How Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix compares 2020s censorship crusades

For decades, the Harry Potter Series has captivated tens of millions of readers, but one book that foreshadowed 2020s-era censorship and ridicule crusades stands out.

I was 12 when Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was released in 2003. I remember skimming through the work that summer as opposed to reading it, not knowing at the time that it would become the one book that I constantly turned to when the COVIDcrisis hit in 2020. 

Almost exactly 17 years after its publication and a good decade since I sat down and read the work, I was at it again. Earlier in the year, the likes of Facebook, Twitter (now known as X), and other Big Tech outlets shut down and shut out anyone daring enough to question and speak out against COVID lockdowns, mask mandates, social distancing, and any other draconian “safety” measures put in place. 

Reading the book at age 29 gave me an entirely new perspective on what constitutes a good story. Yeah, plot lines matter, but so does the inner-story, such as themes, for example, become more prevalent as we age. 

These days, I can name dozens of times when the Ministry of Magic, the Wizarding World’s government, screwed up in the other six books, but Book 5 was the poster child. 

Let us begin. 

Smear Campaigns

If you’re not familiar with the work as I’m unsure how many libertarians are, let me give you a crash course here. So, in the early days of Lord Voldemort’s (the series antagonist) return, few believed Harry Potter and Albus Dumbledore were telling the truth. 

So, just as any legacy media outlet does for the people in power they bow down to, what do you think happened? That legacy media, known as the Daily Prophet, launched numerous smear campaigns about Harry and Dumbledore. 

With this being Part I of a series of reviews, I’m not going to get too in-depth yet as it goes beyond the scope of this review article - remember, I review books differently on this site. But all you need to know is that these smear campaigns led many to believe that Harry and Dumbledore were half-mad, off their respective rockers, and, henceforth, a danger to the Wizarding World. 

Harry experienced this upon returning to Hogwarts, following the Ministry’s shortsighted attempt to expel him because one of their own sent a couple of Dementors after him and his cousin. Oh, and if you don’t know what Dementors are, don’t worry, because I’ll be diving deep into these foul creatures and making some correlations when the time comes. 

Let’s just say that quite a few of those in Harry’s own House, Gryffindor, bought into the propaganda. Most notably, Seamus Finnigan, who openly admitted his mother didn’t want him to come back. So at this point, Harry’s facing scrutiny like none other, but not just from the student body.