Harry, Ron and Hermione have made it to their sixth year at Hogwarts. That is, after a little summer action to get this year going. Dumbledore has finally decided that Harry is old enough to get some background information is just why he is so darn special. is that why they wrote all them books about me perfesser? And it all comes from Voldemort, Harry's archenemy. He's the enemy of all people, actually.
Voldemort is a bad dude, that's pretty clear, and no matter what we've heard up to this point, there is always more badiness he's willing to do, just to remind Harry (and us) just how bad he is. Everything that Harry has been through has led him to this point, and Dumbledore is doing everything he can to help prepare Harry and friends for the rematch that must inevitably come.
But in the meantime, there are classes to take, potions to brew, spells, charms, and jinxes to learn, and that's to say nothing of all of the things that any normal 16 year old boy is obviously interested in when hanging out with a bunch of people his own age. are those girils perfesser?
J. K. Rowling takes the opportunity to begin lacing up some of the oldest, nagging questions and mysteries that she has sprinkled throughout the series, and Harry and his friends are eating it up. And they're left wanting more. That's right, there is one more book to go and Rowling has saved some of the good stuff for the finale. Book 4 is where this series stopped being a little kids story, and became a big kids story. Just look at the artwork on the covers. On the covers of the first three books, Harry is flying! wheeee It looks daunting to be sure but Harry looks young and cartoonish, and the images are colorful and fun. On the cover of book 4, Harry is smiling again. Its still colorful, but he does look more carefully drawn. The art itself seems more serious.
Book 5? Yikes, just look. Shades of deep blue, Harry looks serious, warily glancing over his shoulder. The wand held in what looks like celebration on the cover of book 4, looks a lot like a defensive weapon on the cover of book 5. And this book, book 6? That's a pretty grim color scheme, and again, the smile is gone. Harry and Dumbledore don't look like they're making a cake for the Spring Faire.
As I've said before, the stories seem to grow with Harry. Reading them when they first came out, with a year or so between the later books, my kids were growing at the same rate as the characters in real time, so they kept same pace as Harry got older and the stories more grown up. Reading to your own kids? 6 or 7 is probably old enough for the earlier stories, but that may be too young for these later ones, depending on their maturity.
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