Hermione and Ron bicker constantly, Umbridge and Snape bully him constantly, Dumbledore avoids him for most of the book and doesn’t give him an explanation as to what’s going on until the end. Instead of focusing on how Harry is feeling and maybe attempting to resolve some of his anger issues, Rowling writes every character as something to make Harry angry. That works fine in a children’s book but book 5 is not a children’s book by any stretch of the imagination and Rowling’s lack of character building in Harry is clearly evident. You’re supposed to see the world through his eyes and be all amazed at how wonderful it is to be a teenage wizard in a magic school. Harry is not a character in his own right, he’s a reader avatar. No, the issue is that Rowling can’t write it in a way that makes you feel sorry for him. The problem is not that Harry is obviously suffering from some severe PTSD and can only show that through anger. He’s then just packed off back to his abusive home life while half the wizarding world thinks he’s an utter nutjob (something the Ministry of Magic are keen to promote) and none of the people he actually trusts will tell him what’s going on. At the end of the previous school year he saw a fellow student murdered right in front of him, was forced to watch the rise of Voldemort and then had to duel him. He’s had to put up with Lord Voldemort and his acolytes trying to kill him for four years. His parents were murdered and he was raised in an abusive household. Just think about it: all the horrible shit that Harry has had to endure in his life. However, what Harry discovers is far more devastating than he could ever have expected… His best friends Ron and Hermione have been very secretive all summer and he is desperate to get back to school and find out what has been going on. Summary: Harry Potter is due to start his fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I now think that Harry was entitled to be as whiny as he is it’s just that Rowling isn’t a good enough author to make me feel any sympathy for him. It just really irritated me and I thought Harry spent the novel being a whiny little bitch. I always counted it as my least favourite of the series and I think it’s going to stay there. When I last read Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix way back in 2003, I wasn’t much of a fan of it. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
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