but JK Rowling tried to give him an adolescent twist to him. Now I think that this is an excellent idea, but it was as well executed as it could have been. First of all for about 75% of the book Harry is yelling at people. It just be me but I don’t remember him yelling as much in the previous books. I think that it would be accurate to say that his emotions would be heightened and that he would feel more passionate about things, but Harry seems to lose his head every time he turns around. I didn’t find that quite believable. I don’t think I know anyone who yells that much. Rebellion is also worked in there. This aspect was a bit more successful because Harry is already being portrayed as being dumb. Whenever some tells him to do something with his best interest in mind Harry seems to get mad and want to the opposite. It doesn’t matter, as Hermione often points out, that Dumbledore and the others have never led him astray before. Apparently Harry has yet again forgotten everything that he should have learned (that doesn’t sound right) from his previous four years of adventures. Oh, well. Finally, is how JK Rowling made a rather poor attempt to show that Harry just doesn’t understand girls. Harry obviously has a crush on Cho, and he understandably gets nervous and can’t think of anything worthwhile to say. That part is believable. The part where it goes a little down his is how he acts when she is crying and especially when they are at the tea house. I mean come on! Hermonie tells Harry what Cho is going through, yet does Harry want to help her though it? No, of course not. Instead he decides that the best approach would be to hurt her even more. Not to mention that bit where he yells at here later on. (Not a direct quote. He never actually said part of this but he thought it.) Harry – Anyone been asking you about D.A.? Cho – No… Look I had no idea Marietta would… Harry – Yeah! Well maybe you should chose your friends more carefully! [Harry continues to yell for some time managing to hurt Cho more.] Then he wonders what is wrong with Cho! It is obvious that Cho took his advice about picking her friends more carefully, because by the end of the book she is with someone else. Now I am not a wizard (pun intended. Laugh now.) when it comes to girls. In fact, I am not very good at all when comes done to it. I get really nervous, self-conscious, don’t know what to say, etc. but I would never do the stupid stuff that Harry does. I, unlike Harry, am not a very social person and I should therefore be worse at then him, but this does not appear to be the case. In fact I can’t even imagine someone being as bad as him, though there very well might be someone. The whole thing rather bothers me, because I like Cho and I think that Harry should be with her and try to help her work though her emotions. It bothered me to no end when it didn’t turn out this way. I can only hope that Harry will come to his senses and go after a little better the next year (her last year). That is all I can think of right now.

 

Another problem I had with it was that I found it to be rather formulaic. Let’s face it The Order of the Phoenix was the most predictable of the five. All of the previous books had some sort of mystery or twist in them, and you were never quite sure what was going to happen. In The Order of the Phoenix everything was predictable. There were only three things that I was surprised by. One of which was stupid and could have just as well been left out of the book, that Umbridge had hired the two dementors. Who really cares? Another was a bit more significant and I will talk about it later, it being Sirius dying. Finally, when we find out it could have been Neville. It really bothered me that there was no twist. Now back to it being formulaic. Like I said earlier I was expecting this book to take a different direction than the previous four. Rowling tried to do this in the fourth book with the Tri-Wizards Tournament. Unfortunately, the fourth book was rushed and as a result the change was not pulled off as well as I would have hoped. Apparently, Rowling was a bit unnerved by this and decided to go back to the same structure as the first three. This is fine, but almost everything felt recycled to me. Some of the arguments between Harry, Ron, and Hermione seemed to be cut and pasted from previous books. That is not to say that they were word for word, but rather that they are always arguing about the same thing. This is the basic structure. Harry gets some stupid idea that if he had learned from anything he would have known that there was a better way to do. Hermione tells him it is a bad idea. The three of them argue a bit. Harry stops talking to Hermione until such and such happens. Hermione caves and they do it. Interestingly enough Draco seemed unusually absent in this book. I would have thought the opposite considering he was a perfect. Anyway, the standard, “you’re to young!” was thrown around some more. It did break the pattern a little in that there was no library search and that neither Ron, Harry, or Hermione were made at one of the others for a good chunk of the book, it was just Harry yelling all the time. There are numerous other standards that are thrown around. I was really hoping for some more spice to this one. Hopefully the next will be better.

 

Another thing that it is interesting to note is that the reason that Hermione wanted to Harry to teach the D.A. was because they wanted to learn more than just spells and that they couldn’t learn anymore from books. Yet, what does Harry teach every class? How to do spells of course! Makes perfects sense.

 

The next two are the tow things that bugged me the most about The Order of the Phoenix. That there was virtually no new information is this book. Almost all of it was in the previous books, and the stuff that wasn’t was very easy to infer. Harry and Dumbledore both have seemed to have forgotten all of there previous conversations. Harry says that he doesn’t know why he wasn’t killed. I could have sworn that at the end of the fourth book Dumbledore tells him that he is saved by his mother’s love (I am pretty sure it was at the end of the fourth at least). There are several other things that have apparently escaped his mind. Yet, Dumbledore seems to think that he is telling Harry all knew information. When I was reading this part I was getting really excited expecting something new and interesting to be revealed, but nothing was. He just rehashed old stuff and said that he had made some mistake and should have told Harry sooner about something. Shortly after we find out what the something was and it was all in the prophesy. When I heard the prophesy I was stunned. That was it? The prophesy was absolutely pointless. I’m sorry but Voldmort must really be loosing touch to every want to go after that thing. Even the Order of the Phoenix (the actual order not the book) call the prophesy a “weapon.” All it basically said was that some kid was going to be born that would be made equal to Voldmort (already happened) and that one day one of them would kill the other. I think that just about everyone already had that last bit figured about halfway through the first book. Hmm… Will the Harry have to kill Voldmort someday? Boy, I don’t know. That’s a tuffy! Luckily we have this great prophesy to tell us that this is in fact the case! It blew my mind that this was what the entire story was about. How can you write an 870 page book centered around something that we already knew. Talk about a let down…

 

The single most annoying thing in The Order of the Phoenix (to me at least) was Sirius dying. I was quite mad. I knew that someone was going to die at the end, because there had to be some kind of hear wrencher, but I wasn’t expecting Sirius. I thought that it was going to be Moody when he dropped during the fight, but somehow he made it. Then when he jumped up to fight his cousin I was sure that this was going to be the touching revenge type deal, but it wasn’t. Sirius was killed. I wouldn’t have minded at all if he was killed in this book, but for one thing. He did nothing… At the end of The Goblet of Fire I was all excited about the next book where Sirius, Lupin, and Moody would be running abound doing all sorts of cool stuff. Sirius and the others had never really done that much in the other books, and I thought I was finally going to see them in action. But now Sirius is dead… Not only will I not get to see him in action, but he was one of my favorite characters. It was quite disturbing when he died. I can’t see how the next book is going to be as much fun without him. I am mad! But I do have some supposition that Harry might find some way to talk to Sirius. Why else did they have all of that stuff at the end with him trying to talk to him if there was no hope?

 

The best part of the book is when Fred and George attack the school. I absolutly love that part. I was disapointed that it was cut short to only two attacks though. I can't wait to see what they are going to have cooked up in the next book! Fred and George rule!

 

 

 

I have a few questions. First, what was the error in Dumbledore’s plan? Second, can someone please type up the prophesy at the end of Prisoner of Azkaban? My copy of it is in Hungary and I can’t remember what it said.

 

I'm sorry for the length. I was probably also a little over critical on somethings. Probably do to the fact that I feel kind of let down.

[Kingzjester]

Dear God, Moos!

[Moosferatu]

Originally posted by Kingzjester

Dear God, Moos!

 

What?

 

If it is about the length of my post, I'm sorry. I didn't mean for it to go so long. There were just a few things I didn't like.

 

Don't worry, I am not an obsessed Harry Potter fan. I don't find the series that bad, but I am far from obsessed with it.

[Kingzjester]

Ok, so I read your whole post.

 

What did you expect from a pulp writer? I sugest that you read the first three books again. I bet they will seem far worse the second time around - as the novelty is gone, as you are 17 years old. She is a mediocre writer. She cannot see the big picture. She is a soccer mom that thinks she can write Kafka. I actually read some promo that used the word Kafkæsque! I burst out laughing.

 

Oh, and I yell at people all the time. There's your exempli gratia.

 

 

...Not because I am angry - mind you - I yell because I'm deaf.

[deadworm222]

Thanks Moos, for writing that! Now I know that I can use my money on something... else.

[amishler]

Moos, I think it's funny that we rank the books the same, and yet our opinions on this one are so different. I thought the vast majority of the book was amazing. I was enthralled by it right up until the end. Like you, I thought Harry's discussion with Dumbledore and the revelation of the prophesy were anticlimactic and didn't really give much new or surprising information. Though I did think it was cool that for a while, nobody was sure whether the prophesy was referring to Harry or Neville as the one who could destroy Voldemort.

 

Speaking of which, I thought there was some great character development in this one, particularly with Neville and with Ginny Weasley. Meeting Neville's parents in the hospital reveals a great deal about him, and makes his determination to master the spells Harry's teaching in the secret Defense Against the Dark Arts club that much more meaningful. And the fact that Ginny no longer has a crush on Harry makes her a much more interesting character. She speaks her mind a lot more, and even gives Harry crap for forgetting that she was possessed by Voldemort and could actually relate to the things he's experiencing throughout the book. You can tell that she's going to take after Fred and George rather than Percy, and of course that becomes even more of a good thing in the course of this story than it was before.

 

Another thing I really liked about Order of the Phoenix was the mix of old and new. I found myself vocally expressing my excitement at the return of Lupin, and when Dumbledore brought Firenze in to teach Divination after Umbridge sacked Trelawney. Also, the scene with Lockhart in Mungo's was hilarious and was good comic relief, what with Mr. Weasley being in the hospital, and Neville visiting his parents there at the same time. But I also really liked a lot of the new characters, like Luna Lovegood and especially Tonks. Tonks provides a nice foil for other members of the Order, especially Moody. While he's busy being paranoid about who's following them, Tonks spends more time trying to figure out what color hair looks best on her, or how long her nose should be. I think the fact that she's able to change her appearance at will wasn't used to great effect in this book, and will become a bigger factor later. But I haven't done a very good job so far of predicting what happens in future books, or even later in the book I'm reading, so who knows?

 

Moos, you complained about Harry's erratic emotions and decision-making throughout this book, and I have to disagree with you there. Yes, they're erratic, but I think that's a more commonplace thing than you think. Not every teenager experiences those feelings, and not every teenager who does acts on them, but it wouldn't make for a very good story if Harry just suppressed his own feelings and instincts and did what everybody told him was best for him. His newfound anger certainly leads him to make mistakes, but again, that's what makes it interesting--how he overcomes his own mistakes on top of what everybody else is throwing at him.

 

There's certainly a lot of exaggeration in the story that lends it an air of melodrama. In fact, whenever I'm reading a scene with Snape, I can't help but think of the villain with the handlebar mustache, tying the damsel in distress to the railroad tracks. (More specifically, I think of Snidely Whiplash from Dudley Do-Right.) But that doesn't make it a bad book.

 

Most authors couldn't keep people interested in their books for 25 pages, and it's even more difficult to hold readers' attention for 870 pages. Yeah, the ending lacked oomph, but for well over 800 pages, I was completely wrapped up in the book, and that's good enough for me. J.K. Rowling can't help what people say about her writing, and I don't think she makes any claims to being Kafkaesque, which is fine with me, as I find Kafka's writing to be a good cure for insomnia. My guess is that she doesn't aspire to the heights of great intellectual literature, and again, that's fine with me. I find myself getting way more into so-called children's or young adult fiction these days (especially Philip Pullman), and I think it's because those authors do away with the pretentiousness that seems to dominate adult writing and focus more on the story. In my opinion, J.K. Rowling is a great storyteller, and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is a great story.

[Moosferatu]

I agree with you about Neville and some of the new characters. My points about Harry, I admit, might not be the strongest. They also won't apply to everybody. The way he acted just bugged me, but that doesn't mean it will bug everyone.

 

What did you think about Sirius' death?

 

Can you, please, tell me the prophesy at the end of the thrird book, because mine is in Hungary?

 

What do you think the error in Dumbledore's plan was? And why does it matter that he didn't tell Harry?

[amishler]

I don't have Prisoner of Azkaban in front of me at the moment. I'll look it up tonight.

 

I think that Dumbledore's error, to his way of thinking anyway, was to keep Harry in the dark for so long, both through this book, and just in general over the past 5 years. He blames himself for Sirius's death, thinking that if he had told Harry sooner, Harry would have known that not everything he was seeing in his dreams was real, especially after Voldemort realized Harry was seeing through his eyes. Therefore, Harry would not have gone after Sirius, and Sirius would not have gone after Harry, and Sirius would probably still be alive. Basically, I think Dumbledore's kicking himself for not having enough confidence in Harry despite his youth. After all, as has been pointed out, Harry has faced Voldemort five times now (including the initial confrontation when he was a baby), and lived to tell the tale each time, which is more than most adult wizards who aren't Dumbledore can say.

 

As far as Sirius's death, I was sad, but not too surprised. I think it makes sense. Rowling said after Goblet of Fire came out that she wanted it to ring true, and not be one of those stories where good defeats evil without any losses of their own. And if all the deaths were side characters like Cedric was in GoF, what good would that do? It would have to be someone that both the reader and the protagonist are attached to and, sad as it was, Sirius was a good match. He had become one of my favorite characters, though, and I'll miss him.

 

And Moos, I'm not trying to invalidate your complaints. It's definitely not a perfect book. But just as you felt let down by it and focused on what you didn't like, I enjoyed it a lot, so I tended to focus on what I did like.

[Moosferatu]

Hmm...

 

I'm going to look at that section about the error again. You could be right.

 

No, problem, Amishler. I was actually just going to say that though my first post was rather negative. I did enjoy the book, but I was rather disapointed about several things. Probably the biggest being the almost complete lack of new information. I would suggested that anyone that would ever consider getting the book, to get it now instead of waiting. Currently you can get some really good discounts that might not be around later.

[Moosferatu]

I re-read the part where he is talking about his mistake. I think the best hint is on the bottom of page 838 and top of 839. After reading that I agree with you. His mistake was that he loved Harry and didn't want to hurt him by telling him something. He knew that him withholding this knowledge might later cost someone their life, but he didn't want to hurt Harry. Dumbledore then goes on to say that he never dream that he would have Sirius's death on his hands. I got a little confused there because he didn't mention Sirius's name, and I thought that he was refering to Cedric. Anyway, I am now clear on what Dumbledore's mistake was. But I still don't see what was in the prophesy that was so hard to understand. I mean there was nothing in it that I didn't already know. When he told Harry it didn't even seem to phase him. What was Dumbledore so worried about? Also, somewhere later on Harry says that his life will either include murder or end in it (this statement is also my best guess at what Dumbledore was worried about). Well, judging by that statment he might want to look into a new job. What does he think Aurors (Or however you spell it) do? Hand out flowers to their targets? Maybe he should look into that troll training job.

 

I also found out why Voldmort called the prophesy a weapon. The book said that he wanted it because he want to know how he could kill Harry (I think it might have been on 840). But the thing that doesn't make since is that the prophesy doesn't say how to kill Harry or Voldmort for that matter. Doesn't that mean that we haven't heard the whole prophesy? It just doesn't make sense. Why call it a "weapon" (even the Order called it this) is it doesn't even contain anything worth knowing?

[amishler]

Got it! From page 324 of Prisoner of Azkaban:

 

"IT WILL HAPPEN TONIGHT."

 

Harry wheeled around. Professor Trelawney had gone rigid in her armchair; her eyes were unfocused and her mouth sagging.

 

"S--sorry?" said Harry.

 

But Professor Trelawney didn't seem to hear him. Her eyes started to roll. Harry sat there in a panic. She looked as though she was about to have some sort of seizure. He hesitated, thinking of running to the hospital wing--and then Professor Trelawney spoke again, in the same harsh voice, quite unlike her own:

 

"THE DARK LORD LIES ALONE AND FRIENDLESS, ABANDONED BY HIS FOLLOWERS. HIS SERVANT HAS BEEN CHAINED THESE TWELVE YEARS. TONIGHT, BEFORE MIDNIGHT...THE SERVANT WILL BREAK FREE AND SET OUT TO REJOIN HIS MASTER. THE DARK LORD WILL RISE AGAIN WITH HIS SERVANT'S AID, GREATER AND MORE TERRIBLE THAN EVER HE WAS. TONIGHT...BEFORE MIDNIGHT...THE SERVANT...WILL SET OUT...TO REJOIN...HIS MASTER..."

Which, of course, everybody takes to mean Sirius, when in fact it refers to Peter Pettigrew, aka Wormtail, aka Scabbers. So it's possible that there's something more to the original prophesy, even thought it does seem pretty straightforward.

[Moosferatu]

Thanks, amishler.

 

I certainly hope that there is more to the original prophesy. I felt extremely let down when I heard it.

[amishler]

I checked out the Order of the Phoenix audiobook from my library last night. I was lucky to put a hold on it soon enough to get one of the first copies. I started listening to it on the way to work this morning, which was a nice diversion from Seattle traffic. I feel like I sped through the book, so it's good to absorb it at someone else's pace. Plus Jim Dale does a really good job at bringing so many different characters to life.

[GinnyW]

At last! I can post here! *deep breath*

 

I couldn't stand to wait any longer so I found Order of the Phoenix online (it's really a shame that it's already up), and read, not even bothering to connect to the internet.

Today (after 3 days of reading, though not all the time) I finished it.

I have no words and I must talk (or scream like Harry does).

I have so manny things on my mind that I don't know where to start, but here goes:

 

 

MAJOR SPOILERS Do Not Read If Book Unfinished!

 

 

 

 

I agree about some of your points Moos, Harry was a little to shoutative in this book, and the sudden change in behaviour was perhaps a little to abrupt. But even though I agree no normal tennager would be that angry and emotional at that age, I must remind you (I sound like McGonogall, don't I? ) that Harry isn't what you would call normal . He has so many things to be angry, even furious, about, and he hadn't let much of his anger out in previous books. Now, with most of the wizarding world thinking he was out of his mind, him hardly getting any news from the order after he left for Hogwarts, Hagrid gone, Umbridge arriving and making him do one of the most horrible detentions ever (if not the worst one) on the very first day, and matters getting worse with her all the time, not to mention his nigtmares....

And of course there is everything that happened in his past, namely the death of his parents, and hardly expressing emotion for so long... It was bound to burst.

 

I could go on but what I'm saying is that, he has more than enough reasons to be raging.

At the end, when he's throwing stuff in Dumbledore's office, it is quite acceptable, since added to his troubles (though some had gone) was the recent death of Sirius, and what's worst, he blamed himself for it.

All the same, I think a better use of his anger might have been him confronting Voldemort(*gasp*) with such hatred and fury.

 

It's interesting that for once, I was able to guess and predict things before I read, though there were also many surprises, at least for me. I was for instance, sure that Harry had really seen V-Voldemort toturing Sirius, and was sure he would die then. I was shocked to see that Harry had been fooled.

 

About the lack of information, I'm not very sure. Though throughout the book information was rather scarce, if there was any (for instance I'd known about Mrs. Figg for ages. I was surpsirsed she was a squib, but it hardly makes a difference). However at the end there was a nice 'loose string connecting', because I had wondered about the second prophecy Tralewny had made, that is, Dumbledore said there were two prophecies. I do hope there's more to the prophecy about Harry, cause it was a bit dissapointing, but the fact that Neville (and I was really interested that he was the other possible choice, and also that it was ironic that Voldemort had unknowingly chosen Harry). Hmm, I wonder what the books would be like if Neville had been chosen. Hmmmm... And what about a fanfiction showing the world still throgh Harry's eyes, but Neville was the one with the scar and the prophecy about him. Harry's prents might well be still alive.

I'd like to say that the whole story about why Harry has to stay in Privet Drive every summer for at least a while was a bit too corny for my taste (I actually felt sick when in the movie, which was crap enough anyway, Dumbledore said something about love. I mean, sure, love is a great magic and Voldemort can't touch Harry because of it, but the way it was expressed wasn't very convincing, though in the book it was better).

 

I hope all the fuss trying to contact Sirius isn't for nothing, and that maybe we'll at least find out that Sirius is ok (as much as he can be, being dead)

I agree about Harry's utter stupidity to not even bother opening the gift Sirius had given him. I would've opened it out of sheer curiosity! He didn't have to use it, just open it dammit.

He would then be able to have used it instead of going to Umbridge's office again, and he would've seen Sirius was not in the misnistry at all, and that Sirius was well and at home. Also, did you notice since only Harry or Voldemort could take the prophecy, if Harry hadn't have arrived all the mess wouldn't have been done! It was like that in Philosopher's stone too, if Harry hadn't gone down there he would not have faced the mirror he would not have taken the stone out he would not have fought Voldemort and he would not

I think all this might have something to do with Harry's desire, maybe even his need, to kill Voldemort, as the prophecy said, and as he himself feels great hatred and a wish to revenge his prents death.

 

Oh btw, Fred and George rule!! As does Ginny *smirk*.

I also really liked the fact that teachers were rebelling together with students, and that McGonogall told Pieves the lantern unsrewed the other way, and her promise in rebel to Umbridge to make sure he becomes an auror etc...

Also, I loved many of new characters (obviously not Umbridge), and I liked Tonks especcially. Tonks rules!

 

There's one more thing before I go to bed, and that is a strange sensation that there's a hint of, well, that Dudley is, a wizard. I culdn't care less but it's still an interesting clue. I keep finding reasons for being wrong so I'm not sure anymore.

It seemed to me that when Harry and Dudley were attacked by dementors, Dudley saw them eventually, when one was leaning towards him. He definetly felt it. Fudge said in the hearing later that Muggles can't see dementors. He said nothing about feeling though. This led me to believe that there was a slim chance that

Dudley might be a wizard, though now I'm less sure by the second. At first I thought, maybe he's a squib, but a muggle-born squib isn't really possible, cause it contradicts the very definition of squib, someone born to wizards but without magical powers himself. Bah. Any ideas?

 

Oh and another things I just thought of about Harry's behaviour- in Snape's memory Harry saw that his father, James, was very "bigheaded" and even arrogant, and Lupin and Sirius said that James grew out of it, so that maybe Harry's stupid behaviour with girls and in general (feelilng gealous of Ron being prefect was real nasty, as though he was better than him (which he well might be, but as his best friend should never think himself to be)).

 

 

 

 

Ok, my post is probably almost al long as Moos's though, I didn't intend so obviously, but what the heck .

I still havn't finished though, I have to reread the book when it finally arrives, all shiny, it'll almost be like the first read, and in the meantime (a week! ) I'm rereading all the other four.

 

btw, speaking of obsessions, I had completely forgotten about the books until I strated reading book 5 and then a spark lit in me once again.

 

P.s. I believe my order of favorite books is also very similar to yours, except for not being sure if I like the 4th or the 3rd better. Will have to reread yet again .

3/4, 5, 1, 2.

 

 

 

Actually the coolness of the begining of chapter 30 might well bump this book up, I think it's my favorite part in book 5, though not sure yet, anyway the amazing disapearance and everything that followed, especially the student's and teacher's rebel are just so great!

 

 

 

Ok I had better go to sleep now, it's 5 o'clock in the morning!

[Kingzjester]

My father bought the book the other day... I was somewhat shocked, I must admit. I wasn't expecting it from him. He actually bought it for himself. His logic for getting it is somewhat flimsy at best: we have all the other books - and we do, but we didn't buy a single one of them. The first three were presents (I think some of those are in Serbian even, I don't remember) and the fourth one my sister stole. I don't really care; the only kind of kleptomania I endorse is theft of books. Besides she just sortof stole the thing, not really stole stole.

[Remi]

Man, I can't be bothered with reading all this ¬ ¬

 

If I were to rank them, it'd go something like

 

3 or 5

4

2

1

 

The fifth book having a slight edge for being a lot better written than the four other ones.

[deadworm222]

I got the book after all. I'm now somewhere near page 300. Moos, my brother was as moody as Harry when he was fifteen years old, and he never had to cope with murders and such...

[Gabez]

Well, I just finished the book and I'm feeling sad about the ending (and the death). :~

 

But still, it was a good read. I'd have to agree with Moosferatu about the best part in the book, too. I couldn't help grinning like mad after that.

[Moosferatu]

Originally posted by deadworm222

I got the book after all. I'm now somewhere near page 300. Moos, my brother was as moody as Harry when he was fifteen years old, and he never had to cope with murders and such...

 

Yes, like I said before. That one wasn't my strongest point. It was more of a personal peeve.

[Kingzjester]

Personal peeve? Nope. I have no pet peeves. I have deep psychotic hatreds.

 

C'mon, who said that?

[pleto4_ryan]

OK, finally read it It's 5 in the morning now and i had a heck of a time. Rowling does know how to keep the readers on their feets. (the book hasn't been in greece of course yet, downloaded from the net )

 

Anyway...firstly to say that...

 

GOD how stupid can Harry be. Sirius told him that if he wanted him he should use the parchel. Didn't he wanted him. Did he have to create all this commotition to get inside Umbridges office. GOD

 

Anyway the only part in the book that had me angry....It was such a let off. What we were supposed to get out of this. Is there supposed to be something with the fragments at the nomber 6...? maybe...or else why would Rowling put Sirius giving the parchel in the first place.

 

As for Harry's "new" char. Well it can get a little unsurpised cause he became a lot in ager...but for me....it was something waiting for. For 14 years he has passed the worst thingies. I believe a little break out in the most "dangerous" teenage years was something logical...

 

I also liked to see many more new chars and also have "guest stars" of the past books. It made the book more alive and more connected to the previous books. Actually neither of the rest made this kind of connection...

 

It was fun...it had some times that i got fall over from the laughs. Real good ones....

 

It was incridible also to see the GREAT BATTLE at the near end. GREAT ONE and at the right timinig in the series. Now let's wait the battles of the second war...*drooling*

 

The death of sirius? 2 things

As a reader i could say i wanted him to go more "lengthy" He just died and that was it.

As a critic. That was pretty good, because as we all know death comes suddenly and in seconds all change...Rowling has managed to pass the message

Also i think that we will see him again...Something like the mirror, something ghosts and Nick's not answering exactly on the subject...

 

As for the profice. What?

It's simple...

And no it's not the weapon. Of course not. It's just that Voldermont thought that it "had" the weapon as he never heard the "whole" proficie.

The true weapon is the one in the locked room....that neither Sirius knife couldn't open. In there lies the ancient magic that harry is bound too.

We can call it the power getting for "good" emotions...

 

The whole try of Voldermont to get his hands onto the ball was as ridiculous as it was harry's surroundings to help him from Sirius in the third book. All finished to be just a "joke"

 

Lastly it was great to see the chars to get older and have different thought and ways of thinking...

(there are more but maybe later )

 

 

 

 

and that McGonogall told Pieves the lantern unsrewed the other way,

lol fine of you saying it...

 

Lastly i found Rowling a very good writer. I find it wonderful of her to have most of the events in her mind. Maybe not, but from the first book to the fifth it is shown that she knew what she was going to write in the fourth when she wrote something in the first...NICE (and for me...the books aren't for kids, teenagers only as some narrow-headed things )

 

Oh and how i put them....5,4,3,2,1 (getting better over the years )

[Moosferatu]

Originally posted by pleto4_ryan

As for the profice. What?

It's simple...

And no it's not the weapon. Of course not. It's just that Voldermont thought that it "had" the weapon as he never heard the "whole" proficie.

The true weapon is the one in the locked room....that neither Sirius knife couldn't open. In there lies the ancient magic that harry is bound too.

We can call it the power getting for "good" emotions...

 

That doesn't work. The order called it a weapon and they were trying to keep Voldmort from getting it. They didn't give a fig about the room and I'll wager that only Dumbledore knew what was in it.

 

Another thought, if Harry is supposedly full of so much power and so forth, how come he is a below average student? I mean in HP5 is he made out to be a complete dunce. There is always the cut and past classroom scene. Harry and Ron fail yet again to do something, yet Hermione does it perfectly her first try. I think she should be the one to kill Voldmort. Also, Harry and Ron have trouble righting 1 page papers! How hard is that?

[deadworm222]

Moos, the DA thing, I don't really understand what you mean to say. Umbridge doesn't really teach them anything, Harry does - that's the point.