Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
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This article is about the book. For the film, see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film). For the video game, see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (video game).
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is the fifth novel in the Harry Potter series written by J. K. Rowling. It is the longest book in the series, and was released on 21 June 2003. The novel features Harry's struggles through his fifth year at Hogwarts, including the surreptitious return of Harry's nemesis Lord Voldemort, O.W.L. exams, awkward teenage love and an obstructive Ministry of Magic. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film) was released in 2007.
PlotHarry Potter produces a Patronus charm when Dementors in an alley attack him and his cousin Dudley. Order of the Phoenix members soon arrive to escort Harry to their secret headquarters at Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place in London, where Harry joins the Weasley family, Hermione Granger, and Harry’s godfather Sirius Black. He learns that Voldemort is building an army and is attempting to retrieve a "weapon". Meanwhile, the Ministry of Magic charges Harry with performing underage magic. A few days later, Arthur Weasley escorts Harry to his hearing where he is cleared after testimony from Albus Dumbledore and Harry's Squib neighbour, Arabella Figg. Harry is initially disappointed that unlike Ron and Hermione, he has not been made a prefect. To the trio's surprise, the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts is Dolores Umbridge, a hostile Ministry official who presided at Harry's hearing. Hermione's opinion that the Ministry is interfering with Hogwarts is accurate; Umbridge is there to spy on the school and only teaches Ministry-approved theory rather than practical defence methods. She is soon appointed as High Inquisitor, arbitrarily imposing strict rules and regulations. Umbridge imposes sadistic punishments to those disobeying her rules, making them write with cutting quills (quills that cut the words into the skin when you write with them). She also harbours racial hatred for "half-breeds," such as centaurs, werewolves, and similar creatures. She considers Rubeus Hagrid (a half-giant) and Sybill Trelawney incompetent, firing Trelawney and putting Hagrid on probation. Although Dumbledore is unable to prevent Trelawney's dismissal, he invokes his authority to allow her to remain in the castle and appoints a new Divination teacher — the centaur, Firenze. Harry has disturbing dreams about running down a hallway and attempting to open a door in the Ministry's Department of Mysteries. One night he dreams he is a snake attacking Ron's father. Mr. Weasley is indeed found injured at the Ministry, suffering from severe venomous snakebites, causing Harry to fear that Voldemort is possessing him. In response, Dumbledore has Severus Snape teach Harry Occlumency to block his mind from intrusion, but their mutual animosity ends their lessons prematurely. Rebellion and Dumbledore's ArmyTo combat the Ministry's smear campaign against Harry and Dumbledore, Hermione blackmails yellow journalist Rita Skeeter into writing a favourable article about Harry witnessing Voldemort's return. Ravenclaw student Luna Lovegood's father publishes the story in his magazine, The Quibbler. Furious, Umbridge bans the Quibbler from the school, but the story spreads rapidly, garnering support for Harry. Hermione convinces Harry to secretly teach Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff students Defence Against the Dark Arts. They name their clandestine group "Dumbledore's Army" (D.A.) to mock the Ministry of Magic, which fears Dumbledore is secretly building a wizard army. Under Harry's tutoring, the group learns defensive magic. The last meeting before Christmas, Cho Chang stays after, and Harry, hoping to receive a Merry Christmas, gets an even bigger surprise -- a kiss. Eventually Umbridge's Inquisitorial Squad, comprising mostly of Slytherin students, uncover the group's meetings. To protect Harry and other students from reprisals, Dumbledore claims that he organised the group. Confronted by Minister Fudge, Percy Weasley, Umbridge and Aurors (John Dawlish and Kingsley Shacklebolt), Dumbledore easily overpowers them and is whisked away by his phoenix, Fawkes. Umbridge becomes Headmistress and enacts even stricter rules, firing Hagrid. The disenchanted Weasley twins revolt, unleashing relentless magical chaos throughout the school, while the staff purposely does nothing to help Umbridge regain control. The twins are caught, but summoning their confiscated brooms, they fly away, leaving Hogwarts to open their own joke shop. Battle at the Department of MysteriesHarry has a vision of Sirius being tortured at the Department of Mysteries, although Hermione suspects it may be a trap. Harry, with help from various members of Dumbledore's Army, attempts to contact Sirius at Grimmauld Place via the Floo Network in Umbridge's office fireplace, but he is caught. In an attempt to determine who Harry had been speaking to via the Floo network, Umbridge employs the assistance of Professor Snape. Snape, however, merely indicates that he has run out of Veritaserum. Before leaving, Snape is alerted by Harry of his vision of Sirius. Umbridge reveals it was she who sent the Dementors to attack Harry during the summer in an attempt to frame or silence him. As she is about to use the illegal Cruciatus Curse on him, Hermione claims that Dumbledore has hidden a powerful weapon in the Forbidden Forest. She leads Harry and Umbridge into the forest where they encounter the centaurs. Umbridge foolishly insults them and an angry centaur carries her off screaming into the woods. When Hagrid's giant half-brother, Grawp, crashes onto the scene, Hermione and Harry escape amid the chaos. Along with fellow D.A. members Ginny, Ron, Neville and Luna, the trio fly to the Ministry of Magic on the school's Thestrals. At the Ministry of Magic, Death Eaters ambush the students. They heroically defend themselves, but are outmatched. As they are nearly defeated, members of the Order arrive. During the ensuing battle, the glass prophecy sphere that Voldemort was seeking is accidentally dropped and shatters. The official record of the prophecy is thus lost. Sirius is blasted with a spell by his Death Eater cousin, Bellatrix Lestrange, and falls backwards through a mysterious veiled archway. Lupin restrains Harry from going after him; Sirius is dead. The Death Eaters are captured except for Bellatrix Lestrange, whom Harry pursues into the atrium. Voldemort appears and attacks Harry, but Dumbledore saves him. Ministry of Magic employees arrive in time to see the Dark Lord before he Disapparates, taking Lestrange with him. Cornelius Fudge finally admits that Voldemort has returned. Rita Skeeter's story is reprinted in the Daily Prophet, exonerating Harry and Dumbledore. Dealing with lossDumbledore apologizes to Harry for withholding information over the past five years. He reveals the lost prophecy, which was originally given to him by Sybill Trelawney, The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches ... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies ... and the Dark Lord will mark him as equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not ... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives ... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies ... Either Harry or Voldemort "must die at the hands of the other, for neither can live while the other survives." Dumbledore also reveals that, due to time of birth mentioned in the prophecy, the child could also have been Neville Longbottom. Dumbledore believes Voldemort chose to attack Harry because he is a half-blood like himself; Neville is a pureblood. In doing so, the Dark Lord marked Harry as his equal. Dumbledore also discloses why he continues to send Harry back to the Dursleys' home for the summer. He tells Harry that when his mother died to protect him, this initiated an ancient magic. As long as Harry stays at the house of his blood-relative long enough to call it a home, it would provide for him a shield protection not even Voldemort is able to overcome. Furthermore, Dumbledore explains to Harry why he had not made him a prefect: he thought that Harry had enough to worry about and did not want to burden him with more responsibilities. Dumbledore also reveals that he cares greatly about Harry, perhaps even to the point where his actions may be anticipated by Voldemort. Shortly before school ends, Harry seeks out Nearly Headless Nick. He asks if Sirius can come back as a ghost, but Sir Nick says, "he will have...gone on." It is only those fearing death that remain as earthbound spirits. Still grieving, Harry finds Luna Lovegood hanging posters in the hall asking the whereabouts of her missing possessions that students have taken to taunt her. He asks about her being able to see the Thestrals, and she replies that she saw her mother die, the result of an experimental magic spell gone wrong. However, Luna says that she knows she will see her mother again; she and others who have died are just behind the veiled arch. Surprisingly, Harry feels comforted knowing that he may see Sirius again and heads off to finish packing. At King's Cross station, several Order members are there to greet Harry and the Dursleys. Alastor Moody warns Uncle Vernon that if Harry is mistreated, they will intervene. Harry leaves to head back to 4 Privet Drive with the Dursleys, stopping once to look back towards his two best friends, Ron and Hermione. Release historyPotter fans waited three years between the releases of the fourth and fifth books.[1] Before the release of the fifth book, 200 million copies of the first four books had already been sold and translated into 55 languages in 200 countries.[2] As the series was already a global phenomenon, the book forged new pre-order records, with thousands of people queuing outside book stores on 20 June 2003 to secure their copy at midnight.[2] Despite the security, thousands of copies were stolen from an Earlestown, Merseyside warehouse on 15 June 2003.[3] In a Newsnight interview with Jeremy Paxman, Rowling reported that she was "reduced to tears" when she killed off a significant character in the book, despite rewriting the death scene several times.[4] She added that although her husband suggested she undo the character's death to stop her sadness, she needed to be "a ruthless killer."[4] However, Rowling revealed in a 2007 interview that she had originally planned to kill off Arthur Weasley in this book, but ultimately couldn't bear to do it.[5] Three days before the book's release, betting firm Ladbrokes stopped taking bets as to the identity of the character to die, saying that people already knew and that it would be a "licence to lose money."[4] Scottish bookmaker Blue Square also took bets on the identity of the killed character, with Hagrid the favourite at 7/2 odds, followed by Sirius Black at 4/1 and Professors Minerva McGonagall and Albus Dumbledore at 5/1.[6] In another interview when asked if there was anything she would go back and change about the seven novels, Rowling replied that she would have edited Phoenix more, as she feels it is too long.[7] TranslationsThe first official foreign translation of the book appeared in Vietnamese on 21 July 2003, when the first of twenty-two installments was released. The first official European translation appeared in Serbia and Montenegro in Serbian, by the official publisher Narodna Knjiga, in early September 2003. Other translations appeared later, e.g. in November 2003 in Dutch and German. The English language version has topped the best seller list in France; while in Germany and The Netherlands an unofficial distributed translation process has been started on the net.[8]
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