OOP First Reactions (Spoilers)

[inkling108]

No: HPFGUIDX 61671

Spoiler alert!
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Finally finished the book this afternoon.  I was blown away by it 
and completely engrossed until the final chapters, which for me 
fell a bit flat.

The prophecy revelation, aside from being predictable and even 
the fashion these days ("You are the One, Neo ") , did not seem 
to be broad enough to carry the weight of all the had gone before.  
And the whole matter of Sirius and Harry's relationship, and the 
nature of Sirius' character was to me, was not set forth in a 
coherent and satisfying way.

Sirius seemed so reckless and immature, not like the noble 
"dog" of Book 3 who had found the presence of mind to outwit 
the dementors and escape from Azkaban, who had risked 
recapture in Book 4 to offer cautious and wise advice to Harry.   
What on earth is he doing egging on Harry to take risks??   Or 
laying trips on him about not being enough like his father?  (Just 
what a fifteen year old boy needs as his world falls apart around 
him!)

I know there's been a lot of speculation about Lupin and Sirius' 
relationship, but Book 5 made me wonder whether Sirius was 
secretly in love with James!  In any case, he seemed way too 
fixated on James, and unable to relate in a healthy way with 
Harry as a result.

In this context his death and Harry's extreme grief were very 
problematic.  What exactly has Harry lost?  It seems to be more a 
projected relationship than an actual relationship,

Clearly the potential godson relationship, the hope of it, meant a 
great deal to Harry.   It seems that this is the book in which Harry 
must lose all his illusions and even his hopes, some 
temporarily, some forever.  Very tough going emotionally and very 
compelling, which is why that death, happening so quickly, was 
so jarring.  No closure, terrible guilt -- OI!  What more must this 
kid endure?  (We'll find out in a few years!)  I hope this is the 
darkest book in the series and that light and dark balance out by 
the end of Book 7.

Much as I loved the book it was exhausting, psychologically and 
spiritually.  There was so much meaness --  from Umbridge (is 
there a more loathsome character in the whole canon, including 
Voldemort?), from James (!) and Sirius, from Percy, Especially 
chilling were the scenes where Umbridge forces Harry to etch 
the words in blood on his hand -- I can't get them out of my mind, 
and I hope no-one reads this book to a young child.

The book as a whole was incredibly rich and much more 
nuanced.  Harry's adolescent rage was startling until I 
remembered my own teenage years.  The Hogwarts students 
really thought and behaved like they were in the throes of 
puberty, a big change even from Book 4, a welcome dose of 
realism.

I loved the deepening of certain characters -- beginning to learn 
that there is more to Aunt Petunia than meets the eye, exploring 
the wounded side of Snape.  The whole concept of 
thought/memory connection/invasion, the idea of occlumency -- 
fascinating stuff with lots of potential in future books.  It was a 
brilliant stroke to have Snape be the one who must try to teach 
Harry about these things.

One thing I did not quite understand was what exactly Harry was 
blaming Snape for at the end when he resolved never to forgive 
him.  True, Snape stopped giving him lessons when he 
discovered him peeking into his  most private thoughts, but  
surely Harry must recognize that he was partly responsible for 
the breakdown of that situation.  He can't expect Snape not to be 
a human being with human reactions -- can he? If Harry is 
honest with himself he can't blame the fact that he was unable to 
block out Voldemort on Snape.  He never took the lessons as 
seriously as he should have, despite numerous warnings, and 
he never tried  to apologize to Snape for violating his privacy.  I 
hope he doesn't think he must hate Snape as a way of being 
loyal to the late Sirius.   Harry really does need to clear his head 
and grow up fast if the second, overt war against Voldemort   is 
about to start.

In the final scene, when the Order members put the Dursleys on 
notice that they better treat  Harry right, all I could think  was, what 
took you (the magical community) so  long???  Was that so hard 
?  Why did this boy have to endure fifteen years of mistreatment?

In future books I hope JKR will shed light on Sirius'  contradictory 
behavior, and also on how James matured and became a better 
person, because he sure did seem to be a right little stinker at 
fifteen.

All that said (whew) , the Order of the Phoenix is a great book, 
contradictions and all.  Long live Harry!  I hope!  With 12 
grandchildren!

Jamie C.