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The Phoenix or the Flame: Essays on J.K. Rowling's original plans for The Order of the Phoenix
Before writing the fifth Harry Potter book, J.K. Rowling created a seven-page handwritten outline of her original vision for the plot, offering an unprecedented glimpse into her writing process. In these early notes, there are noticeable differences in the characters, terminology, and plot, culminating with a different ending, in which Sirius's fate is not brought about by Bellatrix.
Three of the essays in this collection focus on the ramifications of specific changes, such as the outline's original much darker tone, the lack of Bellatrix Lestrange, or the different designation for the Order of the Phoenix. Another takes a more holistic view, looking at the changes in the book's characters. Two essays use the outline to highlight the development that must have happened both before and after it was written. The final essay looks at how outline could be interpreted had one never seen the published book.
Together the essays explore the manuscript in detail, offering a new perspective on Rowling's creative process and deepening our understanding of the published book. This collection also includes detailed guidance to help fans interpret the outline themselves.
Essays by Louise M. Freeman, Alice Arganese, Irvin Khaytman, Asher Scheiner, Beatrice Groves, John Granger and Patricio Tarantino. Edited by A. Ibid.
Three of the essays in this collection focus on the ramifications of specific changes, such as the outline's original much darker tone, the lack of Bellatrix Lestrange, or the different designation for the Order of the Phoenix. Another takes a more holistic view, looking at the changes in the book's characters. Two essays use the outline to highlight the development that must have happened both before and after it was written. The final essay looks at how outline could be interpreted had one never seen the published book.
Together the essays explore the manuscript in detail, offering a new perspective on Rowling's creative process and deepening our understanding of the published book. This collection also includes detailed guidance to help fans interpret the outline themselves.
Essays by Louise M. Freeman, Alice Arganese, Irvin Khaytman, Asher Scheiner, Beatrice Groves, John Granger and Patricio Tarantino. Edited by A. Ibid.
216 pages, Paperback
Published February 24, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
March 9, 2025
An enjoyable collection of analysis that brings new insights for Potter into JKR’s thoughts and process into Book 5. Order of the Phoenix isn’t one of my favorites entries in the series, so it was nice to revisit it in such a critical way.
May 12, 2025
Note: I am the cover artist for this book and was gifted a copy. I was not asked to read or review the book, I did so of my own volition.
I really loved reading through each of these essays. I'm fascinated by 'what ifs' in stories, and how seemingly small changes can make big differences. This was a nice way to explore the possibilities based on the original outline. I would honestly love to dive in like this with each of the books.
I really loved reading through each of these essays. I'm fascinated by 'what ifs' in stories, and how seemingly small changes can make big differences. This was a nice way to explore the possibilities based on the original outline. I would honestly love to dive in like this with each of the books.
April 7, 2025
One of the best essays on Harry Potter. I recommend this book to everyone.
August 12, 2026
Woah, this book is awesome. I was eager to dive into this after finishing my latest re-read of OotP and it was the sharpest accompaniment I could have asked for. This book contains various essays by different scholars and HP fans that all comment on Order of the Phoenix’s first original drafts/outlines. It was a fascinating read that honestly kept me extremely engaged pretty much throughout to the point where I read the whole thing in one sitting.
I think because I just finished re-reading Order of the Phoenix a couple days ago it enhanced the angle and perspective from which I was coming. This made the reading experience extra enjoyable. Each essay breaks down Rowling’s original plans quite excellently, especially when it comes to approaching the commentary and theorization from a perspective of love and care for the series, as well as a bird’s eye view into the intricacies that come with developing the webby plot of the middle of a complicated series within a large, 800+ page book.
What made this book work was its structure. The introduction is marvelous, breaking down Rowling’s drafts and how complicated the nature of them was, before leading into each essay which tackled not only an aspect of the outline itself, but also offered vastly different perspectives and arguments, allowing my mind as a reader to never grow bored, to always feel tethered to all the information. Finally, the end also provides you with a clear transcript of Rowling’s entire outline and draft notes of the book from 2000-2002, allowing reference points and space for sneaky indulgence of my own. I was able to create my own thoughts and theories along with the authors of the essays instead of being dragged across the mud by a mad writer.
Religion, speculative perspectives, graphs– the book doesn’t shy away from presenting you with diverse theories surrounding this specific story, yet each author does an excellent job in cornering themselves within the perimeter of Order of the Phoenix to keep things relevant– e.g. an author might make a comment on the themes of the overall seven books and their impact on the story but keep most poignant notes focused on Order.
Another thing I particularly cherished was that I did actually learn a lot from this, even as a thorough fan. For example, I never made the connection of Quidditch, as a sport and the way it’s played by each character throughout the series, reflecting or mirroring their actual lives, plotlines, and overall progression! As someone who does not care for sports in the slightest (all respect to those who do), my brain never even got close to making that connection, so when Louise Freeman specifies in her essay that “[Quidditch] echoes characters’ larger roles and predicts future story elements” (p.54), my mind was … quite blown.
Then, she doubles down with Caitlin Elizabeth Harper’s list of parallels between Quidditch and the characters’ lives: “Chosen One, Seeker, the only one who can end both the game and the ‘game.’ … His position as both Seeker and hunter of Horcruxes … Ginny catching the snitch ‘right out from under {[Cho’s]} nose’ in the final Gryfiindor-Ravenclaw match foreshadows Ginny replacing Cho as Harry’s love interest in Half-Blood Prince.”
I was like .. oh!
It was so cool learning the initial ideas for book 5, especially the crazy ones. Sirius choosing death over the dementors? Harry wouldn’t have recovered from that before the series ended… Luna not being in the original outline at all? Pain. Umbridge was going to be called “JOYCE” BAHAHHA. Bellatrix nonexistent at first? Interesting…
It’s cool to see this very early outline in its nakedness, it feels as though we can capture each tweak and twist that doesn’t fit, like a puzzle, and understand the complexity of the books. Some initial plots don’t fully work and some do, then you also see the given stuff, the things that have carried over from the beginning. It’s all laid out clearly by the authors and their theories as well as the editor’s well-curated appendixes.
Even though we follow different writers, we do get a sense of cohesion that, at the same time, lets their individual voices (and textual mistakes) shine freely, making the overall point of the book – the fire and meaning – much more apparent. Makes the book worth reading. And even though I wasn’t a huge fan of the last essay, it, indeed, was the last, so by that point I was okay with it.
The way Tarantino breaks down this speculative fan theorization didn’t really work for me in that last essay, even as a huge Potter fan. It felt a bit jarring the way he posed this theoretical perspective from a theoretical 2006 where, theoretically, the outline had been leaked and how everyone would, theoretically, respond to it. But then he inserts a future perspective that isn’t theoretical within the text that is trying to be speculative, and it all just negates the other and grows pointless. There was a big DUH spelled out on each page of that last essay, but I digress. It’s just an unfortunate way to end the book, but it does get fully redeemed with Rowling’s multiple outlines and the way the editor masterfully breaks it all down for us.
Anyway, there was a lot that was shifted and changed throughout the creation of Order of the Phoenix and I really appreciated the detailed breakdown by each author. I loved that we walked through everything in so much detail and, especially, that each essay allowed extreme branching out, to the point where we were covering a myriad of topics and it all felt cohesive and organized. Somehow. And those appendixes at the end of the book are precious gifts for any Potter fan out there to appreciate.
I think because I just finished re-reading Order of the Phoenix a couple days ago it enhanced the angle and perspective from which I was coming. This made the reading experience extra enjoyable. Each essay breaks down Rowling’s original plans quite excellently, especially when it comes to approaching the commentary and theorization from a perspective of love and care for the series, as well as a bird’s eye view into the intricacies that come with developing the webby plot of the middle of a complicated series within a large, 800+ page book.
What made this book work was its structure. The introduction is marvelous, breaking down Rowling’s drafts and how complicated the nature of them was, before leading into each essay which tackled not only an aspect of the outline itself, but also offered vastly different perspectives and arguments, allowing my mind as a reader to never grow bored, to always feel tethered to all the information. Finally, the end also provides you with a clear transcript of Rowling’s entire outline and draft notes of the book from 2000-2002, allowing reference points and space for sneaky indulgence of my own. I was able to create my own thoughts and theories along with the authors of the essays instead of being dragged across the mud by a mad writer.
Religion, speculative perspectives, graphs– the book doesn’t shy away from presenting you with diverse theories surrounding this specific story, yet each author does an excellent job in cornering themselves within the perimeter of Order of the Phoenix to keep things relevant– e.g. an author might make a comment on the themes of the overall seven books and their impact on the story but keep most poignant notes focused on Order.
Another thing I particularly cherished was that I did actually learn a lot from this, even as a thorough fan. For example, I never made the connection of Quidditch, as a sport and the way it’s played by each character throughout the series, reflecting or mirroring their actual lives, plotlines, and overall progression! As someone who does not care for sports in the slightest (all respect to those who do), my brain never even got close to making that connection, so when Louise Freeman specifies in her essay that “[Quidditch] echoes characters’ larger roles and predicts future story elements” (p.54), my mind was … quite blown.
Then, she doubles down with Caitlin Elizabeth Harper’s list of parallels between Quidditch and the characters’ lives: “Chosen One, Seeker, the only one who can end both the game and the ‘game.’ … His position as both Seeker and hunter of Horcruxes … Ginny catching the snitch ‘right out from under {[Cho’s]} nose’ in the final Gryfiindor-Ravenclaw match foreshadows Ginny replacing Cho as Harry’s love interest in Half-Blood Prince.”
I was like .. oh!
It was so cool learning the initial ideas for book 5, especially the crazy ones. Sirius choosing death over the dementors? Harry wouldn’t have recovered from that before the series ended… Luna not being in the original outline at all? Pain. Umbridge was going to be called “JOYCE” BAHAHHA. Bellatrix nonexistent at first? Interesting…
It’s cool to see this very early outline in its nakedness, it feels as though we can capture each tweak and twist that doesn’t fit, like a puzzle, and understand the complexity of the books. Some initial plots don’t fully work and some do, then you also see the given stuff, the things that have carried over from the beginning. It’s all laid out clearly by the authors and their theories as well as the editor’s well-curated appendixes.
Even though we follow different writers, we do get a sense of cohesion that, at the same time, lets their individual voices (and textual mistakes) shine freely, making the overall point of the book – the fire and meaning – much more apparent. Makes the book worth reading. And even though I wasn’t a huge fan of the last essay, it, indeed, was the last, so by that point I was okay with it.
The way Tarantino breaks down this speculative fan theorization didn’t really work for me in that last essay, even as a huge Potter fan. It felt a bit jarring the way he posed this theoretical perspective from a theoretical 2006 where, theoretically, the outline had been leaked and how everyone would, theoretically, respond to it. But then he inserts a future perspective that isn’t theoretical within the text that is trying to be speculative, and it all just negates the other and grows pointless. There was a big DUH spelled out on each page of that last essay, but I digress. It’s just an unfortunate way to end the book, but it does get fully redeemed with Rowling’s multiple outlines and the way the editor masterfully breaks it all down for us.
Anyway, there was a lot that was shifted and changed throughout the creation of Order of the Phoenix and I really appreciated the detailed breakdown by each author. I loved that we walked through everything in so much detail and, especially, that each essay allowed extreme branching out, to the point where we were covering a myriad of topics and it all felt cohesive and organized. Somehow. And those appendixes at the end of the book are precious gifts for any Potter fan out there to appreciate.
April 17, 2026
Because this was a book of essays by different authors, some were very interesting while some were less so. Unsurprisingly, I loved Beatrice Groves’ essay about how the names of the Order of the Phoenix and Dumbledore’s Army were reversed in the original drafts points to Fawkes as a symbol of the Holy Spirit and these groups as analogues of the Early Church.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews