Back in May, a fellow bookstagrammer, @mrsdavisbooks, posted that she was going to start a Harry Potter reading book club via Instagram. It was for anyone who wanted to read through Harry Potter whether for the very first time or the fiftieth. I had been thinking it was time for another HP reread, so I joined in (though I'll admit I'm not a great book clubber - I've fallen behind and have felt too busy to keep up with discussions lately). Throughout this reread, I've noticed a few things about myself and the books I've loved so much since my childhood. (Spoilers ahead) The most underrated book is still my favoriteIn my opinion, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is the best book in the Harry Potter series. However, I also feel like it is the most underrated and least talked about book of the series. Now, I can maybe see why. The action is very different from the other books. It's the book right after Voldemort comes back, yet the main conflict is coming from the social conflict of everyone in the Wizarding World wanting to deny that fact. The book seems to have a lot of waiting for the Harry Potter and Voldemort duel, and there's high tensions among the Golden Trio. But the fifth book is such a great addition! The waiting and building is necessary for the last two books of the series. Not only that, but this is the book where the trio are all growing up. They're starting to notice each other and their classmates more. Romance gets thrown in (even if it is super awkward). It's almost as if this book is a "coming of age" time for Harry and the others. This is where Harry has to gain more confidence despite everyone around him telling him that he is a liar and denying the truth that Voldemort is back. There are also important details like learning about Occlumency, the prophecy, No matter what anyone else says, the fifth book will always be my favorite of the series. I love to hate each of the Golden TrioEach of the main characters gives me a chance to hate them and the decisions they make at LEAST one time throughout the series. For example, I hate Harry in OotP (#5) because he's such a downer. I kind of understand why he's so grumpy, because the fifth year is always stressful with the Ordinary Wizarding Level exams, and then if you top that with finishing your last year by watching someone die and no one believes what actually happened, I guess I'd get a little pissy too. And this doesn't change the fact that I love the fifth book. I just think that Harry is learning and growing a lot, and through the process he's quite unpleasant. I really don't like Ron in the Goblet of Fire. He gets so mad at Harry for something he doesn't even want to do. Ron just won't listen to Harry or Hermione and I feel like this is the book where the full extent of his stubborn nature comes out. The same stubbornness and irritability that makes him difficult for me to like through most of the rest of the series, actually. Hermione is my favorite of the Golden Trio, and yet in the Half-Blood Prince, she gets upset with Harry because of a book that makes him better than her at potions? Really? She's the top of their class (and probably the school), and even after they've tested the book to assure it wasn't cursed or something, she still can't get over the fact that Harry is doing better than her? He never cheated (in my opinion), he was just using his resources and found out that the person who owned the book previously had a real knack for potions. She also irritates me because all through book 5 she's trying to help the boys learn how to understand girls (and she knows how much they still don't understand), and yet she can't learn how to communicate to Ron and let him know how she feels. You notice so many more details when you read it the fifth (or sixth...?) timeThere are still moments that surprised me and that I had forgotten about. For example, I totally forgot that Harry actually sees Ravenclaw's diadem in the Room of Requirement when he goes to hide the Half-Blood Prince's book. It's also really interesting that only Hagrid wants to continue believing Dumbledore and Snape after he hears that Snape killed Dumbledore. Other fun details:
Along that same line, I still get really sad at all the major deaths. They may not surprise me anymore, but they will always hurt. I'm beginning to sympathize with some of the antagonistsHonestly, by HBP I started feeling really bad for Draco. You start to realize that he isn't sure about the path he is on. He tries to put on a strong front, but at this point, his dad is in Azkaban, and Voldemort is threatening him and his mother if he can't succeed in killing Dumbledore. You know, just the one wizard Voldemort himself is scared of. Not that any of that dismisses the many bad things Draco does, but it doesn't mean I can't empathize some. And my OTP: Ginny Never gives up on harryGinny and Harry are truly my favorite OTP (One True Pairing). She tells him in HBP that she was dating the other guys because Hermione suggested moving on from Harry. She never really did. But the fact that she stopped focusing on Harry and what he thought of her, the more confident she became in herself (which in the end attracted him back to her). Honestly, there's a good message there that if you focus on yourself instead of what others think, you can gain the confidence you need that will attract others to you (not necessarily romantically).
And when Harry is getting ready to hunt horcruxes, Ginny realizes he's going to leave her for a while, and she doesn't fight him too much on it. She knows him well enough to know that he won't change his mind. Yet, she does what she can from Hogwarts and waits for him to come back and save the Wizarding World (with her help of course. Ginny would never be caught on the sidelines).
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May 2020
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