A Peck of Owls
And so it begins.
If the past four books have taught me anything, it’s to expect a pretty slow beginning from a Harry Potter book. A little refresher course, a lot of complaining about the Dursleys, and that’s about it. And if they’ve taught me anything else, it’s the humble feeling of having your expectations dashed.
One chapter in, and we’ve already had Mrs. Figg coming out as a Squibb and Dementors almost sucking all that is happy out of Dudley’s life (which in my mind, equates to Violet Beauregarde having the blueberry juice drained out of her by the Oompa Loompas, but in a much darker sort of way). In chapter two, Harry’s expelled and Aunt Petunia receives Howlers. Hell, by the time chapter three rolled around, I kind of got the feeling Rowling was going “So you didn’t like all my backtracking in the previous books? Didn’t like being reminded Harry’s a wizard? Fiiiine! See how you like THIS!”
Chapter three introduced a slew of new adult wizards (which I promptly googled, to put names with faces from the film) and the first mention of the Order of the Phoenix. Using my powerful methods of deduction, I’ve concluded that the Order of the Phoenix may be important to the plot. Stay tuned!
So whereas I usually say very little has happened at the beginning of any given book, a whole hell of a lot has happened in the first three chapters of Order of the Phoenix. While I get the feeling we’re supposed to focus on Harry’s possible expulsion and the sudden arrival of a small wizard army, I’m sort of stuck on Aunt Petunia’s Howler. A wild shot-in-the-dark guess, but I want to say the Howler was somehow from Lily. “Remember my last, Petunia.” Remember my last words, maybe? Remember my last letter? Did Lily say something to her sister before they were attacked by Voldemort? Did the Potters know they were in danger before Voldemort arrived? What were they doing to piss him off? What’s the air speed velocity of an African swallow?
So I have a longstanding history (about a month long, the time it takes to read four Harry Potter books) of making what I think are legit predictions that turn out to be so absurdly off the mark, you have to wonder if I’m reading the same books. With that in mind, I think it’s time to start collecting clues, to be used in making a few correct predictions later.
Nymphadora Tonks is a Metamorphagus, meaning she can change her appearance at will. This will come up later, for sure. It probably wasn’t simply introduced so a wizard could change her hair color and the whole thing never be mentioned again (how frustrating would that be?). Harry was being watched by Mrs. Figg and Mundungus, but Harry wasn’t supposed to know about it. And there has been a break from the Ministry of Magic by a group of wizards, all who seem to have been close friends with the Potters, and someone is after that group. Other than the mysterious Howler and the arrival of Dementors on Privet Drive, I think that’s all we’re working with right now.
Side note: It’s nice to see that Lupin’s back (Though I did try and blame him for everything that was going wrong during Book 3. My bad.)
Anyway, I already like this book better than the others, and I’m still just 58 pages in, which is excellent news, considering I have about fifty gazillion pages to go…
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If you haven’t already voted, check out the poll in the side bar. So far, Half-Blood Prince and Deathly Hollows have taken a strong lead.
I’ve also added an “About the Blogger” section to the side bar, cause a few people were asking me where I found this blog. I found it in my mind…it was rattling around with all my ridiculous predictions for where this series is going.
Congrats, you’re officially into the best (and strongest) books of the series! Prepare to get your ass kicked… in the AWESOME way.
I just reread 6 and 7 and I’ve gotta say… I’m just so excited for you!
I must agree with Miss Sara. This is my favorite book in the series because, as you have noticed, Rowling doesn’t mince words or waste time getting the clues out to you.
I did notice that you are missing an incredibly important link on your sidebar. It’s the Harry Potter Lexicon, which you should not read until you are done with all of the books, but it is extremely helpful if you have forgotten who a random character is or if you want to know trivial, but canon, information about harry, hermione, and ron.
http://www.hp-lexicon.org/
I’m adding that link now (and not looking at it, so I’m trusting you here). Then again, this blog was kind of your idea, so I suppose I can trust whatever you say.
Your knowledge of the elements of this book will in no way diminish your reading experience, I think. The fifth movie is (so far) my favorite because it is very true to the book. However, it also leaves a great deal because a book of this size is understandably hard to condense for the screen. That said, the fifth book is NOT my favorite by a long shot (six is my fave). Not because it isn’t awesome (it is), but because…well you aren’t there yet, haha. So I will remain respectfully silent on that count.
Didn’t you love the Howler? I completely enjoy how Rowling drops maddening clues like that and then doesn’t provide the answer for ages. And when she does, you’re like AHHH!!!! because suddenly it all makes sense.
And the HP Lexicon is a great site, but no looking!!!
I love that Order of the Phoenix is the longest book and the shortest film. This contradiction somehow tickles me…
PS Loving the Monty Python references …
I may as well ask — is Dudley part-wizard? Because muggles can’t see dementors, but when one came at him, Dudley covered his mouth with his hands……
And I LOVED the howler that Aunt Petunia got. Loved it more than the Weasley boys coming to pick Harry up in Prisoner of Azkaban.
I’m not really sure what’s going on with Dudley and Aunt Petunia. My fear is that it won’t be cleared-up. In the end, maybe it’s just fluff. If these little details don’t pertain to the big arc of the story, maybe we won’t get those answers. But I don’t see why they’d be introduced if we weren’t going to get some resolution
Guess I have to wait and see!
First of all, love your Holy Grail reference. My favorite of the books was Prisoner of Azkaban. which says nothing of it being the best. It was just my favorite. It was nice for Lupin to come back. He is my favorite character.