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Summary: Harry Potter's big fight begins...
Comment: Again Harry Potter has to suffer that yearly recurring torture: Holidays with the Dursleys. Harry gets increasingly frustrated when he feels ignored by his friends Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley and Sirius Black. He does not even get a single letter from his Hogwarts friends. Sulking about their behaviour he flees the Dursley's house only to fall into the hands of his Dudley and his hoodies. Suddenly Harry and his nephew get attacked by Dementors and our well-loved wizard apprentice is forced to cast a Patronus charm. This exhibit of magic is certainly not to the liking of Cornelius Fudge, head of the Ministry of Magic. Fudge is determined to put an end to the troubles caused by Harry Potter and charges him with performing underage magic. This is only the beginning of Harry's troubles. Even if he gets cleared of all guilt, it might be that his fifth year at Hogwarts is going to be more than he bargained for.
As the Harry Potter series continues the size of the books increases at an equal pace. J.K. Rowling indeed fills these episodes to the brim with colorful details and side stories. This must certainly be part of the gigantic appeal these books have on its audience. Nevertheless, it also means that the main storyline gets almost completely hidden by this flood of information. This is certainly valid for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix where Harry's mission only seems a side issue to the narrative that explains the identity crisis with which the Ministry of Magic is struggling. Luckily in this case, this part of the story -mainly taken up by the amazingly otherworldly Dolores Umbridge, Senior Undersecretary to the Minister- is actually the most memorable. Although the characterization of Umbridge turns out quite one dimensional, it still has enough momentum to lead to many wonderfully crazy situations.
The underlying theme of the book is clearly the isolation of Harry's character in respect to his environment and friends. It comes to play most prominently during the extremely dark denouement of the story. This episode is clearly the darkest of the series so far. Throughout the story you feel that J.K. Rowling is prepping us for a dark and sinister final episode. If she is able to keep up the pace, the final book promises to become a treat that will blow the mind of all Potter-fans. Still two books to go before all is revealed!
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