Harry spends most of this book being very angry. Angry at his friends for not writing to him, angry at Dumbledore for not being straight with him, angry with Dolores Umbridge, angry with Professor Snape… Harry was actually quite unlikable for the first part of the book, he came across as too obnoxious – Maybe this had to do with his link to Lord Voldemort. J.K. Rowling done a fantastic job of growing Harry and the rest of the guys up, I would’ve loved to have been 11 when the first book came out, and grown up beside them all. I have to say this: Luna Lovegood is the greatest character in the Harry Potter universe. I just adore her spaced-out personality, and love the irony that she’s super brave and clearly not altogether with it, but she was placed in Ravenclaw… Maybe there’s a deep intelligence in there somewhere? She is clearly quite perceptive and honest, and has a very open mind when it comes to her father’s theories in The Quibbler, but I’m quite sure her dreaminess is not an act.
I admit, I was once again wrong-footed by the main villain. I was expecting it not to be Umbridge in the end, but there you go. Even though a bunch of Death Eaters show up at the end (and even The Dark Lord himself makes an appearance at The Ministry) she was the main villain of the piece. I liked how Voldemort manipulated Harry to go and retrieve the prophecy for him by faking Sirius’ torture scene in his mind – he knew Harry would go running to save him, and spring the Death Eater trap, very cunning. Voldemort is indeed a true Slytherin. Side-note: Dolores Umbridge was portrayed magnificently in the movie by Imelda Staunton.
