The Short Version
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, book five of seven in J.K. Rowling’s series, works well for a book club because it is the longest and angriest book in the series, and it is about something real: what you do when a powerful institution tells everyone you are lying. Published in 2003, it has thirty-eight chapters and runs well over two hundred and fifty thousand words. Harry, fifteen and furious, knows Voldemort is back, but the Ministry insists he is lying and sends Dolores Umbridge to Hogwarts.
Below are twenty questions: ten you can use before everyone has finished the book, and ten that spoil the ending. A short section on the 2007 film gives the group something to compare. The book scores four and a half out of five in our review.
Before You Start: Content Notes For Your Group
This is the darkest book so far. There is bullying and cruelty by a teacher, including punishment that hurts, fights with real danger and an overall sense of dread. The ending is emotionally heavy and deals with grief. Our review suggests readers around eleven and up, with younger children reading alongside a grown-up. Given its length, plan a generous reading schedule.
Spoiler-Free Questions
- Harry spends a boiling summer on Privet Drive with no news at all, then Dementors turn up on a quiet suburban street. How does the opening set up his anger?
- The Ministry insists that Voldemort has not returned and that Harry and Dumbledore are liars. Why does that hit harder than a villain would?
- Umbridge wears a fluffy pink cardigan and a black velvet bow, and clears her throat with a little cough, hem hem. Why is a petty official with a smile more believable than a dark wizard?
- Her decrees on the notice board take away a little more freedom each time. At what point did the school begin to feel like a place where you could not trust anyone?
- Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place, is damp and dark, with a screaming portrait and a muttering house elf. How does it compare to Hogwarts as a home?
- Harry snaps at his best friends and is certain everyone is keeping secrets from him. Is his anger justified, or does it get repetitive, as our review suggests?
- Dumbledore is distant, and Harry barely looks at him for months. How did you read the headmaster’s silence?
- When the grown-ups will not teach, the students start to teach each other. What does that say about authority and learning?
- Luna Lovegood arrives on the train reading a magazine upside down and says exactly what she thinks. Why is she such a good addition?
- Fred and George respond to the oppression with pranks and jokes. Do they lift the mood or make the darker plot sharper?
Spoiler Questions (Finish The Book First)
- Harry dreams of a corridor ending in a black door, then of Sirius being tortured. Was it wrong to trust the dream, and wrong to doubt it?
- Hermione leads Umbridge into the Forbidden Forest, where the centaurs carry her off. Did Umbridge get what she deserved?
- Six students fly to London on Thestrals. What does it say about them that the Order was not there to help?
- Harry finds a sphere in the Department of Mysteries with his own name on it. How did the trap close around him?
- Neville’s foot kicks the prophecy and it smashes on the steps. Why is it fitting that Neville is the one who breaks it?
- Sirius laughs at Bellatrix and falls backward through the veil, and he does not come back. Why does Rowling give his death no grand moment?
- Dumbledore says that Sirius’s death is largely his own fault for not being open. Is that an honest confession or does it let Harry down?
- Dumbledore reveals the prophecy: either Harry or Voldemort must die at the hand of the other. How does that change what the series is about?
- Harry’s mirror from Sirius stays blank, and Luna says the voices behind the veil were real people he will see again. Does that comfort Harry or us?
- The Daily Prophet finally reports Voldemort’s return and the Minister admits it. Does the truth come too late, and what did it cost?
Book And Film
Your group may want to compare the 2007 film, directed by David Yates and written by Michael Goldenberg, with Imelda Staunton as Umbridge, Helena Bonham Carter as Bellatrix, Evanna Lynch as Luna and Gary Oldman as Sirius. It keeps the trial, Dumbledore’s Army, Occlumency lessons and the Ministry battle, but cuts Quidditch entirely. According to Wikipedia, the St Mungo’s scene was cut because it needed a new set, which removes what we learn about Neville’s parents.
What To Read Next
If your group wants a spoiler-free verdict first, start with our review. Our ending explained covers Sirius, the prophecy and Dumbledore, and our clues page shows what was planted early, so save both for after the discussion. The book versus movie comparison is a good follow-up for a film night.
