Going to start off by saying this is one of my favourites and to those who think its boring you must be kidding yourselves.
I’ll give you three main reasons why this is one of the best.
Firstly, an assembly of powerful wizards coming back together to re-form their underground squad in order to prepare themselves to fight against Voldemort’s reign. This then encourages the younger generation, who then form their own secret organisation ‘Dumbledore’s Army’ in hopes of preparing themselves in an inevitable war against the enemy. To top it all, we get the battle between the two most powerful wizards alive at the time, Albus Dumbledore and Voldemort. What more could you ask for?
And a little extra treat is we get a first look at the Weasley’s Wizard’s Wheezes joke shop which end up making the twins quite wealthy in later years. I do admire the twin’s and their bending of the rules but what I love most is that they always knew where to draw the line. In all their years of causing mayhem, they never once got expelled… Until of course Umbridge’s dictatorship and barbaric practices which evidently lead to the firework fiasco. Brilliant.
I’m so salty that after all it was actually Umbridge who sent the Dementors on Harry in Little Winging, all without the Ministry’s knowing. I completely forgot it was her… so yeah she got what she deserved.
I love that this whole chapter in their lives is so political. Typical human kind to ignore facts if it doesn’t suit their narrative. The Ministry just keeps covering up stories and twisting the truth to keep the population from reacting and loosing faith in the Ministry’s protection over them.
One decision that not only surprised but also upset me, as well as our main character, was Dumbledore giving the prefect positions to Hermione and Ron. I know he confesses in the end that he regrets his choices and did always intend on giving Harry that role but didn’t due to circumstances, and it does seem like a childish thing of the past when you will soon have to face one of the most powerful wizards alive and try to defeat him; but its something that can never get taken back. Harry will never get to look back at this year of school knowing he got to be prefect. Or maybe he’ll have more satisfaction in knowing he was supposed to get it and didn’t have to do any of the work after. Then again, he does end up as Quiddich captain which is definitely a way cooler title to uphold.
Now the most exciting information we get to come across in this school year is a sneak peak into the upbringing of our beloved Snape. One of the many things I love about JK Rowling is her complete understanding of humankind. The weaknesses, the things that mould you into a person, nature versus nurture, etc. Our poor Snape was an only child with very unhappy parents who always fought. And I guess like Harry and Voldemort, Hogwarts was an escape for him and somewhere he felt was more of a home. But time goes by and that place too becomes less like a home. Now i’m not justifying any harsh words to Lily or any retaliations toward James and his friend group but it is fair to say that his circumstances provoked him.
After our battle with the two oldies, this story just steps up a notch. At least in Harry’s world. The rest of the world always needs to be punched across the face before they realise theres an angry person with a fist out standing in front of them. I’m almost finished with Half Blood Prince [but only now finally had time to write about Order] and man, the look into Voldemort’s past when he was just an orphan boy to his rise to power is enough to make me almost prefer that story of this. Book wise though, I will always favour the Order of The Phoenix film over others. But anyway, it is after all just one big story, no matter what school year they are in, this will always be one of the greatest stories ever told.
Thank you for reading my love letter The Order and I will now leave you with my favourite quote from it…
“Well, you may not like him, minister… but you can’t deny… Dumbledore has got style”.