J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was published in the United Kingdom on 21 June 2003.
The novel was the fifth book in the seven-volume Harry Potter series. Its release was a major international publishing event, with midnight launches and large crowds in bookshops. The British first edition was published by Bloomsbury, Rowling’s original Harry Potter publisher.
The book followed Harry’s fourth-year story in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and introduced a darker conflict involving the Ministry of Magic’s refusal to accept Voldemort’s return. Dolores Umbridge, the Ministry’s appointee at Hogwarts, became one of the series’ most prominent antagonists.
Readers sometimes confuse its publication date with the dates of the surrounding novels. The first book appeared in 1997, the sixth in 2005, and the seventh in 2007. The United States edition used the title Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix as well, unlike the first book, whose American title changed from Philosopher’s Stone to Sorcerer’s Stone.