Harry Potter: Hogwarts Years 5 and 6

Title: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Author: JK Rowling
Publisher: Scholastic
Year Published: 2003
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Bildungsroman

I never noticed it back when I read the series the first time, but reading them all back to back to back like this I have come to recognize a pattern. Harry starts out as an annoying, selfish, whining little git (to steal one of Ron’s words), realizes the error of his ways yet remains steadfast and bullheaded anyway, then saves the day causing everyone around him to feel that they were the problem to begin with. The first half of this book, all 415 pages of it (yes, it is once again a massive tome weighing in at 830 pages), I wanted nothing more than for Ron or Hermione to haul off and smack the scar right off Harry’s forehead. He quickly became my least favorite character in the book, as he is the only character who hasn’t really seemed to mature at all throughout the series to this point.

I think I understand the reasoning behind it, though. There needed to be a rather substantial character journey for Harry to complete over the course of 800 pages, and the only way to really do this was to make sure he regressed a bit from where we left him after Goblet of Fire. The contrast between the sustained development of Ron, Hermione, and especially Ginny, however, is absolutely wonderful. The secondary and tertiary characters are what kept me interested in Order of the Phoenix long after I began despising Harry.

Even though the final 100 pages or so are some of the most intense that Rowling has written in the series, the preceding 700 seemed to fall a bit flat for me. In many ways Order of the Phoenix comes across as an introduction of what’s to come. There is absolutely a strong and important story going on, but it seemed to play second fiddle to the potential it speaks of for the remaining two books. That is one reason, I think, why the book needed to be so much longer than it’s predecessors. Not only was Rowling telling the story of this book, she was also laying the groundwork for the final two books of the series. Perhaps a necessary evil, but it caused large chunks of text to drag rather painfully.

It is important to note that the maturation of the series begun with Goblet of Fire continues with Order of the Phoenix. Although not nearly as “edgy” socially as Goblet of Fire, there are more instances of cursing by children and adults alike. It is handled very well, however, and is in all cases a very revealing aspect of character development. Never does it come across as arbitrary or gratuitous. It is an important realization by Rowling that without the social and cultural influences her readers face every day, her relationships and characterizations will be dangerously close to stereotypical caricatures. Kudos to Rowling for recognizing this and implementing these influences so carefully.

Title: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Author: JK Rowling
Publisher: Scholastic
Year Published: 2005
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Bildungsroman

The very first thing I noticed about Half-Blood Prince was the departure of the familiar format of the previous 5 books. Feel free to correct me if I am wrong, but never in the series has an entire chapter been written from the perspective of any character other than Harry. Here, not one, but two chapters, indeed the first two chapters, don’t even have our hero in them. Instead, Rowling takes a cue from Robert Jordan and begins her story by giving us a glimpse of what the bad guys are doing.

Looking back on the whole story now, I am torn as to whether or not I agree with the departure from the established format. I didn’t like having information that Harry didn’t have access to. Rowling took a long time to establish a very specific relationship between Harry and the reader, and even though I began to cringe whenever he opened his spoiled, whiny little mouth in Order of the Phoenix, I still felt somehow linked to him. By giving me more information than Harry has, the nature of our relationship changed. I became more of a voyeur than a participant in Harry’s adventures.

On the other hand, the additional information created wonderful moments of suspense, disbelief, and utter shock throughout the book. It was handled remarkably well, and for the first time in the series I am convinced that JK Rowling has matured as writer as much, if not more so, than her legion of fans have matured as young adults. Half-Blood Prince is easily the strongest book in the series thus far. The mysteries involved in this go-round are centered more on character and emotional development than they are physical danger (although there’s plenty of that, to be sure) and it lends a more mature, almost introspective nature to the majority of the book.

One important thing to realize however, is that this is the first book that can be said to truly belong in a “series.” Order of the Phoenix could be argued to have started it, but it is very much a complete book in and of itself, as are all of the previous books. Each of them can, really, be picked up in any order and read on their own. The amount of essential carryover is negligible. They would prove to be better reads when done so in order, but reading out of sequence wouldn’t be a complete loss as it would be for, say, Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series or George RR Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire series. Half-Blood Prince, however, is a different beast. Unlike the previous books, there is no final scene that ties up all the loose ends. There is no speech by Harry, or scene in which the bad guy reveals that he would have succeeded “if it weren’t for those meddling kids” (thanks, Scoob, have a snack). Instead, there is a glance to the final book of the series as each of the primary storylines is left on shaky ground, engulfed with uncertainties and incredulity. And Rowling pulls it off wonderfully. The book is finished, but the story isn’t. The book ends, yet the bigger story… the bigger picture… it’s only just beginning to come into focus. And oh, what a picture it is shaping up to be