This Week I am Reading ... Ms Tammy Nock
Ms Tammy Nock is our Class 7 teacher at Elmfield. Tammy shares her review of The Order of the Phoenix by JK Rowling
Not for the first, or even the second time, I am working my way through the magical, immersive world of Harry Potter. For those of you who have never heard of Harry Potter, Hogwarts, and Dumbledore, where have you been for the last 27 years? As over that time, across the globe, if the books have not been read, the films, which are adapted from the books, have been watched.
JK Rowling is an amazingly talented writer who can take the most ordinary of objects and write such detailed descriptions that, I feel, I can not only produce an image of them but, I can practically, physically touch them in front of me.
Her stories inspire me to emulate her writing style and instil a longing to share the art of writing through my own teaching.
The stories in the Harry Potter series may appear, at first, to be the usual fantasy, adventure story which follow the adventures of a boy wizard and his friends. But, once your journey to Hogwarts has begun and you are enveloped by an all-consuming blanket of spells and curses, you realise these books are anything but the usual. There are hidden messages amongst the awe-inspiring words, subtleties that may be missed first time round which is why I never manage to put one of the books away until I have read, re-read, and read it again. They contain a message of love and how relentless and powerful true friendship, and everlasting love is.
This instalment, the order of the Phoenix, takes us from a horrendous summer holiday to questioning authority, before overcoming evil again. A much-anticipated book, as there was a three year wait between stories, this Potter adventure contains chapters of horror and violence which is read with an acute sense of foreboding but also wonder at how this child will defeat such a malevolent enemy. However, there are also glimpses of pure joy when friendship and love can prevail in the most wicked of circumstances.
Through the struggles Harry has in this book, he discovers how much he has learnt and how sharing this knowledge in his own defence group, helps everyone to feel part of something real. The practise sessions empower the magical pupils to feel stronger together, ready for their impending and inevitable fight against the newly returned, antagonist, Lord Voldemort.
The ending leaves you on tenterhooks for the next in the series. Harry’s prophecy has been revealed and Dumbledore, who is back in Harry’s good books, has explained further the connection between this young man and the wizard who tried to kill him as a baby. The longest book out of seven does not disappoint but leaves you eager to read on and indulge yourself in the fantastical world of mystery and magic.