Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was published on June 21, 2003 — that’s 13 years ago today. Do you remember where you were?

The Harry Potter fandom will be feeling a collective sense of nostalgia today, on the 13-year publication anniversary of J.K. Rowling’s Order of the Phoenix.

The fifth book in the Harry Potter saga marked a big shift in the series: Not only was OotP longer and more emotionally involving than previous books, but it also featured the most gut-wrenching character death yet.

_

While we’re sure Cedric Diggory had his mourners (and his death certainly went on to affect Harry for a long time to come), no one was expecting the emotional devastation that was the sudden, senseless death of Sirius Black.

After spending a tense, and not altogether enjoyable, year with Harry at Hogwarts (which suffered from the absence of Albus Dumbledore, and the appointment of Dolores Umbridge as the Headmistress — although we did see the rise of Dumbledore’s Army, which was amazing), readers followed Harry, Ron, Hermione, and extended lightning squad members Luna, Neville and Ginny, into the Ministry of Magic.

Here, we weaved our way through the Department of Mysteries — a sequence that would prove the foundation for a staggering number of unresolved fan theories — arriving finally at the fateful confrontation in the Veil Room.

Voldemort himself had arrived with his Death Eaters to take down Harry and get possession of Professor Trelawney’s prophecy, but the Order of the Phoenix showed up just in time. Unfortunately, Sirius was hit by a curse fired by Bellatrix Lestrange, falling backwards into the veil and disappearing forever. Just like that, he was gone.


Credit: Tumblr

Order of the Phoenix came after a three-year fandom drought (Goblet of Fire was published in 2000), and a lot of new fans had joined the ranks of online fan forums during that time. Fandom was truly thriving, with new theories, metas and fanfics arriving daily for eager fans to consume and discuss.

By the time Order of the Phoenix finally hit shelves on June 21, 2003, Harry Potter was truly a worldwide sensation, with the movie series well under way — and, in this writer’s opinion, the book did not disappoint in the slightest. (In fact, it’s my favorite book in the series!)

All the o.g. Harry Potter fans remember where they were when a copy of OotP finally found its way into our sweaty, excited little hands. In my case, it was my first ever midnight release party, and the first Harry Potter book I ever read in English (a necessity since the Danish translation wouldn’t come out for months!).

It took me two days and two nights to read it, during which the book hardly left my hands for a second. I’ve never been quite as present in a fictional world as I was while reading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix for the first time, and my love for Harry Potter was cemented forever. 13 years later, and nothing has changed.

We asked Harry Potter fans to share their Order of the Phoenix memories on Twitter, and here’s what some of you had to say:

And here’s a few from your friendly neighborhood Hypable staffers:

Where were you when ‘Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix’ was released?