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The book begins with Harry and his cousin Dudley being attacked by 2 dementors in their neighborhood. Harry conjures a patronous, and chases them off. After returning home, Harry receives a letter via owl saying he is immediately expelled from Hogwarts, and must face a committee at the Ministry of Magic for illegally using magic. Then, he receives several other letters, one from Dumbledore, informing him to not leave the house, he isn't expelled, and all will be sorted out. After a couple of days, several wizards (Lupin, Moody, Tonks, & others) show up and take Harry away for protection. They travel by broom to the headquarters of the "Order of the Phoenix." Essentially, they are the "Old Crowd" Dumbledore referred to in book 4. The headquarters is located in London, at Sirius Black's home. Black's home is hidden to everyone by great magic. Harry waits here for his hearing, and learns about Black's ancestry. Apparently, all the wizards in his family were dark wizards, who hated Muggles, and his cousin is the dark witch who tortured the Longbottoms into hysteria. Harry also learns that Sirius is related to the Malfoys. Most pure-blooded wizard families are related says Black. Here, Harry reunites with Hermione & Ron, who tell him the Percy has sided with Cornelius Fudge, and has dis-owned his family.

Mr. Weasley takes Harry to his hearing. It's in the same room they had the trials for all the Dark Wizards Harry saw in the pensieve. Cornelius Fudge, head of the Ministry of Magic, is still denying the reports that He Who Has Not Been Named has returned, wants to discredit Harry, & dismiss him from the wizarding world. As Harry tries to defend himself, Dumbledore appears and saves the day. Harry is not expelled, and can return to Hogwarts.

Back at the Black Mansion, Harry continues to dream of a dark corridor, and his scar hurts. You find out the Order of Phoenix is the group that formed to battle Voldemort long ago, and Harry's parents, along with the Weasley's, the Longbottoms, and several others were members. Many of the wizards were killed. Not much is told about their currents plans, or what is happening, and this is very frustrating as a reader. Right before heading back to school, the new prefects are named. It's Hermione & ...... RON! Much to Harry's displeasure.

Everyone returns to school. There is a new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. She is a witch who works with Fudge at the ministry of Magic. I can't remember her name, (there are so many new characters) so I will refer to her as the Inquisitor. Well, her and Harry become enemies right away, and he spends most of the first two weeks in detention. The Inquisitor will not allow any practical learning of Defense Against the Dark Arts, they will only read Ministry approved material, and forbids anyone to say the Dark Lord has returned. Harry continues to speak up about what happened, even with McGonagal, Hermione, & Ron telling him otherwise, and Harry keeps getting in trouble. Their is also a new Care of Magical Creatures Professor, because Hagrid is mysteriously absent. Also in the first week, Gryffindor gets a new Quidditch Keeper, Ron.

Harry continues to struggle in Snape's class, the Inquisitor's class, and he continues to dream about the corridor, while his scar keeps hurting, and he hears the maniacal laugh of the dark lord in his head. As things go on, the Inquisitor is named, "The Grand Inquisitor" by the Ministry, and begins to evaluate the teaching at Hogwarts. (It seems many believe Dumbledore is trying to create an army to overthrow Fudge as the head of the Ministry.) Many rules are created by the Inquisitor, aggravating Harry & company.

One night, Harry dreams again, this time from the point of view of a snake. He see's himself sliding along the floor, and attacking someone. He is woken up by Ron, and Harry tells him his father's been attacked. They are rushed to Dumbledore's office, where he takes them via port key to Black's home. In one moment, Harry is tempted to attack even Dumbledore.

We find out that Mr. Weasley was protecting something in the corridor Harry dreams about, and was brutally attacked by a snake. He survives, and while at the Wizard Hospital, they run into Neville, who is there visiting his parents, who were driven crazy by Sirius' cousin.

Hagrid returns, he's in bad shape. He went to sway the giants to join the Order, but they wouldn't. He returns as their professor. Harry continues to have dreams, and worry he's under the control of the Dark Lord. Dumbledore has Snape begin teaching Harry how to defend himself from mind control.

Several dark wizards escape from Azkaban. So, Harry & many others form a group with Harry teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts. This is illegal under the Inquisitor's orders They get caught, and Harry is brought before Dumbledore & Fudge. Dumbledore says he ordered the students to learn these arts, and Fudge tries to arrest Dumbledore, who flattens them all & escapes. The Inquisitor becomes Headmistress, and the school becomes like a prison, with no one being able to do much of anything.

Harry has another dream that Sirius is being tortured by Voldemort, and decides to go to the Ministry where he see's it happening (this is a long involved segment, and I will let you read it, because it's very good). Harry's class decides to go with him. They go to the ministry, and it is mysteriously empty. They proceed to the corridor, where they keep going deeper and deeper into the Ministry. They make it to the place where Harry saw Sirius being tortured, and no one is there. Ron suddenly saws, "Harry, look at this." On a shelf, is a glass container labeled, "Harry & Voldemort." Puzzled, Harry takes it from the shelf, and hears someone tell him, "Give it to me Potter." He turns around, and they are surrounded by Death Eaters (Voldemort's followers). Lucious Malfoy continues to demand "the prophecy" from Harry. Harry realizes they won't hurt him because they need the container. There is a great pursuit, with many of the students doing well because of Harry's teaching. Harry is running, and get's trapped in a room with several Death Eaters, when it's looking it's worst, Sirius, Lupin, Moody, & Tonks burst in, and the Order starts dueling the Death Eaters. As Harry tries to escape the room with the container, it gets smashed, and he hears words being spoken. He see's Sirius dueling his cousin, and in a flash of light, Sirius is killed. Harry is devastated, and chases her out of the room. In the main hall, he attacks her, and they have a great duel, until Voldemort appears. He is about to kill Harry when Dumbledore arrives, and begins fighting both Voldemort & the Dark Witch. Dumbledore defeats them both. Voldemort and the dark witch escape. Harry & Dumbledore are then met by Fudge and many others, who finally realize that Voldemort has returned.

Dumbledore takes Harry to his office and tries to console him on the loss of Sirius. Harry is very angry, and won't listen to him. This is a very moving part in the book. Dumbledore tells Harry, "It is time Harry, that I told you everything." 15 years ago, Dumbledore was looking for a teacher of Divination. He was interviewing Trelawney in a pub in Hogsmeade. Trelawney went into a spell like trance and prophesized that "Voldemort will meet his equal, he will be born in the last of July by parents who have defeated him 3 fold. He will mark the chosen one as his equal, and neither can live while the other does." This is overheard, and gets back to Voldemort, that is why he tries to kill Harry, thinking Harry is the chose one, thus marking him his equal. Harry asks, "Does this mean that one of us has to kill the other?" And Dumbledore replies, "Yes." Dumbledore tells Harry that he has wanted to tell him this since he first came to Hogwarts, but thought he couldn't handle it. He tells Harry he was wrong, and will never forgive himself.

Harry returns to school, with Dumbledore back as headmaster, and everything essentially back to order. As the school year ends, he returns to Privet Drive for the summer.