Book review: Harry Potter has it all. Again.

Harry Potter is just your average teenage boy. He procrastinates in school, fantasizes about his crush, panics over his upcoming exams, and wiles away the hours with his two best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. Of course, these normal activities occasionally get put on hold while Harry creates subversive organizations to illegally teach his friends magical self-defense, learns to shield himself from demonic possession, cares for an adolescent giant with an attitude problem, and as always, battles the forces of evil to save the wizarding world from impending doom.

J.K. Rowling's fifth installment in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, takes a darker, more action-packed turn than its prequels. With the return of Lord Voldemort, history's most feared dark wizard, the magical world has become sharply divided between the followers of Albus Dumblemore and the secret organization the Order of the Phoenix, who believe Voldemort has indeed been resurrected, and Cornelius Fudge and the Ministry of Magic, who, with their refusal to acknowledge Voldemort's return, jeopardize the lives of wizards and Muggles (non-magic people) alike. Written with Rowling's characteristic subtlety and thought and packed with rich ideas and characterizations, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix effortlessly speeds the series towards its climax with grace and distinction.

Order of the Phoenix takes a different path than the rest of the series, the prior books in which follow a fairly predictable formula. Not only is Harry's universe now a darker, scarier place, it becomes much more complete in this novel. Once again rescued from Privet Drive, the home of Harry's intensely Mugglish aunt, uncle, and cousin, Harry rendezvous with Ron and Hermione at the secret headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix at the home of his godfather, Sirius Black. There he learns of the war that has been brewing in the wizarding world—not between Voldemort's followers and good wizards, but between those who believe that Voldemort has returned and those who do not.

Convinced that Dumbledore, the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, is conspiring against him, Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge plants Dolores Umbridge at the school as the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Professor Umbridge immediately embarks upon a mission to prevent her students from actually learning any defensive magic and to halt the spread of rumors concerning Voldemort's return. In response, Harry and Hermione formulate a secret club with several other students, including Harry's crush Cho Chang, the school's resident space cadet Luna Lovegood, and the incorrigible Weasley twins, to teach each other hexes and spells in preparation for the dark times ahead. Meanwhile, Harry worries about his prophetic dreams and the fate of his godfather and his colleagues in the Order of the Phoenix.

Like the plot, which Rowling has been slowly developing and hinting at throughout the series, several characters in Order of the Phoenix gain depth and complexity that they have lacked. Taking sides reveals the sinister face of Fudge, once bumbling, now paranoid and obsessed. Additionally, Harry himself gains dimension and humanity. Though in Order of the Phoenix he is prone to fits of self-pity and somewhat conceited depression, these mood swings, while less likable than his previous flawless heroism, are more realistic and appropriate to his age and situation. Considering the amount of stress he has been under for five years, we can forgive him the occasional tantrum.

Perhaps the most fascinating character development is that of Professor Severus Snape, the Hogwart's Potions Master and Harry's least favorite teacher. (He's no great fan of Harry, either.) When Snape is ordered by Dumbledore to begin teaching Harry Occlumency, or the art of defending one's mind against penetration and control, Harry learns the traumatic secrets of Snape's past that shred light on the enmity Snape bears towards him and his dead father. In true Rowling style, the information is surprising and enlightening, answering questions posed in previous books, yet asking more.

Rowling's attention to detail and adeptness at continuity throughout the series distinguishes her from other, more careless authors in the fantasy field (David Eddings comes to mind). A passing remark concerning Professor Trelawney in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, the third Harry Potter book, turns out to be of vital importance in Order of the Phoenix. Similar plot devices set up hundreds, sometimes even thousands of pages in advance manifest themselves when they are least expected, giving the book spark but also connecting the events and years in Harry's life. Rowling's subtle humor works in a similar fashion, with the set-up and punchline for a joke often being separated by several chapters. Her intricate weaving of characters, plot, and details is smoothly appealing and so well applied that you barely notice it.

Though Order of the Phoenix flows well, at some points you get the feeling that Rowling is juggling too many subplots at once. She leaves little decided in the end and abandons several miniplots mid-book, including that concerning Snape's past relationship with James Potter, Harry's father. Additionally, the budding romantic tension between Ron and Hermione, so apparent at the end of the fourth book, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, has been put on hold while they attend to more pressing, life-threatening matters; it is barely alluded to in Order of the Phoenix.

Despite these minor flaws, Order of the Phoenix is all that readers have come to expect from Rowling and more. Complicated characters, an engaging plot, running gags, and the Weasley twins—they're all there, in fine form and ready to once again dazzle you with they're charms and intricacies. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is worthy of the hype and worth the wait.