Percy’s Fate and Other Strange Happenings in OotP
by Lauren Besquillo
Anyway, when I started reading, I never realized things would pick up so quickly. Dementors, The Order of the Phoenix, the Ministry of Magic interfering with Hogwarts, Professor Umbridge (in general), Sirius’ untimely death…Jo Rowling sure slathered it on real thick. The only time I stopped reading was for lunch and bathroom breaks. Other than that, I was holed up in my room, all the while laughing, expressing my anger in Muggle *and* Wizard curse words (all at the same time, mind you), and crying…well, only at the end, really.
Well, on with it! I’m sure you don’t want to hear about my experiences reading the book, as I’m sure they are all similar to your own. This is about everything that’s happened in Book 5. Now, this comes in several points, but really isn’t all that long, like “25-pages-are-you-Sirius?!?!-no-I’m-(insert name here)” long. (Sorry, couldn’t help it!! But more on him later…Sirius-ly. :P)
This first part is directed towards all the Percy fans out there: Please, please, PLEASE do not e-mail me, telling me what a horrible person I am for saying he is a pompous git. I apologize in advance, because I think Percy is a good person. He’s just…on the wrong side of things. Same goes for anyone else I insult. Any person, wizard or Muggle whatsoever, who completely disregards my disclaimer above^ will have their e-mails deleted from my mailbox with a tap of my wand. Okay, now that that’s cleared up…
–Point 1: Percy Weasley, that pompous little git
I would just like to quote something from the book real quick…
“Well,” he said, trying to sound as though he found the whole thing a joke, “if you want to–er–what is it?” (He checked Percy’s letter again.) “Oh yeah–‘sever ties’ with me, I swear I won’t get violent.”
“Give it back,” said Ron, holding out his hand, “He is–” Ron said jerkily, tearing Percy’s letter in half, “the world’s”– he tore it into quarters– “biggest”– he tore it into eights– “git.” He threw the pieces into the fire.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 14 (pg. 299)
I would have to say that this excerpt is one of the best (not to mention funniest) I have ever read. :sigh: What a knee-slapper.
Percy really isn’t a pompous git, he is merely misdirected. Maybe a little ambitious…okay, extremely ambitious. He is confused about whether to be loyal to his family or lose his job. What would happen to him now that Fudge knows that Voldemort is alive and well? Fudge would most certainly be working with Dumbledore again…would this mean a reconciliation with his family? I’ve even heard speculation (compliments of certain posts on Snitchseeker.com…gotta love that place) that he might become a Death Eater because he couldn’t face apologizing to his parents and telling them how wrong he’s been. What a bunch of hooey. Well, in my opnion, maybe Percy will come back…of course, the apology he will most likely give to his family-his father, mostly, because of the huge spat they had-will be very hard for him to swallow.
–Point 2: Draco/Pansy romance?
Was it just me, or were these two students hanging out with each other waaaay too much? She was practically behind Draco (along with those two numbskulls we love to hate, Crabbe and Goyle) throughout the entire book. Even when the Gryffindor Quidditch team was practicing, she was laughing hysterically at Draco’s every insult. If you’d like to call them insults. Eurgh! Maybe they will get together. Their relationship is more than friendly, if you know what I mean. :nudge nudge: Both in Slytherin House, a similar–okay, the same–hatred for Hermione, the Yule Ball, and now they’re both prefects…I think J.K. Rowling is hinting at something here. Birds of a feather flock together.
–Point 2.5: Harry/Cho? Harry/Ginny? Harry/Hermione? Ron/Hermione? And the list goes on… :sigh:
I thought it would be a lot juicier than what Rowling gave us. Ron didn’t even make a move on Hermione. Although Hermy did kiss him on the cheek, but that was just because he was so nervous about the Quidditch match. And Ginny didn’t even seem half as interested in Harry as she was in CoS…she must be growing up. After all, it is her fourth year at Hogwarts. But the Harry/Cho part, on the other hand…
I don’t like Cho all that much, especially in this book. I mean, in previous years, Harry and she had a flirty thing going on, and I liked that. He was at a distance from her. That, and Cedric was in the picture. Now she’s a whiny little baby who can’t let go of her former love. I have two words for her: Get over it!! And poor Harry can’t understand the emotional rollercoaster that females experience…sigh. Welcome to puberty, my lightning-scarred friend.
I do like the fact that Ginny isn’t as hung up on Harry like she used to in CoS. She’s moved on. Unlike some people. *cough*ChoChang*cough*
–Point 3: The unfortunate and (in)famous death of Sirius Black
Umm…yeah. I cried. Probably just like everyone else. Rowling must’ve had a darn good reason for killing him off…she wouldn’t do that “just because.” I mean, she cried too. Enough said.
–Point 4: No one understands me!!!
I love how Harry is a lot angrier in here. We’ve seen him brave, we’ve seen him caring for others…now we see him as an angry little 15-year old! Ah, puberty. The days of “I’m so misunderstood” and “I want to be treated as an adult now!” I’m so glad those days are behind me. Even though it’s been a year since I was 16. Phew. Actually, I kinda like him angry. I mean, he’s trying to find out what in blazes in going on, and no one is telling him anything. Hey, I’d be pretty pissed off too if everyone was planning something that involved me behind my back, too. However, I must say that Ron and Hermione are pretty damn good friends for putting up with his angry outbursts all the time. I felt quite sorry for Harry, but I’m sure Ron and Hermy felt the same way. Sigh, don’t we all.
–Point 5: Poor Ickle Snivellus
In Chapter 28, “Snape’s Worst Memory,” Harry gets a glimpse of his father and the Marauders being absolutely cruel to Snape. Name-calling, merciless teasing, even dirty underwear. (The underwear part was kinda funny, though.) I was kinda disappointed that James could be so mean, but they were 15-year olds. We all have our mischievous spells, don’t we? (And if you haven’t had one yet, you are either too young, a saint, or an extremely sheltered person. Not that it’s bad to be one of those three, though.) Although, it explains in detail why Snape hates Harry so much.
–Point 6: New characters abound!
Let me see…Mrs. Figg, Mundungus Fletcher, Kingsley, Tonks, Luna, Michael Corner, Marietta, Zacharias Smith…the list goes on. I was surprised to see so many new faces halfway through the series, but maybe Rowling did that for a reason. I really liked Tonks and her pink hair. There’s even stuff going around about a Tonks/Lupin ship, which I think is kinda cool. It does seem possible, really. Not like the Ginny/Draco one or the Hermy/Draco one…or even the Ginny/Tom Riddle one. Those are way too far off to be even remotely possible. And Luna Lovegood, strangely enough, is almost exactly like me. Except that she’s British and I’m not. And I don’t carry a wand behind my ear…partly because I don’t have one to begin with.
–Point 7: Neville and his role in HP now
Ooh, the prophecy…:creepy organ music plays: Now that was a rather unusual–informative, but unusual–piece of info that Dumbledore talked about. How Neville is involved in this as much as Harry. I mean, he used to be the character that hid in the shadows of everyone else, the clumsy Gryffindor that no one really cared about…and now look at him. He’s so involved that it’s quite painful to wait for Book 6. I want to know what happens with Neville next! And what about speculation that Harry would die in Book 7, and how Neville would be closely tied to the destruction of Voldemort? Hm…kinda gets you thinking there.
That’s all for now, kids. Happy reading, and good luck waiting for Book 6! (For all I know, I’ll need it. :P)
P.S. If you really want to know how long it took me to finish OoTP, it took me eight hours the first time around and five the second time I read the book. Some people think that I read it too fast, but I don’t think so. I absorb everything the first time around.