How did you feel about the 5th book overall?

[Chimera]

Clip clop, clip clop, clip clop...

[Chimera]

In terms of character development, book 5 is arguably Harry's most important.

Over 7 books he transitions from being a muggle-raised punchbag to being some kind of magical resistance fighter. A lot of that change takes place in book 5, as though that year is his awakening. In all his prior adventures, trouble has somehow descended upon him and he has been forced to fight his way out. In OotP however, Harry learns that in order to really get it done he will have to seek battle on his own terms, the DA represents the start of that. It is through the need to form the DA that Harry learns how to establish an organisation in secrecy, and how to keep it secret and safe as its members prepare themselves to fight.

The way the DA got started is reminiscent of how guerrilla movements and resistance movements the world over have been organised. Whether it be the gunpowder plot, or the Cuban fighters who overthrew Batista, the American rebels and the Irish rebels who each won their independence from Britain, the Palestine liberation groups, the Jewish partisans in Hitler's ghettoes, the Bolsheviks in the early 20th century or the resistance currently working to expel the US and British armies from Iraq. All started out as a very small, very tightly knit nucleus. The movimiento de 26 Julio started as three men: Fidel Castro, his brother Raul Castro, and an Argentine doctor called Ernesto Guevara (you'll probably know him better as Che). Dumbledore's Army also started as three: Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley, Hermione Granger.

This way of keeping the core of the organisation small and secretive has also worked in the favour of Dumbledore's Order of the Phoenix and of Voldemort's Death Eaters. This method of organising is one of the most important things Harry will ever learn. It will prove crucial, not only in case the fight against Voldemort becomes a protracted campaign, but also against the next Voldemort, or the one after that. Walking around with your plans advertised in neon lights will ensure you get ambushed when you are most vulnerable. The stealthy person, on the other hand, is the one best placed to do the ambushing.

The DA also imbued him with more confidence than he realised. He saw his potential as a leader blossom. He saw for himself that he's not just lucky, but he can also follow that luck through with a lot of skill. He saw his planning succeed for a good while, and when he learned he'd been discovered he was able to get most of his group away to safety. 6 members took part in the DA's first mission, and while they may have failed to prevent Sirius's death, they faced enemies with years of fighting experience and came out on top. The training he gave to the DA also helped the veterans of the first mission to establish a line of defence and hold their position firm at the end of book 6. Sadly, his time with the DA also taught him that you cannot hope to win against a powerful enemy without taking casualties.

The DA might have ended up all but dissolved, but the experience Harry gained in leading it will give him what he needs in order to take the fight to the enemy.

[kp-peanut]

woah ^ saying all that is like its really actually quite real......scary

[Alexandra]

its not my favourite book
it is dark and a little interesting but i think it is just good
some parts bored me to death
my favourite book is hp and the goblet of fire bcs voldemort is back-finnaly

[Alexandra]

DA wasnt secret
the location where DA members were meeting was secret but Umbridge new that it existed from the beginning

[Chimera]

She had an inkling that it existed, sort of, but that's all she knew. Until she knew who was still involved and where it was taking place she didn't know enough to do anything.

[Alexandra]

She had an inkling that it existed, sort of, but that's all she knew. Until she knew who was still involved and where it was taking place she didn't know enough to do anything.

true, true

[Simatra]

It would have been great!... Only if Sirius hadn't died...

[Alexandra]

In a way I'm glad he died. I liked him too but that's the main thing that makes this book interesting.

[Simatra]

I know, but he was one of my favorite charaters (him and Hermine). And you only knew him for two books!

[lovegood63]

I happen to be reading the 5th book now(im a bit slow) I am really enjoying it. Reading these posts about how the ending wasn't great makes me wanna read it sooner. So far i really enjoy all of the surprises like with Umbridge, Trewlaney, Ron, Cho, Dudley, Aunt Petunia, and the fact that Voldermort is back. I am really looking forward to how Voldermort attacks, how more of the teachers tell Umbridege off , and how the Order goes. At the moment I am up to the point were Harry has just took a drop in the peneisve and has seen his dad being mean to serious. I liked the first chapter ot this book because it was completlley hilarious( Dudley Demented). I really felt the rage that was coming out of Harry too. I really liked the way Jo expressed the way Harry felt all those years about Dudley. I happen to be a Taurus ( zodiac sign) and that happens to be the bull, and when you mess with the bull you are aiming for trouble. I feel like that sometimes when I am tired of being the nice guy and I just want to go in for the prowl. I also really hope that Jo makes the 7th book everlasting, because if she made it short I would be very upset because after all it is the last book. I really hope she reconsiders the fact of making a book8.

[Simatra]

I like it that Fred and George are more in the story.

[Scarlet Lioness]

I do aswell, I love Fred and George.

Sirius and Lupin are my favourite characters...but now it's Fred, George, Ron and Lupin.

[Simatra]

Hmm,.. I'm not sure now that Sirius has died ( still my favorite is Hermine) but I don't know who else?... *lost in thought*

[Alexandra]

I still say... VOLDEMORT RULLES!