Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix

Ever since the return of Lord Voldemort, Harry has been avidly listening and watching the muggle news. Surely they would report something. . . anything really. Nothing though, besides the hot weather has been reported. Harry's constant obsession with the news is driving his uncle mad. After getting caught Harry decides to take a stroll, and walk off his anger.

His friends have been completely useless in their correspondence. No matter how many times Harry demands answers, the replies are always vague. On the way home Harry catches up with Dudley and decides to start a fight with him. He pulls out his wand and begins to taunt Dudley when suddenly it gets very cold and very dark. Harry starts to feel his happiness ebb away and can't believe Dementors would be lose in his neck of the woods. Suddenly Dudley starts to run for it, and unfortunately runs into one of the Dementors (well he can't see it being a muggle and all.)

Harry fights off both Dementors and takes Dudley back to the house. When he arrives his uncle and aunt are ready to kick him out. Not only is he now expelled from school, but the ministry is going to come and take away his wand. Just as Harry is about to leave a Howler arrives for Aunt Petunia and reminds her of the pack she made. She then tells Vernon that Harry will have to stay. Eventually Harry finds himself back with his old gang and in a rather gloomy house. The house, which once belonged to Sirius' mother is now the location for an order called: The Order of The Phoenix (which was once active the first time Lord Voldemort came to power).

The kids being "too young" cannot participate in any of the activities so must go about cleaning the house, but that doesn't stop George and Fred from trying to ease drop. As summer draws to a close, Harry finds himself wishing he could stay with Sirius. When Harry returns to school he is surrounded by the whispers of fellow students. For months the newspaper has been slandering both Harry and Dumbledore, telling the public at large that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is not back and that those two are full of it.

Harry's scar begins to hurt again. Surely Voldemort can't be near - they're at Hogwarts which is heavily protected. Why then does his scar hurt? On top of that, he keeps having the same dream over and over: he's running towards a black door trying to reach what's beyond the door. When he tells his friends about the dreams they draw the conclusion that he's inside Voldemort's head and that he must start to practice Occlumency if he has any hope of stopping his scare from hurting.

But it's easier said than done. With all the drama and pressure unfolding around Harry, he can't help but get swept up. Suddenly he dreams that Voldemort is torturing Sirius and Harry has to go and recuse him.

One of my least favorite books. Ever. For one, Harry irritated me on almost every single page. All of the sudden his reduced to a whinny, complaining, little pratt? But in the other 4 books he showed maturity beyond his years?! Secondly(spoiler ahead hi-light to view), WHY DID SHE HAVE TO KILL MY ONLY FAVORITE CHARACTER SIRIUS BLACK?!?!??! Thirdly, Umbridge. Ugh. I would've hated to have had a teacher like her. Although she did add comedic relief sometimes. But Harry was the most irritating thing I had to endure while I read that book. I couldn't stand how he reverted to being 3 years old. He was constantly bitting off Ron and Hermonie's head, being a selfish idiot, and kept playing the world's smallest violin for himself. NOT once did he think about anyone besides himself.

I took solace in the fact that she introduced Tonks and Luna Lovegood.

Books in this series:

1) Sorcerer's Stone

2) Chamber of Secrets

3) Prisoner of Azkaban

4) Goblet of Fire

5) Order of the Phoenix

6) Half-Blood Prince

7) Deathly Hallows

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling (c) 2003