Review: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

This book deals Harry a rather brutal comeuppance, which is much needed by this point in the series in order to flesh out his character. The previous book ended in a very dark way relative to what came before, but left Harry himself relatively unscathed. Here for the first time he makes serious mistakes with irreversible consequences. Through various circumstances he also loses (temporarily) a great deal of the privilege he has grown accustomed to. As usual the story is well crafted, although this volume is marred by what I expect is the most glaring plot hole in the entire series (the two-way mirror).