Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
After a long hot summer spent hiding behind the hydrangea bushes of Number Four, Privet Drive, keeping an eye out for unusual occurrences, Harry is impatient for information about Voldemort. What's worse, every night he has been suffering nightmares about Cedric's murder and mysterious long passageways. Furious at his isolation from the magical world, Harry finally lands in trouble when a pair of dementors appears in Little Whinging.
Defending himself and Dudley with the Patronus Charm, Harry runs into his batty old neighbor, Mrs. Figg, whom he learns is a Squib. Mundungus Fletcher, a grubby character who was put on the job of guarding Harry without his knowledge, appears out of nowhere, looking sheepish. After dragging a half-conscious Dudley back to the stunned Dursleys', Harry receives a letter informing him that he has been summoned to a disciplinary hearing in a week's time to deliberate his expulsion from Hogwarts.
Four nights later, a large party of wizards, some of whom Harry has never met, show up at the Dursleys' while the family is away. Professor Lupin introduces Harry to (the real) Mad-Eye Moody, Nymphadora Tonks, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Elphias Doge, Dedalus Diggle, Emmeline Vance, Sturgis Podmore, and Hestia Jones, who have all volunteered to be his guard taking him back to their headquarters. Tonks turns out to be a Metamorphmagus, meaning she can change her appearance at will. The group, as Harry finds out later, is called theOrder of the Phoenix, and was created by Dumbledore before the last battle with Voldemort and his Death Eaters. Mad-Eye Moody performs a Disillusionment Charm that turns Harry's body exactly into the color of his surroundings; with this disguise and Harry's trunk strapped tightly to a broom, the wizards kick off and head for London.
Harry arrives at Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place, the headquarters of the Order. Ron, Hermione, Sirius, and the rest of the Weasley family are waiting to welcome him. Harry learns that Ron's older brother Percy is now working for Cornelius Fudge, who has refused to acknowledge Voldemort's return and is responsible for a large part of the wizard community thinking Dumbledore is insane. On top of that, Ron and Hermione break it to Harry that the Daily Prophet has gone to town with Harry's story, depicting him as an attention-hungry, raving teenager.
At dinner, Harry finally receives long-awaited information concerning Voldemort's movements. While he appears to be laying low, he is undoubtedly adding to his supporters everyday. With the Ministry of Magic and the Daily Prophet discrediting Dumbledore, it has been difficult for the Order to convince people that Voldemort is really back. Furthermore, Voldemort seems to be after something of topmost secrecy…a weapon, perhaps.
The day for the hearing arrives, and Mr. Weasley accompanies Harry to the Ministry of Magic. When he arrives at the courtroom, Harry realizes it's the same dungeon where the Lestranges were convicted and sent to Azkaban. Furthermore, Harry's jury is the renownedWizengamot; he is being given a full criminal trial. At the trial Harry catches sight of Dolores Umbridge, a squat, toady-looking witch with a nauseatingly girly voice. To Harry's surprise, Dumbledore strolls in to Harry's defense, and Mrs. Figg shows up to testify. Harry is acquitted, but Dumbledore leaves immediately without talking to Harry.
On the train back to Hogwarts, where Ron and Hermione — but notably, not Harry — have been namedprefects for Gryffindor, Harry meets loony Luna Lovegood. At the Hogwarts platform, Harry notices that the coaches the students take to the castle are no longer horseless — they're being drawn by skeletal-looking winged beasts. What's even stranger is that Ron can't see the creatures, but Luna can.
To Harry, Ron, and Hermione's dismay, Hagrid is missing from Hogwarts and Dolores Umbridge is to be their new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Umbridge makes it clear that no defensive spells will be used in the class and promptly sentences Harry to a week's worth of detention when he insists that Voldemort is at large. At detention Umbridge shows her truly twisted nature, but Harry remains undeterred.
The first term grows increasingly darker as the Gryffindor fifth years struggle with mounting piles of homework, gloomy weather and a disastrous Quidditch season. Things take a turn for the worse when Umbridge is named Hogwarts High Inquisitor, enabling her to inspect and dismiss her fellow teachers. On the bright side, Hermione comes up with an idea to form a secret Defense Against the Dark Arts group — and asks Harry to be the teacher. The group has their first unofficial gathering in Hogsmeade to elect Harry as leader. When Umbridge disbands all groups and forces them to ask for her approval, Harry must find a place for his secret, now illegal, society to meet.
Fortunately, Dobby the house-elf shows up and tells Harry about the Room of Requirement, which appears equipped and ready for use only to those who are in dire need of a room. The Defense Association (D. A.), or Dumbledore's Army, quickly makes use of this room for their practice.
Things seem to lighten a bit when Hagrid returns. After a little nudging, Hagrid tells Ron, Hermione, and Harry about his trip to win the giants over for Dumbledore's side — a failure because Voldemort's Death Eaters have beaten him to it. All this doesn't explain Hagrid's cuts, bruises, and black eye, however, and Hagrid refuses to comment.
Right before the start of the winter holiday (and after he kisses Cho under the mistletoe!), Harry is sleeping when something interrupts his dream. He has become a large snake, slithering towards a door being guarded by a sleeping man; the man rouses himself and Harry strikes him, still as the snake. Harry realizes when he awakes that Ron's father is in grave danger. Professor Dumbledore alerts the Order of Mr. Weasley's condition and sends Harry, Ron, Ginny, Fred, and George back to Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place by Portkey to await news. Mr. Weasley recovers in St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, but Harry still feels responsible for the nearly fatal attack.
Back at Grimmauld Place, Snape arrives to announce that he will be giving Harry private lessons in Occlumency, the defense of the mind against external penetration. At his first lesson with Snape, Harry learns that Voldemort is skilled at Legilimency, the ability to extract feelings and memories from another person's mind. During his lesson, Harry is brought back to the long corridor he sees in his dreams — and realizes it's the same corridor he ran down with Mr. Weasley on the day of his trial, leading to the Department of Mysteries.
The next day an article appears in the Daily Prophet announcing a mass breakout from Azkaban. Ten of Voldemort's Death Eaters have escaped and the dementors guarding the wizard prison have joined with Voldemort. On the fifth-years' next trip to Hogsmeade, Hermione arranges for Rita Skeeter to interview Harry for an article to be published in the Quibbler, Luna's father's newspaper. A copy of the Quibbler arrives with a flurry of letters from readers and suddenly attitudes towards Harry begin to change, as more students are convinced that Voldemort is back.
In the middle of a D.A. meeting, Dobby bursts in and tells Harry that Professor Umbridge has been tipped off about the illegal meetings. The students flee but Harry is caught and dragged to Dumbledore's office, where Kingsley Shacklebolt, Cornelius Fudge, Percy Weasley, and Professor McGonagall are gathered. Marietta Edgecombe, a friend of Cho's also in the D.A., has squealed on the society. Large purple dots spelling "sneak" have appeared on her face: Hermione's jinx has performed well. Umbridge demands Marietta to give her account of the meetings, but Kingsley modifies Marietta's memory and makes her shake her head, refusing to give details. Unfortunately, Umbridge produces a sheet of paper bearing the names of all students involved in the D.A.; to everyone's surprise, Dumbledore takes the blame for forming the society to destabilize Fudge and attack the Ministry. Before they can arrest him, Dumbledore makes a dramatic escape with Fawkes, but not before telling Harry to take Occlumency seriously.
At the start of another Occlumency lesson, Snape leaves the office temporarily and Harry leans into the Pensieve, where he enters Snape's worst memory. Harry sees his father involved in something that makes him wonder if James Potter was as good a wizard as all of his friends have said. The Weasley twins create a diversion that allows Harry to speak with Sirius; they fill the entrance hall with a magical swamp, then to Umbridge's shock and fury, fly off into the sunset on their broomsticks.
Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw is the final Quidditch match of the year, but Harry and Hermione don't get to see Ron save the game because Hagrid urges them to follow him into the Forbidden Forest. There they meet Grawp, Hagrid's giant half-brother, whom he has brought back from the mountains. Hagrid makes Harry and Hermione promise that they will visit Grawp and teach him English if Hagrid is fired; he hopes to introduce Grawp into the wizarding community.
The fifth year students begin their O.W.L. (Ordinary Wizarding Level) exams, which consume almost all of their time and energy. During his History of Magic exam, Harry receives a vision of Voldemort torturing Sirius in the Department of Mysteries. Convinced that Sirius is in need of help, Harry finds Ron and Hermione and the group sets up a diversion so that Harry can speak to Sirius in Umbridge's fireplace again. But Umbridge isn't fooled this time. Harry's friends are caught and rounded up. Umbridge threatens to use the Cruciatus Curse on Harry until Hermione comes up with a plan. Hermione and Harry lead Umbridge into the thick of the Forbidden Forest, where she is borne off by a group of centaurs. Ron, Ginny, Neville, and Luna catch up and the students fly off to London on thestrals, the winged horses that pull the Hogwarts carriages.
Harry and the others arrive at the Ministry of Magic, which is strangely deserted, and rush through the corridors Harry has seen in his dream until they reach a room filled with glittering lights. To Harry's horror, Sirius is nowhere to be seen — and Death Eaters suddenly materialize, surrounding the group. Harry realizes with a sickening sensation that they have walked into a trap. The Death Eaters are after a small glass orb with Harry's name on it, called a prophecy. He finds out that the prophecy explains why Voldemort tried to kill Harry as a baby — something that Dumbledore kept from Harry.
Harry manages to communicate to the other students that he wants to smash the shelves to escape; the group gets their chance and flee in different directions. As his friends are knocked out one by one, Harry is cornered and about to hand over the prophecy when Kingsley Shacklebolt, Tonks, Lupin, Mad-Eye Moody, and Sirius burst in and start battling with the Death Eaters.
The scuffle between the members of the Order and the Death Eaters results in Sirius' death and a duel between Dumbledore and Voldemort. Voldemort escapes with one of his Death Eaters, Bellatrix Lestrange, and ministry wizards appear in the entrance hall. Among them is Cornelius Fudge, who now cannot deny that the Dark Lord has returned.
In the aftermath immediately following the confrontation at the Ministry, Dumbledore explains many things to Harry. The prophecy that shattered was a copy of one Trelawney gave Professor Dumbledore sixteen years ago, predicting that Voldemort would mark the son of wizards who had defied him three times as an equal, and that while one of them lived, the other could not survive. In the end, Harry learns that he must either kill or be killed by Voldemort.
As the fifth year winds to a close, Harry struggles with losing Sirius but is comforted by Luna, who says dead people are never gone forever — they are just behind the veil. At King's Cross Station, Harry is greeted by all his friends: Mad-Eye, Tonks, Lupin, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, and the Weasley twins. The adults give the Dursleys a friendly reminder not to mistreat Harry during his stay. Harry says goodbye and prepares himself for another summer on Privet Drive.
— Evelyn Ngeow
