Harry Potter spends another boring summer with his Aunt Petunia and his Uncle Vernon. One day a group of evil spirits called dementors attack Harry and his cousin Dudley while they are having a walk. After using magic to defend himself, Harry is sent a note saying that he is expelled from Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Harry sits in his room angry, when he is visited by a group of wizards. They take him to number twelve, Grimmauld Place, London. Number twelve is the home of Harry’s godfather, Sirius Black, and that is where the Order of the Phoenix meets up. The Order of the Phoenix is a group of wizards, led by Albus Dumbledore. The Order is made for fighting against the evil Lord Voldemort and his followers, Death Eaters. The Order works in secret from the Ministry of Magic, which is headed by Cornelius Fudge, which refuses to believe that Lord Voldemort has returned.
At number twelve, Harry is told that he isn’t expelled yet. Tomorrow he will need to go to a hearing at the Ministry for using magic outside of school (underage wizards aren’t allowed to do that.) With Dumbledore’s help, Harry is cleared and is let to return to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Very soon Harry returns to Hogwarts and finds out that Dolores Umbridge, an employee of Fudge, will be his new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Meanwhile, the wizard newspaper, the Daily Prophet, continues printing untrue and unfair stories about Harry. Many of his classmates are whispering about him behind his back, but Harry ignores them and tries to concentrate on his school work, since all fifth-year students at Hogwarts will be taking O.W.L.s, or Ordinary Wizarding Level exams.
Umbridge does not teach her students Defense spells, and soon, Fudge makes her the High Inquisitor of Hogwarts. In need of the knowledge of defense, since Lord Voldemort is back, Harry, Hermione and Ron form their own Defense Against the Dark Arts group, also known as Dumbledore’s Army. Twenty five other students sign up, and they meet as often as possible to learn and practice spells, Harry being the teacher. Umbridge doesn’t like Harry, whom she considers a liar, and eventually bans him from the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Ron’s twin brothers, Fred and George, move out of Hogwarts in protest. They moved to London where they plan to open a joke shop using the money Harry won last year in the Triwizard Tournament.
Harry continues to have dreams about walking down a corridor at the Department of Mysteries, inside the Ministry of Magic. At the end of the corridor, Harry goes through several doors and walks into a room full of dusty glass spheres. Harry always wakes up before he finds out what the dream means or what the spheres signify. One night, Harry has a vision where he is in the body of a large snake, and attacks Ron’s father. Harry wakes up horrified, and Professor McGonagall takes him to Dumbledore. Dumbledore uses the portraits on the walls of his office to raise an alert, and Mr. Weasley is rescued by two members of the Order. Dumbledore then tells that Harry to take Occlumency lessons with Professor Snape, which should help Harry protect his mind against any invasions by Lord Voldemort, which he might have.
Harry is unsuccessful at Occlumency because he has such difficulty clearing his mind of all thoughts, making it difficult for him to focus. The D.A. continues to meet regularly, showing great improvement until they are caught by Umbridge. Dumbledore takes full responsibility for the group. Umbridge takes over his position. The students begin taking their O.W.L. exams, and Harry has another vision. He sees Sirius being tortured by Voldemort. Horrified, Harry is sure that he needs to save him. Hermione warns Harry that Voldemort may be trying to use Harry’s mind to get him into the Department of Mysteries, but Harry is too concerned about Sirius to listen to what Hermione is saying.
Harry, Ron, Hermione and the rest of the D.A. sneak into Umbridge’s office, and are about to use her fireplace when they hear a voice and turn back, to find that they have been caught. Hermione and Harry convince Umbridge to follow them into the forest, where they tell her the weapon Lord Voldermort is looking for is. Once they are in the forest, Centaurs carry Umbridge away. Harry and his friends climb aboard flying horses called thestrals and fly to the Ministry.
When they arrive, Harry cannot find Sirius and realizes that Hermione was right. Harry also sees that one of the glass spheres has his name on it, as well as Voldemort’s. Harry takes the sphere, and at that moment Death Eaters surround them all to attack, demanding that Harry hands over the glass sphere. Using all of their Defense skills they learnt during their Dumbledore’s Army meet ups, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Luna, and Neville are successfully fighting the Death Eaters, but they are helped a lot by the arrival of some adult members of the Order. Meanwhile, Sirius’ own cousin, Death Eater Bellatrix Lestrange, kills Sirius. Harry is devastated.
Dumbledore appears. Voldemort and Bellatrix escape just when Fudge shows up. Dumbledore sends Harry back to school, where he explains how the sphere was a prophecy, which said that Harry has a power that Voldemort does not know about. Dumbledore explains that this power is love. The prophecy goes on, saying that Harry will either destroy Voldemort or be destroyed by him. Dumbledore takes this opportunity to tell Harry why he must spend his summers with the Durselys in Little Whinging. Because Harry’s mother died to save him, he is blessed with her love, a blessing that can be passed only by blood. Harry’s Aunt Petunia, his mother’s sister, makes that bond by taking Harry into her home. As long as he still calls Little Whinging home, Harry is safe. With this news, Harry returns to his Aunt and Uncle’s house for another summer.
Oh my goodness- now this is a review!
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