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Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix | Introduction

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is J. K. Rowling's fifth installment in her internationally bestselling series about a young orphaned wizard named Harry Potter. The "Harry Potter" books have been translated into numerous languages, have sold over 80 million copies, and appeal to a wide range of audiences including both children and adults. Published in 2003, The Order of the Phoenix has topped many Bestseller Lists, continuing to widen Rowling's extraordinary global fan base.

The 800-page novel sees the main character, Harry Potter, enter his fifth year at wizardry school, Hogwarts. Now fifteen, Harry encounters such teenage problems as moodiness and resentment of authority, while at the same time trying to untangle the mysterious return of the all-powerful, evil Lord Voldemort. By the end of the story, readers watch Harry transform from a young, confused boy into a strong leader of his fellow students, and a brave warrior against the dark powers of his world. This transformation is not without its difficulties, however, as one of Harry's dearest companions is lost in the final battle.

In a slower buildup to this story's main action than in earlier books, readers follow Harry's psychological journey toward a more mature understanding of himself and his place in the wizardry community. Rowling spends much of The Order of the Phoenix tracking Harry's growing frustration as those who care most about him continue to withhold valuable information from him in an attempt to keep Harry safe from Voldemort's powers. In the end, Harry learns, through a series of mistakes and triumphs, that he is finally mature enough to learn the full truth about his famous but mysterious past as well as his significant but ominous future.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Summary

Chapters 1-8

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix opens with Harry Potter, a fifteen-year-old boy possessed with magical powers, spending another unhappy summer with his non-magical, or Muggle, guardians, the Dursleys. Still reeling from the previous school year's tragic events (chronicled in Rowling's fourth book, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire), Harry suffers recurring nightmares about his graveyard meeting with the dark Lord Voldemort where his friend Cedric was murdered. As a result of that encounter, Voldemort has now returned to bodily form, and Harry, with great anxiety, awaits news of the destruction Voldemort will inflict upon the wizardry and non-wizardry worlds. Harry finds there are no reports of unusual events despite his constant checking of the newspaper and television news, until one summer evening when he hears a sound that leads him to take a walk in the dark. Harry runs into his cousin Dudley while walking and as they taunt each other, two Dementors, the death-like, happiness-sucking prison guards from the wizardry world, attack the boys. Harry is able to fend them off with his sophisticated magic, only to find that he has been watched all summer by a neighbor as well as several incognito witches and wizards. Underage magic is banned in the Muggle world, thus Harry is threatened with expulsion from his wizardry boarding school, Hogwarts, and thrown out of his relatives' home for his defense against the Dementors. Several mysterious letters delivered by owl reverse both of Harry's punishments, setting a hearing for his return to Hogwarts and threatening Aunt Petunia into continuing to provide a home for Harry.

Harry waits for any helpful information from his friends to explain recent events, but receives none until a troop of adult witches and wizards appears in the Dursleys' kitchen. The group leads Harry to the invisible and secret location of those fighting against Voldemort's return to power. Located at the family estate of Sirius Black—Harry's godfather—the Order of the Phoenix represents an elite guard of witches and wizards fighting against Voldemort. Once Harry arrives at the Order, he is reunited with best friends and classmates, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. Despite being relieved to finally see his friends again, Harry expresses his anger at their keeping him uninformed about events in the wizardry world over the summer. His friends explain their promise kept to Hogwarts Headmaster and Order of the Phoenix leader, Albus Dumbledore, not to give Harry any knowledge that might be dangerous. Ron and Hermione also reveal that most of the wizardry world does not believe Voldemort has returned, and instead regards both Harry and Dumbledore as liars.

Harry joins his friends in cleaning chores throughout the enchanted Black family house while the Order has secret meetings to plan their defense against Voldemort. The kids manage to eavesdrop and find out that Voldemort now seeks some mysterious weapon to enhance his power. Harry also finds out that Sirius Black comes from a long line of dark wizards who support Voldemort, and consider Sirius an outcast.

Once Harry has his hearing in front of the full Ministry of Magic court, he does his best to justify his use of magic against the Dementors. The Minister of Magic himself tries to discredit Harry's story, but Harry wins the hearing only after Dumbledore produces a surprise eyewitness to his account. Harry is thrilled to be going back to Hogwarts, but notices an unusual distance that Dumbledore, his once-confidant, seems to be keeping from him.

Chapters 9-13

Everyone but Sirius is thrilled with Harry's successful hearing. Sirius, on the other hand, is a fugitive of the law and will be staying alone in his family home over the coming year; he had hoped Harry would be around to keep him company. The mood around the house becomes increasingly strained when Ron and Hermione receive news of their appointment to school Prefect but Harry is denied the title. Feeling resentful and angry already, Harry becomes even more depressed when he is shown a photo of the previous Order of the Phoenix members, many of whom have become Voldemort's victims. Harry's parents are featured in the photo.

It is finally time for school to begin, and Harry and his friends leave the Black house to meet the Hogwarts Express. Sirius disobeys Dumbledore's orders and follows Harry to the train, disguised as the shaggy black dog, Snuffles. When Ron and Hermione must meet for Prefect duties, Harry is reunited with friend Neville Longbottom, and they sit together on the train, meeting another student named Luna Lovegood. Luna appears to be a flighty girl whose father publishes a tabloid newspaper called The Quibbler, which is considered a less trustworthy news source than the popular wizarding newspaper, The Daily Prophet. Harry also has an awkward meeting with his crush from last year, Cho Chang. Once at Hogwarts, Harry sees mysterious black horses pulling the school carriages that previously were horseless; many students cannot see the horses, and Harry finds little comfort in the fact that the slightly strange Luna says she can see them too.

Once inside the Hogwarts castle, the students gather to hear the Sorting Hat's yearly song. This year's song emphasizes school unity, implying that the return of Voldemort may cause detrimental divisions among the students and staff. Almost immediately the school provides evidence of such divisions, as many mock and scorn Harry's story about the battle in the graveyard. Harry notices that Hagrid does not appear at the faculty table, but a new Defense Against Dark Arts Professor, Delores Umbridge, does. She also contradicts typical Hogwarts protocol by interrupting Dumbledore's speech to warn against change and progress. Her instruction, once classes begin, further varies from that of previous teachers. She uses only the textbook and refuses to allow students to actually practice magic. This teaching strategy angers both Hermione and Harry, the latter of whom receives a week's worth of detention for telling what Umbridge considers a lie, that Voldemort has returned. Her detentions prove to be particularly cruel as she forces Harry to carve a sentence onto the back of his own hand. Harry continues to be angry at his treatment by both students and faculty but refuses to report any-thing to Dumbledore.

Chapters 14-20

Both Ron and Harry receive significant correspondences from those close to them. Ron fumes after receiving a long letter from his estranged brother... » Complete Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Summary