The Books: “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” (J.K. Rowling)

Daily Book Excerpt: YA fiction/children’s books:

Next book on the shelf is Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix by J.K. Rowling.

Here’s the post I wrote directly after finishing the book. I was very taken by the cover of this book – of all the covers (and the artwork is generally amazing) – but the midnight-blues and blacks seemed very evocative to me – and it really goes along with what this whole book is about. The darkest of the series. Harry is alone. Harry is different. We always knew Harry was different – from the beginning – he’s got the mark of difference on his forehead. But in the first books, he finds a group of friends, he is accepted (even with that difference), and even embraced. All of that changes in Order of the Phoenix. We see the dark side of being different. Which is: being isolated. Having to go it alone. Only Harry is really equipped to do what must be done. And he doesn’t feel ready for it. Who of us feels ready when called? He also resents the fact, almost for the first time, that he is different – that he is “the one”. Why is all the responsibility on his shoulders? He’s pissed about it. Also, he’s dealing with a lot of physical anxiety – his dreams, his itching scar, the taunting voices in his head … These are all private experiences. His friends can sympathize, but they don’t understand. He is alone. This is something any kid can relate to – even if they have not been marked by Voldemort, and go to a school of magic. Harry is a miserable dude in this book – and he makes life miserable for his friends who care about him. Finally, Ron and Hermione kind of just back off from him, because they are sick of him lashing out at them. This book is so true to the upheavals of adolescence. Yes, it takes place in a magical otherworld – but all of that stuff is so right ON, and that’s one of the appeals of the books, for me.

I’ll post a really creepy excerpt.

I remember reading it for the first time, and thinking: “Okay. This canNOT be a good sign.” It’s early in the book – and it sets up the whole theme in a really chilling way – a sudden and upsetting separation in perspective from his kindred spirits Ron and Hermione. They do not (and cannot) enter into his experience with him. It’s upsetting. Upsetting to be alone.

Excerpt from Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix by J.K. Rowling.

Here stood the hundred or so horseless stagecoaches that always took the students above first year up to the castle. Harry glanced quickly at them, turned away to keep a lookout for Ron and Hermione, then did a double take.

The coaches were no longer horseless. There were creatures standing between the carriage shafts; if he had had to give them a name, he supposed he would have called them horses, although there was something reptilian about them, too. They were completely fleshless, their black coats clinging to their skeletons, of which every bone was visible. Their heads were dragonish, and their pupil-less eyes white and staring. Wings sprouted from each wither — vast, black leathery wings that looked as though they ought to belong to giant bats. Standing still and quiet in the gloom, the creatures looked eerie and sinister. Harry could not understand why the coaches were being pulled by these horrible horses when they were quite capable of moving along by themselves.

“Where’s Pig?” said Ron’s voice, right behind Harry.

“That Luna girl was carrying him,” said Harry, turning quickly, eager to consult Ron about Hagrid. “Where d’you reckon – ”

” – Hagrid is? I dunno,” said Ron, sounding worried. “He’d better be okay …”

A short distance away, Draco Malfoy, followed by a small gang of cronies including Crabbe, Goyle, and Pansy Parkinson, was pushing some timid-looking second years out of the way so that they could get a coach to themselves. Seconds later Hermione emerged panting from the crowd.

“Malfoy was being absolutely foul to a first year back there. I swear I’m going to report him, he’s only had his badge three minutes and he’s using it to bully people worse than ever … Where’s Crookshanks?”

“Ginny’s got him,” said Harry. “There she is …”

Ginny had just emerged from the crowd, clutching a squirming Crookshanks.

“Thanks,” said Hermione, relieving Ginny of the cat. “Come on, let’s get a carriage together before they all fill up …”

“I haven’t got Pig yet!” Ron said, but Hermione was already heading off toward the nearest unoccupied coach. Harry remained behind with Ron.

“What are those things, d’you reckon?” he asked Ron, nodding at the horrible horses as the other students surged past them.

“What things?”

“Those horse –”

Luna appeared holding Pigwidgeon’s cage in her arms; the tiny owl was twittering excitedly as usual.

“Here you are,” she said. “He’s a sweet little owl, isn’t he?”

“Er … yeah … He’s all right,” said Ron gruffly. “Well, come on then, let’s get in … what were you saying, Harry?”

“I was saying, what are those horse things?” Harry said, as he, Ron, and Luna made for the carriage in which Hermione and Ginny were already sitting.

“What horse things?”

“The horse things pulling the carriages!” said Harry impatiently; they were, after all, about three feet from the nearest one; it was watching them with empty white eyes. Ron, however, gave Harry a perplexed look.

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about – look!”

Harry grabbed Ron’s arm and wheeled him about so that he was face-to-face with the winged horse. Ron stared straight at it for a second, then looked back at Harry.

“What am I supposed to be looking at?”

“At the — there, between the shafts! Harnessed to the coach! It’s right there in front –”

But as Ron continued to look bemused, a strange thought occurred to Harry.

“Can’t … can’t you see them?”

“See what?”

“Can’t you see who’s pulling the carriages?”

Ron looked seriously alarmed now.

“Are you feeling all right, Harry?”

“I … yeah …”

Harry felt utterly bewildered. The horse was there in front of him, gleaming solidly in the dim light issuing from the station windows behind them, vapor rising from its nostrils in the chilly night air. Yet unless Ron was faking – and it was a very feeble joke if he was – Ron could not see it at all.

“Shall we get in, then?” said Ron uncertainly, looking at Harry as though worried about him.

“Yeah,” said Harry. “Yeah, go on …”

“It’s all right,” said a dreamy voice from beside Harry as Ron vanished into the coach’s dark interior. “You’re not going mad or anything. I can see them too.”

“Can you?” said Harry desperately, turning to Luna. He could see the bat-winged horses reflected in her wide, silvery eyes.

“Oh yes,” said Luna. “I’ve been able to see them ever since my first day here. They’ve always pulled the carriages. Don’t worry. You’re just as sane as I am.”

Smiling faintly, she climbed into the musty interior of the carriage after Ron. Not altogether reassured, Harry followed her.