I started reading Harry Potter books when the second book of the series came out.  It was when the series started to become a phenomenon among kids and I wanted to find out what made it different from other children's books.  I smelled magic sauce.

After four books, I still haven't figured it out fully.  One thing I am sure of is that components of Harry Potter stories are what kids want: special powers, secret places, close friends, payback, mythical creatures, and fast yet smooth pace.  Harry Potter is fun to read and made kids happy.

But the most recent volume, Order of Phoenix, seems different from the previous four volumes.  It goes deeper into Harry Potter's mind and tries to teach something to the kids.  While I breezed through other volumes in matter of hours, I struggled over several days to read few chapters of the latest volume.

My son had similar problems so he skipped through most of the book.  When I asked him his opinion about the book, he said it was fun.  I didn't probe deeper because he was obviously faking it.  Kids are innocent, but not always truthful, particularly when they want to please you.

Harry Potter series is going down hill from here on.  What a shame.