This series is very much part of our lives. It has been made into movies, plays, and many other things. There is a website, Wizardingworld.com, and many videos explaining the origins and stories of characters on YouTube (Shoutout to MovieFlame for feeding my curiosities and teaching me things I didn't know about the series). Today, as I usually do with series, I will be ranking the books in the order that I like them, best to worst. (P.S. There are spoilers, so be warned)
1. The Prisoner of Azkaban is my favorite because the main theme is not necessarily Voldemort, but the Prisoner of Azkaban. They decide to try and solve the mystery, but end up following Ron once he is dragged beneath the Whomping Willow by a strange large dog. They figure out that the dog was Sirius Black, an innocent man charged with a crime committed by Peter Pettigrew, Ron's rat. They then use Hermione's Time-turner to go back in time to save Buckbeak, a condemned Hippogriff, and Sirius.
2. The Order of the Pheonix is my second-favourite because It has so much action, plus we get to know a lot of characters. There is an epic battle at the end, and there is a great loss on the Order's side from Sirius. But there is also a great loss on Voldemort's side, since Lucius Malfoy failed to retrieve the prophecy, and The Minister of Magic sees Voldemort after battling Dumbledore.
3. The Sorcerer's Stone is the first book, and it is good because a) it's the first one, we just met a whole bunch of new characters, and b) it is so innocent. The later books can get very dark, but this one is a story about cute little 11-year-olds trying to protect the Sorcerer's Stone. Ok, maybe not 'cute' or 'little', but the rest is there.
4. The Deathly Hallows is dark, but it is also very action-packed and can go from fast-paced to slow-moving in a few chapters. They can go from escaping from a Death Eater-crashed wedding and fighting more Death Eaters at a Muggle Cafe to camping in the woods, bored out of their minds. But they do end up fighting at the fateful Battle of Hogwarts, where Harry dies, then comes back to life, and kills Voldemort using 'Expelliarmus'.
5. The Chamber of Secrets is the second book, and very romantic if you ask me. I mean, like, Harry goes down into this creepy snake chamber underneath the castle and battles a giant killer-snake just to save his future wife, Ginny. It's just, like, wow, bro. By doing that, he also saved all of the Muggle-borns and stopped Voldemort from returning, but, I view it as a romantic gesture.
6. The Half-Blood Prince was too much like a teen romance. You notice this a lot more in the movie, though, because in the first half it seems just like a big crush. But, the end of the story gets a lot more serious as Harry is forced to feed Dumbledore poison, followed by Snape killing him, followed by Death Eaters storming the castle with Malfoy's help.
7. The Goblet of Fire is my least favourite because it is the one where everyone hates Harry. He has to participate in the Triwizard tournament, plus he has to watch Cedric be murdered, plus Voldemort returns. It is just like a downward spiral the whole entire time.
Thanks for reading, and don't forget to stay home!
