Hi, I haven't been blogging for a while but this is the third segment of my book review of the Harry Potter series. In this post, I will be covering the 5th and the 6th books of this 7-part fantasy thriller, namely Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
The 5th book finally shows Voldemort taking action. The novel begins with Harry and his cousin Dudley being attacked by Dementors (Recall: Book 3). In order to save them, Harry performs the Patronus and in turn violates the wizarding law of underage wizardry. He is notified that he has been expelled from Hogwarts and is devastated. However, he is notified soon after that the ban has been suspended and that he needs to attend a disciplinary hearing. Furthermore, from the previous book (Goblet of Fire), we know that Voldemort has rised again. Dumbledore reactivates the Order of the Phoenix, a secret society found by Dumbledore himself, in response to Voldemort's rise. However, despite Dumbledore's belief in Harry's word and Harry's vivid descriptions of the rise of Dumbledore, the wizarding world refuses to acknowledge the rise of Voldemort.
The Ministry, in an attempt to wrest control of Hogwarts, deploys Dolores Umbridge as the next DATDA teacher. She is later promoted to High Inquisitor. She changes the school into a quasi-dictatorial regime and refuses to teach students the practical way of defending themselves, limiting them to the basics using theory books as a tool. He is persuaded into teaching his classmates the high-level charms and curses he has learned. Harry learns of a prophecy about himself and Voldemort and also discovers the telepathic connection between him and Voldemort. As the novel enters the climax, Harry and his friends are locked into a battle between themselves and the Death Eaters. They are on the losing end when reinforcements in the form of the Order arrives. The Death Eaters are defeated but Sirius Black dies in the process. Harry is devastated and rushes after Bellatrix Lestrange, the murderer. At this moment, Voldemort appears and Harry is in hot water. The timely arrival of Dumbledore, however, saves Harry's life. The truth of the return of Voldemort is confirmed in the wizarding world.
The 6th books has a smaller focus on Voldemort and places a larger role on Snape and Malfoy (Harry's rival). Snape is the new DATDA teacher and a new teacher, Horace Slughorn, replaces him as Potions teacher. Harry did not think he would be doing Potions for NEWT level and did not buy the necessary books and equipment. Harry borrows a textbook from Slughorn and discovers the book belongs to the Half-Blood Prince. The Prince has annotated along the sides of the book, refining the potion-making techniques and hence, making Harry into a Potions pro.
Harry discovers his true feelings for Ginny Weasley (Recall: Book 2). He fears the friendship between Ron and him would become strained because of this. Ron starts dating Lavender Brown (Gryffindor girl), causing a rift between him and Hermione. The rift is healed only when Ron get poisoned by some mead planted probably to kill Dumbledore. This leads to Harry suspecting that Draco Malfoy has joined Voldemort and is the instigator of this. No one believes Harry, however.
Dumbledore and Harry starts to have some private lessons between them. Throughout the year, the Pensieve (Object that stores past memories) to explain Voldemort's past. A memory Harry obtained from Slughorn confirms a suspicion of Dumbledore - that Voldemort has split his soul into 7 parts. This is Voldemort's attempt at immortality and 6 of the 7 fragments are magically stored in objects and these are known as Horcruxes. Two of the 6 have been destroyed, them being the diary of Tom Riddle in Book 2 and Voldemort's grandfather ring, destroyed in this very book. The remaining Horcruxes are suspected to be Salazar Slytherin's locket, Helga Hufflepuff's cup, two artefacts belonging to Godric Gryffindor and Rowena Ravenclaw and Voldemort's pet snake Nagini.
I'll skip the irrelevant details (KISS SCENE). As we enter the climax of the book, Harry is notified that Dumbledore has located one of the Horcruxes and requests that Harry follows him on this quest. They travel to a cave and retrieves the locket but Dumbledore has been severely weakened by a magical potion used to protect the locket. They arrive back at Hogwarts to see Voldemort's mark, or the Dark Mark hovering over the Astronomy Tower. At the very top, Dumbledore is confronted by Draco. Draco admits that he was the mastermind behind the attacks and that he was ordered by Voldemort to kill Dumbledore to save his own life. He is unable to bring himself to kill Dumbledore but Snape comes and murders Dumbledore there and then. Harry is enraged and pursues Snape. Snape finally admits that he is the Half-Blood Prince before he disapparates (teleport).
Harry recovers the locket but discovers that the locket is a fake and that the real one had been stolen by someone with the initials R.A.B. The year ends with Dumbledore's funeral and his wand is buried next to him. Harry, Ron and Hermione decide not to return to Hogwarts the next year and to hunt for Horcruxes instead.
THE END.
You definitely want to know whats going on and how Harry and his buddies hunt down the Horcruxes.
Thats why you should definitely read the books. The next post would be the review on the FINAL book. Have fun waiting!
zyle;
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