Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix - J. K. Rowling

RATING: FOUR STARS

After the fiasco of the Triwizard Tournament at the end of his forth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry, Harry Potter was involved in a terrible incident that saw the death of fellow champion Cedric Diggory and the Lord Voldemort's rebirth! Yet none but Professor Dumbledore are keen to believe Harry's tale and, worse still, Cornelius Fudge (the Minister of Magic) believes Voldemort's apparent rise is a plot of Dumbledore's to seize power. Fudge is desperate to cover the whole thing up and has begun a vicious slander campaign at Harry and Dumbledore's expense. Fudge has even gone as far as appointing Dolores Umbridge as the Hogwarts 'High Inquisitor,' a position he has invented to control the spread of rumours at Hogwarts itself!

Yet Fudge's closed-minded fear does not deter Albus Dumbledore. The headmaster is busy at work and re-establishes the Order of the Phoenix - a secretive group that is dedicated to defeating Voldemort and his campaign of terror whatever the cost. Harry is quickly drawn into the group and must use all of his wits if he is to survive his fifth year of study and ready himself, friends and peers for the war to come . . .

The Good
The Order of the Phoenix is the point where the Harry Potter story begins to grow darker and J. K. Rowling's writing becomes more gritty as she delves into the atrocities Lord Voldemort is committing as he gathers new and old Death Eaters alike to his cause. Rowling has put a lot of thought into the story and it is more a tale of intrigue like the early novels in the story were. I found the twists and turns of this book very exciting to read and she's really beginning to set the precedent for later instalments of the series.

Rowling has also done a brilliant job with Umbridge's 'love to hate' character. Umbridge is truly a despicable woman and her actions frequently left me seething to rage, even though Umbridge cannot be called 'evil' in the same way as Voldemort and his followers are. Yet there are different shades of darkness and Umbridge is certainly not good or innocent!

The Bad
Once again there is nothing to fault with this book per se and the only issue I have with it is a bit of upset involving one of my favourite characters and a certain, mysterious archway . . .

My Thoughts
The Order of the Phoenix continues the Harry Potter series in a darkening instalment that finally sees Lord Voldemort return to power and begin preparations for a new war to purify wizard-kind. It's exciting, superbly written and is almost impossible to put down!