I finished reading The Order of the Phoenix for the second time, and I couldn’t help feeling frustrated after the end of it. It seems like (and we know) there are a lot questions to be answered here. JKR doesn’t approach the questions at all or good enough for me. I think Clear:) was right, in that her writing style has been lacking.

For instance, Harry comes back from the Ministry of Magic, he’s told that Sirius is dead. He’s super pissed at Dumbledore for keeping him in the dark for so long. Dumbledore reacts very nonchalant. He admits that he was wrong and chalks it up to “an old man’s mistakes.” Well, that’s how I’m feeling towards JKR right now. I’m Harry, and I want some answers! I just read nearly 900 pages and I’m still in the dark here. He learns a prophesy and Sirius dies. That’s it.

Sirius was in the “Death Chamber,” He falls behind the veil, and everyone says “Let him go Harry. He’s dead.” Ughhh….what? Ok, you’re telling me he’s dead, but would you mind giving me some back story here. Harry should be asking what is the “Death Chamber” and this veil? All we know is that he can hear murmurs coming from the other side of it. Yet, it’s in a large auditorium. What’s the room for, because it’s different from all of the others. The “Time Chamber” has clocks and time turners in it. The “Thought Chamber” has brains floating in it. One of them unravels and wraps around Ron. Why it did that, I have no clue? I think Harry should have been asking these questions along with many others to fill us, the readers, in. It would be common sense for him to ask these questions and he doesn’t. Wouldn’t you like to know how Sirius died, instead of accepting “Oh he fell into the mysterious curtain? He’s gone.”

Harry, then, finds this two-way mirror that Sirius gave him. It would have allowed him to contact Sirius in secret. Well, Goddammit! Are you kidding me? Harry, how could you be so incompetent that you forgot to open this gift that your beloved Uncle gave you. This could have prevented the entire cat and mouse game you played in the Ministry of Magic. You wouldn’t have overreacted and had to use the floo network. You could have had direct contact with him every night. So, what does he do next? He breaks the mirror. Way to go.

Then, he runs into Nearly Headless Nick, the ghost. He expects Sirius to return as a ghost, too. But Nearly Headless Nick has no explanation for the afterlife. He says, “Well, I was too scared to keep going. That’s why I returned as a ghost.” OK, that’s kind of an answer. Sirius must have passed directly into the afterlife instead of the ghostly limbo. Next, we randomly meet Luna Lovegood, who has also lost her belongings. She says people always steal her things, but they always turn up. And she leaves. Wha…? Are these two related? Is Sirius going to just “turn up” without any explanation when he’s considered dead.

The next problem I have is with Harry’s parents. WHO WERE THEY?! I can understand him not knowing anything about them in his first year. He didn’t know he was a wizard and the Dursleys had lied to him until he was 10. Five years have passed, and he still doesn’t know anything about them. What were their jobs after school and what were they like? It’s not until his 5th year, that he finds out that his dad was a cocky jerk and his mom hated him at the time. Up until now, he’s just seen pictures and knew that they stood up against Voldemort. Why isn’t he asking or anyone told him anything about them until now. Again, what job did they do? Harry has to decide on a career field in this book, and wouldn’t it have been nice to have said, “I want to be a *blank* just like my Mom or Dad?”

Secondary characters. From the beginning, we know that Albus Dumbledore is this all powerful wizard. He holds some of the highest ranks of wizards. He practically started the Order of the Phoenix, and he’s the only one who Voldemort has feared. It’s pretty substancial, right? Do you know who else was in the Order of the Phoenix? … His brother, Aberforth! Exscuse me! Why doesn’t he receive a greater mention than this. Supposedly, he’s illiterate and an oddball, but still why isn’t he currently contributing to the Order. Why aren’t Harry and the gang asking questions about the brother of one of the greatest wizards who ever lived? Instead, we learn about Hagrid’s retarded giant brother.

Come on JKR! Stop throwing us scraps here and give us a bone. In a 900 page book, I would expect answers not questions. I’m going to re-read the Half-Blood Prince, and this book only opens up more questions. And my rage here will probably get worse. It seems like the first three books were good stand alone books. They asked questions and answered them by the end of the story. However, these last few all revolve around the return of Voldemort, and they just aren’t cohesive enough. We keep getting fed bit by bit. I’m just afraid that Book 7 isn’t going to live up to my expectations and leave us with many unanswered questions or consist after surprise after surprise – le fin.