The halfway point is exactly where Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix belongs, because after the massive shift in Harry’s world at the end of Goblet of Fire, it seems impossible to move on. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix We meet new characters, eat new treats, experience new commonplace things (like your meal magically appearing on the table in front of you or fixing broken glasses with the touch of a wand), and start off an adventure that will change not only Harry’s world, but our world, too.Ĥ.

We see Platform 9 & 3/4, the Hogwarts Express, Diagon Alley, and Hogwarts all for the first time, and each and every new place is better than the last. Opening not only Harry’s eyes, but all of ours to the magic surrounding us was a gargantuan task to undertake, but Sorcerer’s Stone does it, and does it pretty freaking well. And he did so alongside the biggest man he’d ever laid eyes on. Harry leaps into the unknown at the first opportunity, leaving every horror he’s ever experienced under the Dursleys’ roof and stepping into a world of magic he didn’t know existed. The only task harder than that of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is introducing us to the magical world itself, and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone does that with gusto. This book represents a substantial pivot from Harry and his friends wreaking havoc in the castle as they try to right wrongs and protect loved ones, to seeing what challenges the magical world outside of Hogwarts has in store for Harry, and resultingly Ron and Hermione as well. Not only does he have to compete against the other Triwizard champions who are all at least 3 years of magical education ahead of him, but he asks Cho Chang to the Yule Ball, he has a pretty epic fight with his very best friend, and grieves a new, but no less true, friend. Throughout the pages of Goblet of Fire, Harry also has to confront the horrors of growing up.

At most, he was aware that Professor Quirrell and maybe a few others wanted Voldemort to return, but not that there was a powerful and motivated group of people who not only want Voldemort to return to power, but that have been doing their part in secret to keep his cause alive.

Prior to Goblet of Fire Harry mostly knew that Voldemort was evil, killed his parents, and was trying to return to the land of the living. This is the book where Harry meets those who want Voldemort to return to his evil ways and the entire world is thrown off its axis.

The absolute best of the best, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is not only the pivotal story in the saga for the Harry/Voldemort dynamic, but it represents a turning point for just about every character.

All harry potter movies in order