Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix - J. K. Rowling Before the actual reading of the book: Take a look at the cover of the book. Try to determine the gerne of the book. It’s a fantasy book. What is the impression you get after looking at the cover? On the cover of the book there is a picture of a large firebird (a Pheonix). The impression it makes on me is that it’s logical to put a picture of a Pheonix on the cover if the title of the book also has the word ‘Pheonix’ in it. I think it will be a nice book to read and not that hard to read. Some information about the author: Joanne K. Rowling started storytelling at the age of six, she used to tell her sister stories about a little rabbit. In school she liked English and the other languages. She kept telling stories to her friends during lunch. She studied French at the Exeter University, afterwards she went to work as a secretary for a while. This didn’t turn out to be a good choice of profession. She left for Portugal to teach English. This is where she started to work on a story about a boy who discovers that he is a wizard. She left Portugal for Edinburgh where she found time to write the stories of Harry in a café near her little flat while her daughter was taking naps. The Harry Potter books have become so popular that she doesn’t need to teach anymore and now she can put all her time and effort in writing her books. More than 100,000,000 copies have been sold around the globe and Warner Bros. has made (or will make) films of all of the books. Thanks to Harry Potter, Rowling now has the highest income of all Britains women.
Summary: At the beginning of the story Harry is with his aunt and uncle. He’s been living there ever since Voldemort killed his mother and father. Harry, who does not like his aunt and uncle, was outside almost every day especially now that the sun was shining. When he came across his cousin Dudley two Dementors (horrifiing creatures that can steal your soul) showed up. One of them attacked Dudley and the other went for Harry. Harry got rid of both of them with the use of magic. A couple of days later when his aunt, uncle and cousin are not at home, a bunch of people break into the house. Those people appeared to be friends of Harry. They came to take him away from there, they took him to the headquarters of the Order of the Pheonix, wich is an anti-Voldemort organisation. Hermione and Ron (Harry’s two best friends) where already there. After they had been informed om the situation with Voldemort Harry had to go to a trail because he had used magic in the holydays. When he got there Dumbledore (the Headmaster of Hogwards) was there to defend him. Harry was cleared of al charges. After this, holiday was over and Harry, Ron and Hermione had to go back to Hogwards. Dumbledore introduced the new defence against the dark arts teacher (Dolores Jane Umbridge). Later Hermione explained that this meant that the ministry of magic had taken a hold on Hogwarts. Than the next day the lessons began and when they had defence against the dark arts Umbridge said that they had to put away their wands and they had to start reading their books. Umbridge gained more and more power. A Few months later she was appointed as High Inquisitor of Hogwarts and she visited al the teachers to see which of them where doing there job correct and which ones weren’t. They weren’t learning anything in defence against the dark arts class so Hermione came up with the idea that they should start there own defence against the dark arts group. Al the students that were interested had to come to ‘the Hogshead’ (a pub in a town near the school). A lot of people showed up and they all agreed that it was a great idea. The next day a new announcement hang in Hogwarts and it said that no student organisation was permitted to exist without permission from the High Inquisitor. Harry decided that the defence against the dark arts group should continue even if they would never get permission from Umbridge. So everybody was informed and when the first meeting began they needed to have a name. Dumbledore’s Army (DA) was chosen. A few days later, while Harry was sleeping, he dreamt that a snake was attacking Mr Weasley and the strange thing was that he saw everything through the eyes of the snake. When he woke up his scar was hurting badly. And he knew that what he had just seen had really happened. He said that he needed to see Dumbledore. Harry explained the story to him. The next day they went to see Mr Weasley. Harry and his friends overheard the conversation between Mr Weasley and a few members of the Order.They heard they thought that Harry was being controlled by Voldemort. And when they got back to the headquarters Harry exiled himself from the others. Ginny explained what it felt like to be possessed by Voldemort (she had experienced it a few years ago). Harry concluded that Voldemort did not possess him. During the christmas holidays Snape (Harry’s Potions teacher and a member of the Order) came to see Harry and told him that he was going to give him occlumency, a way to close your mind to external penetration. It went quit well, only his scar was hurting more than usual. Hermione said to Harry that he should give an interview about what happened in June last year. When the story was printed, Umbridge said that everyone in the possession of the Quibbler would be expelt. By doing this she made sure that everyone wanted read it (just because it was forbidden). The DA meeting continued as usual. But suddonly Umbridge was there. Everyone run out of there and tried to hide. Umbridge and a group of slitherins found them. And they where brought up to Dumbledore’s office. When Harry got there he saw that Cornelius Fudge (the minister of Magic) was also there. Umbridge explained that she had caught them and why. Dumbledore attempted to prove that Harry was innocent. But then Umbridge pulled out the peace of parchment which had all the names of the DA on it, at the top it said: Dumbledore’s Army. Fudge looked at it with astonishment and his aurors pulled there wands and pointed them at Dumbledore. Then Fudge said that Dumbledore would never be able down to take all of them. Fudge yelled take him. There was a loud bang and all the aurors, Fudge and Umbridge where on the ground. Dumbledore said that Harry should continue his occlumency lessons, took hold of Fawkes, his phoenix, and disappeared with a flash of light. The next day there was a new piece op paper on the notice board which said that Umbridge had become headmistress of Hogwarts. When Harry arrived at his next extra lesson with Snape he and Snape got an argument and Snape said that he could never come back again. Than a few weeks later their OWL’s (exams) began and it al went very good for Harry. When Harry was doing his history of magic OWL, he fell asleep. He dreamt that Voldemort was torturing Sirius inside the Ministry of Magic. When he woke up he was being dragged out of the classroom and he felt his scar hurt. Harry was worried and he wanted to go to the ministry. He ran into Hermione, Ron, Ginny and Luna and they could help Harry. Ron ran to Umbridge and told her that Peeves was messing up the transfiguration classroom. Ginny and Luna where on the lookout. Harry and Hermione where in her office and they used the fireplace to contact Sirius. But he wasn’t there and Kreacher (Sirius’ his house elf) told them that he had gone to the department of mysteries. Then suddenly Umbridge came in and her group of Slitherins where holding Ron, Ginny, Luna and Neville very tightly. Umbridge asked them who they where talking to. She confessed there that she had been the one to send those Dementors after Harry. But to she still wanted to know who Harry had been talking to so she wanted to use the Cruciatus Curse on him. But than Hermione said that they where looking for Dumbledore because ‘the weapon’ was ready. Than Hermione and Harry had to lead her there, and so they walked into the forbidden forest and they came a cross a few centaurs. Umbridge who was very disrespectful to them was attacked and Hermione and Harry managed to get away. When they returned to the castle they met Ron, Ginny, Luna, and Neville already outside. They apparently managed to free themselves. And than they took 6 Thestrals (flying horses) to get to London to the ministry of magic. When they got in there they went directly for the department of mysteries. And they found Lucius Malfoy and a few other Death Eaters (Voldemorts minions) waiting for them. They wanted the prophecy that Harry got his hands on. With a surprise attack Harry and the rest managed to get away. But they where split up and when a few of the Death Eaters came their way Harry, Neville and Hermione used stunning spells to subdue them. When they got back together there was a big duel between them and the Death Eaters. When it looked like Harry and the others were about to loose, Sirius, Lupin, Moody and other people of the Order came in and took over. Sirius ordered Harry to take Neville and go. but when Sirius was fighting his own cousin who was also a Death Eater Sirius got hit in the chest he fell back true a veil and Harry yelled for him but Sirius did not come back out. Lupin told Harry that Sirius was dead and there was nothing anyone could do about it. Harry turned around and there he stood the Dark Lord himself, Lord Voldemort. He said: “this was the last time you foiled my plan Potter” and he shrieked “Avada Kadavra”. Suddenly the golden wizard statue from the fountain was in front of him and the curse deflected. Dumbledore was the one who saved Harry. There was a duel between Voldemort and Dumbledore. When it looked like Voldemort was going to lose he disapeared. Cornelius Fudge and a lot of aurors arrived and they had also seen Voldemort. Now Cornelius Fudge believed Dumbledore and knew that everything he said had been the truth. Back in Dumbledores office, Harry was told about the prophecy he broke. It said that he, and he alone, was the one that could vanquish the Dark Lord. Dumbledore also explained why Harry had to stay with his uncle and aunt Dursley. After this was explained the school year was almost over and when the train had taken them back to London he went to the Dursley’s but he was halted by Lupin, Moody and Tronks (members of the Order). They had a little chat with the Dursley’s and said that if they mistreated Harry or if they did not hear from him for three days they would come and see how he was doing... After reading the book: Who is the main character of the book? Harry Potter is definately the most important character in the book, the story is also told through him. Harry is a kind and humble teenager, instinctually averse to flattery and excessive praise. He is loyal to his friends and to Dumbledore, and he is very brave. Harry spends much of his time at Hogwarts trying to live up to his widespread reputation, and he often wishes that his life at school could be more normal. Now fifteen years old, Harry is experiencing the same emotions as any other fifteen-year-old boy. He gets angry and frustrated with his friends, is confused by girls, and often reacts unhappily to authority figures that try to put limits on his behavior. Although Harry always has good, noble intentions, he can be impatient and overeager. Dumbledore continually stresses that education is achieved over time, and Harry does not always want to wait. What is the theme of the book? The main theme of the book is ‘Wizardry’, the book is all about what its like being a – special – wizard boy. Have your expectations come true? My expectations of the book have come true, it was indeed a fantasy book and really liked it, something I knew I was going to do, because I have also read the first 4 installments in the series. Give your opinion on the book. I really liked the book! I didn’t find it hard to read it in English. The satisfaction of reading it in English, the language it was written in and therefore almost always better than a translation, was far greater than the trouble I went through of reading it in English, but I think thats mainly because I never have any trouble reading English texts. The storyline was just great, the tension was built up subtle but yet there wás a real increase in tension throughout the book ‘till the climax.