My OOP Review

[Matthew]

No: HPFGUIDX 61405

The following is my review of Harry Potter and the Order of the 
Phoenix.  If you don't wanna know, then don't read because there are 
spoilers in my review.
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You've been warned!!!
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I've just finished reading the book and am about to re-read it all 
over again. :)  I figured I'd give my thoughts and opinions on what 
happened in Year 5:

*First off, I wanted to smack Percy upside the head. How could he 
totally turn his back on his parents, Dumbledore, Harry, and side 
completely with the Ministry??? I wonder if now that the Ministry 
has finally said at the end of the book that Voldemort is back, will 
Percy finally make up with Mr. & Mrs. Weasley and rejoin the family? 
I hope so but still, Percy was a git in this book!

*On the line of biggest gits in the book, I'll have to mention Fudge 
and Umbridge. Umbridge managed to take the famous spot of "Most 
Hated Hogwarts Teacher" in my opinion in this book from Snape. I 
wanted to whack her over the head with a Firebolt so badly!! Fudge 
was just a moron for refusing any and all evidence that Voldemort 
had returned, and trying to discredit Harry & Dumbledore at every 
possible turn

*Another git to mention but one who's always been one in everyone's 
eyes: Draco Malfoy. I couldn't believe it when I read that Malfoy 
became a prefect and then became part of Umbridge's squad. I'm sooo 
glad Mr. Malfoy got sent to prison and hopefully his son will 
finally get what he deserves from Harry, Ron, Hermione, and anyone 
else on the good side.

*Fred & George Weasley. What can I say. Both created tons of fun in 
this book which definately helped because the book is much more 
darker than the previous 4. They attempts to try out their new jokes 
on the students and Hermione constantly trying to put a stop to it. 
The twins accidently giving Katie Bell a nosebleed pill during the 
Quidditch training, and of course, their awesome depature from 
Hogwarts, including the final salute to Peeves to cause more trouble.

*Ron. I think Ron really came into his own in this book. Not only 
was Ron made a prefect (many might say that Harry should have gotten 
this but Dumbledore didn't want to add more to Harry's plate than 
there already was) but he made it to Keeper on the Gryffindor team. 
He had to deal with the whole "Weasley is our King" song for a while 
but eventually overcame his nerves and helped Gryffindor win the 
Quidditch cup! 

*Ginny. She had much more to do in this book, finally being able to 
speak in front of Harry now that she's moved on from her crush on 
him. Ginny winning the spot of Seaker after Harry got banned from 
Quidditch, and her work in the D.A. group, not to mention at the end 
in the Ministry of Magic. Nice to see she's not the shy one of the 
Weasley clan anymore.

*Neville. Wow, what a chance from the previous books. Neville has 
always been a clumsy, accident prone kid but I sensed a change in 
him starting with Book 4. In Goblet of Fire, we learn about his 
parents, and we also learn he's good with plants. In Book 5, he 
really starts to gain confidence and plays an important part in the 
end of the book. 

*Sirius. What can I say? I was shocked to find out that Sirius was 
the one who dies at the end of the book. I was so sure it would be 
Mr. Weasley because I figured they wouldn't kill Sirius off, at 
least not yet. While I do agree that his character was a bit 
headstrong and reckless because of being cooped up all the time in 
his old house, I think Sirius acted bravely and will always be 
remembed fondly by fans everywhere. Hopefully, the memory of 
Sirius's death won't plague Harry through the entire next book.

*Other thoughts: I thought the Order was cool. We got to see Tonks, 
and a bunch of our favorites like Moody and Lupin again. I loved how 
Lockhart is in St. Mungo's trying to sign autographes for anything 
who will stand still. Nice reuse of characters in the story, 
including the Night Bus, Firenze, and a few others. Luna Lovegood 
was another interesting character and I'd definatly like to see her 
back in the next book. My feelings for Cho went down a notch because 
she was like totally funky with Harry. Now, I know Harry really 
didn't do well himself but Cho was very emotionally unstable and 
then to find out that she moved on in the end to that Michael Corner 
guy who was dating Ginny, it just hurt a bit. McGonagall ruled when 
she was taking care of business with Umbridge. Hagrid's story with 
his giant brother was interesting but ultimatly kinda short. I hope 
Hagrid has a longer part to play in Year 6. The only thing I didn't 
like was that throughout the entire book, Harry seemed like a pain. 
He was just always so angry and snapping at people and whatnot. I 
know he was under a lot of strain, no one would tell him anything, 
etc but I do wish they kinda toned down his attitude a bit in the 
novel.

Overall: Another great addition to the Harry Potter collection. I'm 
getting ready to re-read the book again and I'm sure I'll enjoy it 
just as much, maybe even more the second time around! Cheers to J.K. 
Rowlings who put together another awesome year at Hogwarts School of 
Witchcraft and Wizardry!

"Matthew"