A Look Back At The Boy Who Lived: ‘He’s Back’
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In my last post, all I did was rave about how much I love the Harry Potter books.
Expect this to be no different.
After seeing Sirius fly off into the distance on Buckbeak’s back and putting my book back in its place on my shelf, I instantly took Goblet of Fire from its spot and settled down to begin.
I found Harry in number 24 Privet Drive, after having seen Frank, the poor groundsman for the Riddle family manor, get obliterated in our first glimpse of Voldemort of the series, in contrast to the film adaption. I found the Weasley’s introduction — like everything else about them — charmingly brilliant. The vivid image of Uncle Vernon’s face as a group of soot-covered red-haired wizards blast their way out of his fireplace is something I do wish had been included in the film, though I understand from a filmmaker’s point-of-view why it was cut.
Very soon after Harry arrives at the Burrow, the gang are off again and they grab a portkey to the Quidditch World Cup, held in a discreet location far from prying muggles, but with camping set up on a field owned by a muggle. I’m not saying I’d do a better job than Ludo Bagman at organising this thing… but I probably would, I also hope I wouldn’t get cut from the films as he was!
We spend far too quick a time in the Quidditch World Cup for my tastes (it’s one of my favourite segments of the whole series, I’d love a full book detailing Ron’s escapades as he attended various Chudley Cannons games) and soon enough find ourselves under threat from Death Eaters, with a poor house elf facing the punishment!
After Molly Weasley’s immense worry about her children at the World Cup and Arthur’s immense workload having to deal with the aftermath, we end up in yet another familiar place, the Great Hall and Dumbledore is talking about the Tri-Wizard Tournament.
I knew all about this, having read this book more times than I can remember, but like with the World Cup earlier, I couldn’t help but get caught up in the excitement spreading through the school as I read along. Following Harry, Ron and Hermione through the most tumultuous period their relationships have endured so far, and along with Harry as he attempts to win the Tournament, was a brilliant experience yet again and as I made my way through the series, it kept further cementing itself as one timeless classic after another, one which I will no doubt forever enjoy.
Next, I was onto Order of the Phoenix. Now, I have mixed feelings about this film, it’s probably my least favourite of the bunch, but nonetheless, when I picked up the hefty tome than it is, I was optimistic. All the previous books had exceeded my expectations, I hoped this would be equally as good. It was.
I’d felt with Prisoner of Azkaban and Goblet of Fire, the books were really starting to come into their own as they began to adopt a darker and more grown-up tone as our focal characters aged. Long gone were the simple letters for being accused of magically dropping a cake on someone’s head, and now I found Harry receiving a court summons as the Ministry of Magic was funnelling propaganda against both him and Dumbledore.
The war against He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named was really starting to rear its head in the series by now and I was all for it. I love the lighter tone of the first two books but this gradual shift throughout books three and four was executed perfectly by Rowling and this followed on brilliantly.
Starting off with a dementor attack to set the scene for Order of the Phoenix was a stellar decision and then bringing us one of the most hated fictional characters ever in Professor Umbridge just topped it off. This book felt extremely anti-establishment, with it portraying the Ministry of Magic in an awful light and highlighting how people in power are by no means perfect; here most of them are downright awful. This aspect of questioning who can be trusted is brilliant and is then hammered home by the book’s finale. Through Kreacher’s deception, we see the death of a beloved character in Sirius Black. I was distraught when I first read the book many years ago, seeing his transformation from a framed killer in Prisoner of Azkaban to a makeshift father figure for Harry was heartwarming, and reading about him fall back through the veil was, and still is, crushing.
While I knew it was coming this time around, it was still written brilliantly and reading Harry’s reactions to it really hits home. The whole book from start to finish is written spectacularly and while I understand where people are coming from when they criticise the book for being too long, who doesn’t want more of a book this good?
All in all, I had a real blast all the way through books four and five. I’d read about Harry’s firsthand experiences of seeing Voldemort being brought back to life, along with seeing his godfather die, and now with the scenes in the Ministry at the climax of Order of the Phoenix and the beginnings of Dumbledore’s Army, it really felt like this war could decide the fate of the Wizarding World, and the future was seemingly getting bleaker. As soon as I turned the last page of Order of the Phoenix, I rushed to my bookshelf to pick up book six, but my post on that will have to wait till another day.
(If you’re interested in what I’m reading right now, feel free to check me out on Goodreads here!)
