Order of the Phoenix
Imelda Staunton (she has recently played Elizabeth II in The Crown, Maud Bagshaw in the Downton Abbey films, one of the fairies in the Maleficent films, and years ago was the nurse in Shakespeare in Love) joins the cast as Dolores Umbridge, and Helena Bonham Carter (she was Elizabeth II’s sister, Princess Margaret in The Crown, Queen Elizabeth [that would be Elizabeth II’s mother, known as the Queen Mother when her daughter took the throne] in The King’s Speech, the mother, Eudoria Holmes in the Enola Holmes films, the Fairy Godmother in the live-action Cinderella, Madame Thénardier in the Les Misérables film from 2012; she is also a favorite in Tim Burton’s films [Sweeney Todd, Alice in Wonderland to name a few], she was Morgan le Fey/Queen Mab in the 1998 Merlin movie, and one of her first movies was Lady Jane where she was Lady Jane Grey, the nine-day queen of England) as Bellatrix Lestrange, along with Evanna Lynch as Luna Lovegood.
This was another book that I purchased as soon as it came out. However, that summer, I was on vacation with a friend, and we stopped at a Wal-Mart shortly after midnight and there was a pallet full of the books. And then I was told off because I was reading the book in the car instead of taking in the scenery (in my defense, each mile looked about the same, so the book was far more interesting).
Harry is back at Privet Drive for the summer (note the progressively darker tinted openings in the films) and tries to keep up on the news as best he can, in case anything strange happens, though he has to hide because the Dursleys find it odd. He’s upset at the lack of information; Ron and Hermione can’t say anything in their letters. It’s past his birthday and no one has come to retrieve him. He’s chafing with the knowledge “hadn’t he proved himself capable of handling much more than they? Hadn’t it been he who had entered that graveyard and watched Cedric being murdered and been tied to that tombstone and nearly killed… (pg. 8)?” Even Sirius tells Harry in his letters “Be careful and don’t do anything rash… (pg. 9).” Overall, he’s frustrated and angry and has unsettling dreams about long corridors. So, aching for a fight, he takes the chance to poke fun at Dudley when his cousin is away from his gang. Dudley turns it back on Harry and calls him out for his nightmares, which has Harry drawing his wand. Which he needs because dementors turn up, and he’s forced to save Dudley.
Luckily, old Mrs. Figg witnessed it and turns out, she’s a Squib (non-magical child born to magical parents) and knows Dumbledore. But owls arrive at Privet Drive, first expelling Harry for using magic, but then he finds out Dumbledore goes to argue his case, so instead there will be a hearing to determine the consequences. But Harry almost wants to go on the run to avoid the Ministry. When he has to explain to the Dursleys what has been going on and the fact that Voldemort, the wizard that murdered his parents, is back, Vernon tries to throw him out. Petunia gets an owl that warns her “Remember my last, Petunia!” So she relents and says they have to keep him; the neighbors would question, but he’s confined to his room again. The only part shown in the film is one letter from the Ministry.
Harry also gets owls from Arthur Weasley and Sirius ordering him stay in the house. Harry’s not pleased with the lack of information (in the film, we get a shot of a photograph of James and Lily, which is nice to see). Four days later, when the Dursleys are out for the evening, Moody, Lupin, and several others, such as Nymphadora Tonks and Kingsley Shacklebolt come for Harry. Moody funnily calls Harry out for keeping his wand in his back pocket, so when Tonks helps Harry with his trunk, she checks “both buttocks still on?” They fly to London and Harry enters Number 12 Grimmauld Place; the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. The house magically appears between numbers 11 and 13 and Mrs. Weasley is the one to greet the crew. She sends the adults in to the meeting, while Harry is sent upstairs to wait with Ron and Hermione. Hermione babbles that Dumbledore kept them from writing anything of import to Harry. This doesn’t help Harry’s mood and he shouts; “every bitter and resentful thought that Harry had had in the past month was pouring out of him; his frustration at the lack of news, the hurt that they had all been together without him, his fury at being followed and not told about it: All the feelings he was half-ashamed of finally burst their boundaries (pgs. 65-66).” [Which is understandable and I totally agree Harry should feel this way; it’s just, it gets repeated over and over throughout the book, that part annoys me.]
Harry calms down and his friends are able to explain that the Order is a secret society made up of people who fought Voldemort the last time, and a few who are now old enough to join; but only those witches and wizards who are out of school. Ron fills in Harry on his family; Bill (who he met the previous year), is part of the Order and dating Fleur Delacour; Charlie is also part of the Order, but remained in Romania; Percy had an argument with Arthur and left the house, deciding to stand with the Ministry. The paper continues to run stories discrediting both Dumbledore and Harry, turning them into people no one will believe, which hampers some of the Order’s work.
When the meeting ends, Harry is able to greet his godfather [and we adore the hug they share], and find out that Grimmauld Place is Sirius’ parents’ house. He offered the house to Dumbledore for headquarters; “about the only useful thing I’ve been able to do (pg. 79).” Sirius admits that he is stuck inside because the Ministry is still after him; “There’s not much I can do for the Order of the Phoenix…or so Dumbledore feels (pg. 82).” He does offer that Harry can ask questions; he’s got a right to know. In the film, we hear Sirius arguing for action as Harry enters the house. Molly argues, and apparently Dumbledore agrees, that they are not to tell Harry more than he needs to know. Sirius argues back that it’s his decision as Harry’s godfather; he’s not a child. Molly counters that Harry is not an adult either, he’s not James. The way Sirius talks, he’s got his best friend back and Sirius has been known to act rashly, which is why Dumbledore has reminded him to stay home. Lupin jumps in and states that it is better for Harry to get the facts, not some garbled version (because he knows the teens are trying to listen in. And in the film, Crookshanks hilariously ate an Extendable Ear, to which one of the twins said “I hate your cat, Hermione”). Molly continues that Dumbledore must have his reasons to keep Harry in the dark, and Molly is someone who has Harry’s best interest at heart.
Sirius can’t let that lie and tells Molly, “he’s not your son.” “He’s as good as, who else has he got?” Molly counters. He has Sirius, his godfather quickly claims. Molly retorts, “it’s been rather difficult for you to look after him whole you’ve been locked up in Azkaban, hasn’t it?” Luckily, Lupin jumps back in and settles both adults; Molly is not the only person who cares about Harry and makes his friend sit down. Then he says “Harry ought to be allowed a say in his. He’s old enough to decide for himself (pg. 90).” Harry jumps for the opportunity for information. Mentally, he’s touched that Molly Weasley considers him as good as a son, but also sides with Sirius, that he’s not a child.
While Harry may be underage, he’s not a normal child. He is the one that Voldemort is out to kill; he’s the one who has met the villain face-to-face more than once. A lot of the events that must be going on affect Harry’s life. He should be aware, because being blind to it will not save him. And Sirius should be allowed the opportunity to live up to being named godfather. And yes, it’s very admirable that Molly Weasley wants to look after Harry and she treats him as her own son and Harry has needed that. But as Remus points out, she is not the only one who cares about Harry and she can’t make decisions for him.
We find out alongside Harry that there have not been suspicious deaths, yet. Voldemort doesn’t want to draw attention to himself at this point. His comeback was messed up by Harry surviving and getting word back to Dumbledore. Of course, he’s working behind the scenes and attempting to build an army, which is why the Order is also recruiting new members. They’re running into interference with the Ministry because Fudge is determined to not believe that Voldemort is back; it’s a bad mark on his political reign. Instead, he’s gotten paranoid that Dumbledore actually wants to rule and is out for the Minster’s job. There is something else; something that Voldemort is after that he didn’t have last time, a possible weapon. Molly puts an end to the discussion at that point.
Harry and the other teens spend the rest of the summer cleaning the house. The house resists being cleaned. They find a locket in a cabinet that Kreacher, the house elf, steals so they can’t throw it away. The writing desk has a boggart inside. Fred and George are secretly working on sweets for their joke shop, that will make students ill so they can miss class. They come across a tapestry with the family tree of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, whose motto is Toujours Pur. Sirius was blasted off when he ran away from home at the age of 16. He went to the Potters. Sirius had a younger brother, Regulus, who bought into the whole pureblood regime and joined the Death Eaters, and then was killed. “Anytime the family produced someone halfway decent, they were disowned (pg. 113).” Tonks’ mother, Andromeda, was a favorite cousin of Sirius. She was removed from the tapestry because she married a Muggle-born. Andromeda’s two sisters are Bellatrix Lestrange and Narcissa Malfoy; meaning that Sirius is related to Draco Malfoy. Sirius points out that most of the pure-blood wizarding families are interrelated, though “if ever a family was a bunch of blood traitors, it’s the Weasleys (pg. 113).” Sirius is not proud of his family; he doesn’t like being back in the house. “I never thought I’d be stuck in this house again (pg. 114).” And Harry understands. He felt the same way being stuck in Privet Drive. He brings up the notion that if he would get expelled from Hogwarts for using magic against the dementors, could he come back and live with Sirius. A lot of this is left out of the film, though the tapestry bit is moved to a later point.
Arthur takes Harry to the Ministry of Magic for his hearing, using the visitor’s entrance, which is a telephone box where they dial 62442 [which spells out MAGIC]. When they get there, they get word that the time and location of his hearing has been changed. Harry is brought before a Wizengamot session, highly unusual (and a departure from Fudge’s previous joviality; just two years prior, he swept the matter under the rug that Harry blew up his aunt). Luckly, Dumbledore arrived at the Ministry extremely early [this was undoubtedly all a plot to catch Harry off his guard and give them another reason to rule against him; and Dumbledore probably understood that and made sure to be early to counteract] and acts as witness for the defense. Fudge talks over Harry, who only just gets out that he only used magic because of the dementors. We meet the Minister’s senior undersecretary, Dolores Umbridge. Harry is cleared of all charges, but Fudge is still not convinced. Dumbledore never looks at or speaks to Harry.
Back at Grimmauld Place, prefect badges come for Hermione and Ron. Molly is pleased and claims “that’s everyone in the family!” George points out, “What are Fred and I, next-door neighbors?” [This is left out of the movie, thought I wish they had kept that plot point in just for that line.] As a reward, Molly and Arthur get Ron a new broom. Harry is briefly jealous, but talks himself out of it; he won’t ruin this for Ron, this that he has beaten Harry at something. He’s cheered by finding out that James wasn’t a prefect either; that was Remus. Moody brings around a photo of the original Order of the Phoenix, showing Harry his parents as well as Frank and Alice Longbottom. After dinner, Harry comes across Molly crying at the boggart from the writing desk. It shows her a dead Ron, then Bill, Arthur, the twins, Percy, and finally Harry. Lupin is able to calm her down and points out that should the worst happen, the order will of course take care of her children, does she think they’d let them starve?
Sirius as Padfoot accompanies Harry to King’s Cross, which cheers Harry up. He rides with Ginny and Neville, and he meets Luna Lovegood, who is a bit odd, and does not hit it off with Hermione. Unfortunately, he also finds out that Malfoy is a Slytherin prefect. The blonde’s comment is “you see, I, unlike you, have been made a prefect, which means that I, unlike you, have the power to hand out punishment.” Harry’s comeback is “yeah, but you, unlike me, are a git, so get out and leave us alone (pg. 194).” [Another great bit that was left out of the film.]
At Hogwarts, Harry is taken aback to discover that the carriages do not actually pull themselves; they’re drawn by dark, scaly almost-horse winged creatures. Except his friends don’t see them. Luna does and assures him he’s not going mad. He doesn’t necessarily believe her. His mood does not improve when he discovers that Hagrid is not there, or that Umbridge will be the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. The Sorting Hat attempts to warn the school “Hogwarts is in danger/From external, deadly foes/And we must unite inside her/Or we’ll crumble from within (pg. 207).” Umbridge them makes a speech that “progress for the sake of progress must be discouraged. Let us preserve what ought to be preserved, perfect what can be perfected, and prune practices that out to be prohibited.” And encourages the school to move forward with a new era of openness. Hermione (correctly) interprets the speech that the Ministry is interfering at Hogwarts. The evening does not end well when Harry discovers that classmate, Seamus Finnegan almost did not return because he and his mother believe what the paper is saying about Harry and Dumbledore. An argument starts between the two boys, and Ron sides with Harry, as well as Neville.
Fred and George continue to work on their joke shop and start thinking about life outside Hogwarts, and point out that the fifth years will get career advice this year alongside their OWL exams. Anger continues to flare in Harry and he takes his temper out on Hermione and Ron. Their first class with Umbridge does not go well, discovering that they will not be practicing any magic. The Ministry has deemed that a theoretical knowledge will get them through exams, which is what school is all about. When it’s brought up that they would need magic outside of school and proper knowledge, Umbridge declares that Voldemort’s return is a lie and gives Harry detention. “So, according to you, Cedric Diggory dropped dead of his own accord (pg. 245)!”
Umbridge sends Harry to McGonagall. “Have a biscuit, Potter,” the Scotswoman tells Harry when the teenager explains what happened. Then she warns him to be careful; he knows to whom Umbridge reports. It’s not about truth or lies, it about keeping his head down and temper under control. And at least he listens to Hermione about the Ministry’s interference (sadly, this was kept out of the movie).
At detention, Umbridge tells Harry it is his punishment for spreading evil, nasty attention-seeking stories. “You know deep down you deserve to be punished” [and that is a horrible thing to ever say to someone…I’m guessing in the wizarding world that no one questioned her teaching qualifications…obviously not since she’s a spy for Fudge.] He’s to write lines, and he’ll be using a special quill of Umbridge’s, that doesn’t require ink. No, it uses his blood and while he writes “I must not tell lies,” it carves into the back of his hand. Harry refuses to make a noise throughout his punishment and initially refuses to tell even Ron or Hermione. When they find out, he also refuses to tell Dumbledore. McGonagall finds out in the film and calls Umbridge out for her medieval methods, to which Umbridge attempts to claim McGonagall is disloyal. Umbridge may actually be a teacher that Harry hates even more than Snape. Percy sends Ron a letter to cut ties with Harry and instead, follow Umbridge. That’s because Umbridge is named by the Minister the new High Inquisitor of Hogwarts, giving the Ministry unprecedented level of control at Hogwarts and Umbridge powers to “inspect” teachers. If they’re not up to her snuff, she and the Ministry can appoint new teachers. There are still members of the Wizengamot who support Dumbledore and oppose the decrees, though the paper also tries to discredit them.
Sirius manages to make a fire call to Harry, responding to a note that Harry sent; he told his godfather “I feel more alone than ever” and knows Sirius will understand [and your heart breaks a little]. Sirius has heard about Umbridge through Remus; she dislikes half-breeds and pushes legislation through against werewolves. Though Sirius points out that the “world isn’t split into good people and Death Eaters (pg. 302).” And Fudge continues to be paranoid about Dumbledore. The reason why the students won’t actually learn defensive spells is he’s afraid to have them “trained in combat;” he’s afraid that Dumbledore is building his own army to attack the Ministry. When Sirius suggests that he comes to visit Harry at Hogsmeade, Harry warns him away; the Malfoys possibly recognized Sirius as Padfoot at King’s Cross and Harry doesn’t want his godfather chucked back in Azkaban. Unfortunately, his godfather’s parting words are “you’re less like your father than I thought. The risk would’ve been what made it fun for James (pg. 305).” Luckily, those parting words are left out of the film, because it’s not fair to compare the son to the father. At that time and age, James could be reckless; Harry’s not in a position to be reckless. Instead, his parting words to the teens in the film are “looks like you’re on your own,” which does not bode well.
The first inspection the trio witness is Umbridge with Professor Trelawney. While they know Trelawney is a fake, it’s a bit hard to watch Umbridge demand a prediction. Then Umbridge inspects McGonagall, which does not go the way Umbridge expects. We cheer alongside the students as Minerva tells the toad “I wonder, how you expect to gain an idea of my usual teaching methods if you continue to interrupt me? You see, I do not generally permit people to talk when I am talking (pg. 320).” Seriously, why did the filmmakers cut out the awesome McGonagall scenes? This would have been great on camera. Though they do pair Umbridge’s scenes where she exerts control throughout the school with chipper music, to make everything a little off-kilter.
It’s Hermione who brings up the idea of learning Defense Against the Dark Arts themselves. But they need a proper teacher, who’s actually fought the Dark Arts – like Harry. Harry insists his continued existence is based on luck; he didn’t know what he was doing half the time and never planned it. “The whole time you’re sure you know there’s nothing between you and dying except your own – your own brain or guts or whatever – like you can think straight when you know you’re about a second from being murdered, or tortured, or watching your friends die – they’ve never taught us that in their classes, what it’s like to deal with things like that (pg. 328).” This is why it should be Harry, Hermione insists. She gathers some other students and they meet at Hog’s Head during the next Hogsmeade weekend. There are a few more than Harry expected and some of them start by asking questions about what really happened with Cedric. Harry refuses to address that. The meeting settles down and Hermione demands that those who sign their names to the list agree not to tell anybody else. Gotta love the line in the movie where Hermione says, “it’s sort of exciting, isn’t it, breaking the rules?” This from the girl who told Ron and Harry off first year about “another idea to get us killed, or worse, expelled.” Which is why Ron replies, “who are you and what have you done with Hermione Granger?”
There are some passing comments about Harry’s interest in Cho, as well as Ginny dating another Gryffindor. In other news, Ron tried out and became the new Keeper for the Gryffindor Quidditch team. He’s not terribly good when his confidence falters.
Shortly after the meeting, a new educational decree is put out that student groups are disbanded and have to be given permission by Umbridge to reform. McGonagall goes above her head when Umbridge almost refuses to let the Gryffindor team continue. Sirius manages another fire call and passes along that the Order knows about the student group. Molly prefers if they disband, but Sirius is all for it. Learning to defend themselves is a good idea.
Malfoy continues to make digs at Harry, advising there is a “special ward for people whose brains have been addled by magic.” It doesn’t bother Harry because he’s too busy pulling Neville away from Malfoy. We and Harry know that Neville’s parents were tortured to insanity by Bellatrix Lestrange and now reside in St. Mungo’s (again, left out of the film). Umbridge next inspects Snape and points out that he first applied for the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts and was unsuccessful. “Obviously.” [And Alan Rickman had such a talent to put so much nuance in one word.]
The secret defense meeting finds a meeting place in the Room of Requirement, which Harry finds out about from Dobby. Dobby does not appear in the film, most likely to keep the storyline streamlined. It’s Neville who comes across the room. One can only enter if they have a real need and the room is always equipped with the seeker’s need. Harry’s comment is “it’s like Hogwarts wants us to fight back.” They name themselves “Dumbledore’s Army,” because that’s what the Ministry is afraid of.” And Hermione figures out how to charm Galleons to transmit the next meeting date and time (which is a bit of advanced magic). Harry starts off with teaching them Expelliarmus first; it saved his life against Voldemort the previous year. As the other students begin to progress, it buoys Harry’s spirit (he still has issues with anger and temper flaring).
Gryffindor plays Slytherin in Quidditch and Malfoy has taught the Slytherins a ditty: “Weasley is our King” to get in Ron’s head. Harry manages to catch the Snitch early to win the game, so Malfoy insults the Weasleys and Lily Potter, so Harry and George pounce on the ponce. Umbridge, the little toad, puts a lifetime Quidditch ban on Harry, Fred, and George (because Fred would have hit the boy as well if the others weren’t holding him back); and of course, Malfoy gets off scot-free. She got Fudge to set a new educational decree after McGonagall went over her head. [I get a little angry about this because it is completely unjust, but there are entitled people who are like this, who have to have their way and figure out how to get it…and this is why we hate Umbridge.]
A little hope shines through: Hagrid is back. But injured. He admits to the trio that he was sent to parley with the giants. It did not go as well as he hoped, but he’s quiet as to why it took him so long to return or why he’s injured. They try to warn him about Umbridge and Hermione even begs for Hagrid to do boring lessons so he can’t get thrown out, but Hagrid bats them away. His first lesson is about thestrals, the strange creatures Harry can now see that pull the carriages. And the reason he can now see them is that only people who have seen death can see them. Umbridge comes to inspect the lesson and is purposefully horrid, making enough comments out loud that she views him as inferior and won’t listen to a good word about him, selecting the Slytherins to make horrible comments. [Grrr].
On a better note, Neville is improving in D.A. and Cho manages to kiss Harry, though she’s been crying about Cedric. Hermione interprets her feelings for the boys, commenting that Cho spends half her time anymore crying. When Ron comments that one person can’t feel all those emotions or they’ll burst, Hermione retorts “just because you’ve got the emotional range of a teaspoon doesn’t mean we all have (pg. 459)” [and I love that line.] Harry dreams about Cho, but it changes to a snake attacking Arthur Weasley. Ron runs for McGonagall, who takes Harry to Dumbledore. The headmaster sends other portraits to make sure Arthur is found and sends Harry and the Weasleys to Grimmauld Place. When Dumbledore looks at Harry, a feeling of hatred so powerful comes over Harry, he almost wants to bite Dumbledore like the snake. When Harry is ignored, the anger flares and he shouts “Look at me!” and demands “what’s happening to me?”
Arthur lives and Molly takes the children, joined by Hermione, to St. Mungo’s the next day to visit. The kids also overhear the adults talk about Voldemort possibly possessing Harry. So Harry pulls away from the others, and starts thinking he’ll need to leave the wizarding world in order to protect his friends. They finally track him down and Ginny points out she was once possessed by Voldemort and what Harry is going through is not an actual possession. They try to get across to Harry that he’s not alone. Sirius is also pleased to have guests for the holiday. On another visit to St. Mungo’s Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny come across Lockhart, who’s still missing memories due to his spell backfiring. They also find out about Neville’s parents, seeing him visit them. This is the first time, at the end of the holiday, that Harry doesn’t want to return to Hogwarts. If not for D.A., he’d beg to stay with Sirius.
And his mood doesn’t improve when Snape pays a visit to Grimmauld Place before they return to Hogwarts, informing Sirius and Harry that Dumbledore has asked Snape to give Harry lessons in Occlumency, a magical defense of the mind against external penetration. Sirius warns his old nemesis that if he gets word that Snape is using the lessons to give Harry a hard time, the Potions master will answer to him. Of course, Snape retorts with a crack about James and calls Sirius a coward [which would not help Sirius’ mental health.] When the teens finally leave, “Harry had an unpleasant constricted sensation in his chest; he did not want to say good-bye to Sirius. He had a bad feeling about this parting; he did not know when they would next see each other (pg. 523).” Sirius passes Harry a gift as he leaves, to use if he needed him. Harry vows to himself not to use it; he would not lure Sirius from a place of safety.
In his lessons with Snape, Harry finds out that the curse that left the scar on his head forged a connection with Voldemort. And he’s learning Occlumency so that the Dark Lord won’t use the connection going the other way. He’s gotten a view from inside the evil lord’s head, and hints of his feelings. Though Snape doesn’t actually tell Harry how to repel him with his brain. The man only tells Harry to clear his mind, let go of all emotion, master himself, and control your anger, discipline your mind. Those are not actual instructions. Harry’s forced to relieve bad memories, though he works out that the corridor he keeps dreaming about is in the Department of Mysteries. He also senses happiness from Voldemort. That’s because several Death Eaters made a mass breakout from Azkaban, including Bellatrix. Of course, the paper blames Sirius, but other students are starting to question which story is right.
Harry’s lessons with Occlumency are moved to right after Dumbledore’s office in the film, so Sirius can’t defend Harry against Snape. Dumbledore claims that it can’t wait, or else everyone will be vulnerable. And he still explains nothing to Harry, which frustrates the teen more. Snape explains that Voldemort is skilled in the art of breaking into someone’s mind, unhinging it, creating visions, and ultimately torturing his victims to madness. And still, his only notes to Harry to perform Occlumency are concentrate and focus.
We do see Harry at Grimmauld Place for Christmas; Arthur offers the teen a toast, for “without whom, I would not be here.” Harry spends some time with his godfather and it’s at this point in the movie that they come across the Black family tapestry. It’s now that Harry finds out this was Sirius’ childhood home. Sirius admits he hated his parents for their pureblood mania. His mother blasted him off the tree when he ran away from home at sixteen. He went to James’ home; he was always welcomed at the Potters. “I see him so much in you, Harry. You are so very much alike.” [This comes across better than some passages in the book, because it’s said with warmth, thanks to Gary Oldman, and with a longing that James isn’t around for Harry to see his similarities. Sirius is also trying to cheer up his godson, not just wallow in missing an old friend.]
Harry, in turn, admits that in his dream, he was the snake. What if the reason for this connection to Voldemort means Harry is becoming more like the Dark Lord? “I just feel so angry, all the time. And what if, after everything I’ve been through, something’s gone wrong inside me? What if I’m becoming bad?” (At least Harry admitted it to someone). Sirius comforts his godson, “you’re not a bad person. You’re a very good person, who bad things have happened to.” “Besides, the world isn’t split into good people and Death Eaters; we’ve all got light and dark inside of us. What matters is the part we choose to act on. That’s who we really are.” As they leave, Sirius tells Harry, “when all of this is over, we’ll be a proper family, you’ll see.” He pulls his godson in for a hug (and paired with the melancholy music, our hearts break a bit again, especially if you’ve read the book).
More decrees come out, forbidding teachers to say anything to students that’s not related to their direct subject. The breakout intensifies Umbridge’s furious desire to bring every aspect of life at Hogwarts under her personal control. She puts Trelawney and Hagrid on probation and sits in on all their classes. Umbridge is slowly depriving Harry of everything that made his life at Hogwarts worth living. He gets his revenge with D.A. Neville is again the one to show the most improvement, fueled by the knowledge that the one who tortured his parents is now free. Though Harry’s lessons with Occlumency continue to go poorly.
Harry manages to ask Cho out for a date. It ends up falling apart because Harry is supposed to meet up with Hermione later and doesn’t know quite how to say it to Cho without hurting her feelings. Cho also only wants to talk about Cedric. When Harry shows up for his meeting with Hermione, he finds her with Rita Skeeter and Luna Lovegood. Harry is to give Rita an interview about what happened the previous summer, which will be printed in the Quibbler, the magazine that Luna’s father owns. The interview goes well and Harry receives letters from readers. Some still think he’s mad, but some are now turned to the truth. Umbridge finds out and bans Harry from further Hogsmeade trips, as well as taking points and giving Harry more detention. She puts through the decree that anyone caught reading the Quibbler will be expelled. As Hermione points out, “if she could have done one thing to make absolutely sure that every single person in this school will read your interview, it was banning it (pg. 582)!”
More people are swayed in their belief, students hide the magazine from Umbridge, teachers support Harry how they can. Trelawney pronounces that Harry will not suffer an early death. Cho apologizes to Harry, as well as Seamus.
Umbridge ultimately fires Trelawney and tries to send her from the castle. McGonagall of all people is the one to come forward to comfort Sybill. Dumbledore arrives and while the High Inquisitor has the right to dismiss any of the teachers, she does not have the power to send them from the castle; that power still resides with the headmaster. And he’s already found another Divination teacher, because the decree stated that the Ministry can put in a replacement only if the headmaster is unable to do so. His new professor is the centaur, Firenze.
His lessons differ from Trelawney’s. The wisdom of centaurs is impersonal and impartial. The observe the heavens for “here is written, for those who can see, the fortune of our races (pg. 602).” [Centaurs hold the ability to view the heavens and see the future in mythology; they do so in C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia.] “His priority did not seem to be to teach them what he knew, but rather to impress upon them that nothing, not even centaurs’ knowledge, was foolproof (pg. 604).” Firenze does not appear in the film.
D.A. starts working on Patronuses, but Dobby comes to warn them that Umbridge is coming. Everyone scatters and runs, but Harry is caught by Malfoy. Umbridge takes him to Dumbledore’s office, where Fudge, McGonagall, Percy, and Shacklebolt are already waiting. Harry doesn’t play along and tells her that no, he doesn’t know why he’s been brought in. Then Umbridge brings forward their informant, Cho’s friend. Except she’s got pimples across her face spelling out “Sneak;” that’d be the effect of Hermione’s hex. She told Umbridge about the meeting, but won’t say anything else. Umbridge had her own informant at Hog’s Head the day the group was formed, though McGonagall points out that her informant was never prosecuted for his other crimes, funny how “justice” works. When Umbridge starts shaking the girl to get answers, Dumbledore steps in, for he won’t allow her to manhandle his students. The list of names is brought forward, under the banner of “Dumbledore’s Army.” This is simplified in the movie to show that Cho was doused with Veritiserum to give them up.
Dumbledore “confesses” to the crime, that he’s been plotting against Fudge. However, he will not come quietly. “I have absolutely no intention of being sent to Azkaban. I could break out, of course – but what a waste of time, and frankly, I can think of a whole host of things I would rather be doing (pg. 620).” He warns one of the other men that if they try to take him by force, he will have to hurt them. He also won’t let Minerva help, Hogwarts needs her. Minerva shoves the two students to the floor as Dumbledore creates his escape. He took out the other adults, even the Order member so that it wouldn’t look suspicious. He won’t go into hiding, but “Fudge will soon wish he’d never dislodged me from Hogwarts.” The headmaster won’t let Harry apologize, though he insists that Harry studies Occlumency; it’s more important than ever that Harry closes his mind to dreams. He disappears into a phoenix flame in the film, and it’s remarked by Kingsley that “he’s got style.”
Umbridge is instated as the new headmistress and creates the Inquisitorial Squad, which has more power than prefects. [More like her minions and that can only spell trouble.] Fred and George start plotting; they no longer care about getting into trouble. Under Dumbledore, they knew what line to toe. Now, with Dumbledore gone, they “reckon a bit of mayhem is exactly what our dear new Head deserves (pg. 627).” Umbridge also brings Harry into her office (pink and full of kitten plates), and offers him a drink in order to find out what he knows about Dumbledore. And some of the knowledge and paranoia of Moody has stuck in Harry’s head for he realizes not to accept a drink handed to him by a known enemy and only pretends to sip his tea. Her interrogation session is interrupted by enchanted fireworks, which spread through the school all afternoon. None of the teachers offer to help, constantly calling Umbridge for assistance. Gryffindor tower, including Hermione, congratulate the twins. The fireworks are part of their new joke shop.
During Harry’s next Occlumency lesson, Snape has to leave for a moment and Harry listens to the reckless and daring side of his brain and examines Snape’s Pensieve. He’s dropped into Snape’s worst memory. Harry sees his father, the same age as himself, Sirius, and Remus, all taking the OWLs. When the exam finishes, everyone heads outside. Snape sits by himself and the Marauders sit together for a while, James showing off catching a Snitch. When they get bored, James and Sirius cast spells on Snape, bullying him. Lily steps in; “what’s he done to you?” “Well, it’s more the fact that he exists.” James asks Lily out, but she refuses. Snape hexes James, then calls Lily a Mudblood for trying to help. She snaps at Snape and tells James off. Then Harry is dragged out by Snape and thrown from his rooms.
In the film, Harry sees the memory when he manages to fight back against Snape. Snape has already taunted Harry that he’s just like his father, lazy, arrogant, and weak. Harry protests that he’s not weak. Snape tells him to prove it, “control your emotions, discipline your mind.” (Which is, admittedly, a tiny bit more instruction, but he doesn’t nothing to actually help Harry achieve the results.) When Harry asks for a break, Snape now makes a dig at Sirius, calling him and Harry “two of a kind, sentimental children, forever whining about how bitterly your lives have been [they technically have points]. Well, it may have escaped your notice, but life isn’t fair. Your blessed father knew that. In fact, he frequently saw to it that…” Harry cuts off the professor, “my father was a great man.” “Your father was a swine.” Harry gets into Snape’s mind and sees his worst memory, of James and Sirius taunting Snape. Rickman’s Snape quietly informs Harry, “your lessons are at an end.” So, it’s not as horrible as in the book. And Harry never gets a chance to ask about what he saw.
Harry’s horrified; from what he saw, “his father had been every bit as arrogant as Snape had always told him (pg. 650).” This contradicts what everyone has said about his parents. “For five years the thought of this father had been a source of comfort, of inspiration. Whenever someone had told him he was like James he had glowed with pride inside. And now…now he felt cold and miserable at the thought of him (pgs. 653-654).” Harry later admits to Ginny that he wishes he could talk to Sirius. Ginny’s up for it. Growing up with the twins, “anything’s possible if you’ve got enough nerve (pg. 655).”
First, Harry has Career Advice with McGonagall, sat in on by Umbridge. Harry admits he’s interested in being an Auror. McGonagall informs him he’d need top grades. When Umbridge attempts to interrupt McGonagall, our favorite professor remarks “he has achieved high marks in all Defense Against the Dark Arts tests set by a competent teacher (pg. 664).” Umbridge brings up that Harry has a criminal record and he’d never be accepted under the current administration. McGonagall retorts that there may well be a new Minister of Magic by the time Harry graduates and declares she will tutor Harry to achieve his goals. Again, this is all left out of the film, and again, it would have been wonderful to see McGonagall go against Umbridge.
Harry has everything set with Fred and George to create a diversion so he can talk to Sirius through Umbridge’s fire. The plan succeeds and Harry gets Remus and Sirius and explains what he saw. Sirius explains that Snape had always liked the Dark Arts and James very much hated the Dark Arts. He admits there were arrogant little berks. “Of course he was a bit of an idiot! We were all idiots (pg. 670)!” Lily started dating James their seventh years, once James had deflated his head a bit. “Look, your father was the best friend I ever had, and he was a good person. A lot of people are idiots at the age of fifteen. He grew out of it (pg. 671).” Both insist that Harry needs to continue to learn Occlumency.
When Harry leaves Umbridge’s office, he finds that the twins are caught for turning a school corridor into a swamp. “George, I think we’ve outgrown full time education (pg. 674).” They summon their brooms and fly out of Hogwarts, declaring their new joke shop will open in Diagon Alley, along with special discounts to students who vow to get rid of Umbridge. They ask Peeves to give her hell and the poltergeist follows suit. The other teachers won’t stop the students, or Peeves. Harry admits to Ron and Hermione that he gave the twins the prize money from the tournament so they won’t get in trouble with their mother for worrying about illegal activities. Once again, simplified for the film, where they set off the fireworks during an OWL exam and then fly off. Right after, Harry collapses with his next vision.
In the book, Hagrid comes along and Hermione and Harry away from the Quidditch cup to show them that he has his giant half-brother hidden in the forest, Grawp. We get the funny bit in the movie where Hermione tells Grawp, after he’s grabbed her, “put me down, now,” very firmly. And Grawp obeys. Hagrid wants them and Ron to come and keep him company in case Hagrid gets sacked and sent away. They come back to find that Gryffindor has won the cup. Then preparation begins in earnest for the fifth year OWL exams. When Ron finishes the Divination exam, he remarks to Harry “from now on, I don’t care if my tea leaves spell die, Ron, die – I’m just chucking them in the bin where they belong (pg. 718)” [this always makes me laugh.] Umbridge and her cronies go after Hagrid during the Astronomy test. McGonagall tries to intervene, but she’s caught with several spells and sent to St. Mungo’s. Hagrid runs off into the forest. Harry falls asleep during the History of Magic exam and has another dream. Voldemort has Sirius and is torturing him for information.
When he tells Hermione and Ron, Hermione tries to point out that Harry has a saving-people-thing and that Voldemort knows Harry, and is probably trying to trick him. But Harry can’t let go that Sirius may be in danger and will do anything to save him; in the film he protests to Hermione that Sirius is the only family he has left. Ginny and Luna come to help. Hermione urges Harry to verify if Sirius is still at home. Harry manages to get into Umbridge’s office again, but only Kreacher answers the fire call and declares that his master is never coming back from the Department of Mysteries. Umbridge doesn’t fall for the diversion again and catches Harry and his cohorts, including Neville. She sends for Snape and demands more Veritiserum, but she’s used the last trying to interrogate Harry earlier. Harry had forgotten there was one last Order member in Hogwarts, and shouts after Snape “He’d got Padfoot at the place where it’s hidden!” Snape of course, plays dumb. Umbridge is willing to use the Cruciatus Curse on Harry, despite it being illegal. What Fudge doesn’t know, won’t hurt. He didn’t know she was the one to set the dementors on Harry in order to discredit him in the summer. To save Harry, Hermione breaks down that she’ll tell Umbridge; Harry was trying to contact Dumbledore to let him know that the weapon is ready. She convinces the headmistress to follow her and Harry into the forest, alone, to get it. They’re set on by angry centaurs, who drag Umbridge away. She admits in the film, “you know, I really hate children,” and demands “I will have order!” (we see where her priorities lie). When the centuars turn on Harry and Hermione, Grawp stumbles along and saves them.
They meet up with Luna, Ron, Ginny, and Neville, who demand to come along with Harry to rescue Sirius. They’re all in D.A. together and all fighting Voldemort. Ron points out that maybe Harry doesn’t have to do this all by himself; Harry had earlier mentioned maybe it would be better for him to go about this war against Voldemort alone. Luna suggests they fly thestrals to the Ministry. When they make it to the spot in Harry’s dream, neither Voldemort nor Sirius are there. Instead, they find a glass orb with Harry’s name on it. Lucius Malfoy appears and asks Harry to hand over the prophecy. More Death Eaters appear, including Bellatrix. Lucius warns them that they can’t attack and risk breaking the prophecy. Harry “just wanted to get them all out of this alive, make sure that none of his friends paid a terrible price for his stupidity (pg. 783).” Lucius attempts another tactic, asking Harry if he had ever wondered why his parents were killed, why he bears a scar on his forehead.
It doesn’t work; the teens instead start smashing shelves and running. They sustain injuries, but fight off the Death Eaters as best they can. In the movie, they stay relatively whole and together until they reach the archway. Neville tries to face off with Bellatrix. The Death Eaters corner the teens and hold them hostage for Lucius to order Harry to give him the prophecy. Harry does so to save his friends, then pauses. Lucius turns around to see what Harry’s looking at. Sirius stands there and orders his cousin-by-marriage, “get away from my godson,” and punches the git in the face. [Huzzah!] The rest of the Order shows up: Remus, Moody, Tonks, and Kingsley. Spells start flying. Sirius tells Harry to get out; “you’ve done beautifully. Now, let me take it from here.” In the mayhem, the prophecy is smashed (in the film, Harry already heard it when he first picked it up). The film shows Harry stays alongside his godfather, helping him take on the Death Eaters. The rest of the teens stay down. Sirius does some wonderful work against Lucius Malfoy. Of course, in the film, they have Sirius make the comment “nice one, James!” when Harry disarms Lucius. As that duel finished, Bellatrix pops in and yells “Avada Kedavara!” Sirius slowly stumbles back into the veil and floats away. The sound drops away as Remus grabs Harry, who’s calling for his godfather.
In the book, it’s a duel between Sirius and Bellatrix. A red light hits Sirius in the chest, his laughter has not quite died as he falls back into a veil. Bellatrix gives a triumphant scream. Remus holds Harry back; some part of Harry realized that Sirius had never kept him waiting. “Sirius had risked everything, always, to see Harry, to help him (pg. 808),” the only possibly explanation was that he could not come back.
Harry takes off after Bellatrix. She runs, taunting “I killed Sirius Black!” He tries Crucio, but it barely stops her. Voldemort speaks into Harry’s head that he has to mean it, but doesn’t she deserve it? She killed Sirius. When Harry turns around, the dark wizard bats him away. Dumbledore steps out of a fire and warns Voldemort that authorities are on their way. Voldemort’s reply is that he’ll be gone and Dumbledore dead. Dumbledore pushes Harry out of the way and Bellatrix disappears into a fire. Then the duel begins between the two wizards. Dumbledore tells Voldemort his “failure to understand that there are things much worse than death has always been your greatest weakness (pg. 814).” Harry’s Harry wants the pain to end, death is nothing compared to it and he’ll be with Sirius again.
At one point, Voldemort shatters the glass in the lobby of the Ministry, but Dumbledore turns it into sand. Voldemort disappears. But he’s not gone. Instead, Harry collapses to the ground; Voldemort is possessing him. He shows Harry the deaths he’s experienced. In the book, it is remarked that his scar begins to burn and then “they were fused together, bound by pain, and there was no escape (pg. 816).” Voldemort, through Harry, tells Dumbledore to kill the boy. Dumbledore tells the teen, “it is not how you are alike; it is how you are not.” Harry sees his friends and remembers the good times, the hugs and laughter. He remarks to Voldemort that the dark lord is the weak one. He will never know love, or friendship, and he feels sorry for him. He smashes the mirror Voldemort used to try to show them together. As he remembers Sirius again, Voldemort exits. But his parting words are, “you are a fool, Harry Potter. And you will lose everything.” The authorities arrive, led by Minister Fudge, and Voldemort escapes. All Fudge can say is “he’s back.”
Dumbledore sends Harry back to Hogwarts and promises the Minister half an hour of his time. Fudge is also to remove Umbridge from the school and leave Hagrid alone. Harry sits alone in the quiet of Dumbledore’s office (which Umbridge was never able to get into). He blames himself; if he had not been stupid enough to fall for Voldemort’s trick. “There was a terrible hollow inside him he did not want to feel or examine, a dark hole where Sirius had been, where Sirius had vanished (pg. 821).” Dumbledore returns and informs Harry that everyone will recover and attempts to soothe the teen: “the fact that you can feel pain like this is your greatest strength (pg. 823),” and there is no shame for it. It is part of being human. Then Harry doesn’t want to be human. He rages and throws the spindly little objects in the headmaster’s office. Dumbledore’s voice breaks through, “you care so much you feel as though you will bleed to death with the pain of it (pg. 824).”
However, Dumbledore will not let Harry out of his office until he has had a chance to speak. It is Dumbledore’s fault that Sirius died. “Sirius was a brave, clever, and energetic man, and such men are not usually content to sit at home in hiding while they believe others to be in danger (pg. 825).” Harry should have never believed that it was necessary to go to the Department of Mysteries. If Dumbledore had been open with Harry, he would have known Voldemort would try to lure him. “That blame lies with me, and with me alone (pg. 826).” Dumbledore owes Harry an explanation; he made mistakes. Dumbledore thought by avoiding Harry, it would make Voldemort less likely to attempt to possess Harry; he was protecting the boy. It was Kreacher, who seized the chance when Sirius ordered him out at one point to go to Narcissa Malfoy, the last Black he had any respect for. The house elf couldn’t betray the Order, but told Narcissa “that the person Sirius cared most about in the world was [Harry] (pg. 831).” The one person Harry would go to any lengths to rescue was Sirius. Dumbledore points out that Sirius should have been nicer to Kreacher, but alas, the elf was a reminder of the home that Sirius hated.
Dumbledore was trying to keep Sirius alive. “People don’t like being locked up!” Harry angrily retorts; the headmaster did it to Harry all summer. Dumbledore urges Harry for patience once more, he will tell the teen the truth. He knew he was condemning the boy to ten dark and difficult years, he would have to suffer, but the blood protection left to him by his mother was his strongest shield. Through the years, Dumbledore’s flaw was that he cared too much; he cared more for Harry’s happiness than knowing the truth, more for his peace of mind that for a plan. The weapon the Order spoke about, was the prophecy; the knowledge of how to destroy Harry.
Dumbledore knows the prophecy despite it being smashed; he was the one who heard it originally, said by Trelawney: “The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches…Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies…and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not…and wither must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives (pg. 841).”
The other possible boy it meant is Neville Longbottom, but Dumbledore points out that when Voldemort chose the boy he thought most likely to be a danger, he chose a half-blood (like himself). However, Voldemort had incomplete information. While the prophecy was overheard, the eavesdropper was caught and pulled away after only the first half of the prophecy; the Dark Lord never head the part about the boy would have “power the Dark Lord knows not.” Thus, he cannot “bear to reside in a body so full of the force he detests (pg. 844).” The fact still remains that one will have to kill the other in the end. He has nothing else to be saying about that subject at the moment. In parting, he tells Harry that he did not make him a prefect, since he had enough responsibility to be going on with.
A lot of the explanation is cut out. Kreacher is not mentioned, but then he’s barely in the movie anyway, and the movie portrays Sirius better overall. Admittedly, the way Rowling wrote about Harry’s grief is poignant. The fact remains that Dumbledore should have said something to Harry long before the events of this year, as he himself admits. And the ‘trying to protect you because I care too much,’ is not a suitable reason. All this year did to Harry was make him feel isolated. He didn’t know what was going on and didn’t feel like he could talk to anyone. One of the people who had answers withheld them and the person Harry felt like he could talk to, he had to be careful and also protect. This is when we start distrusting Dumbledore.
The following morning, Fudge releases a statement, confirming the return of Lord Voldemort. Harry visits his friends recovering in the Hospital Wing. Umbridge is also there, in shock, but she startles when she hears the sound of hooves clip-clopping. When Harry can’t stand being around his friends any longer, he starts to go see Hagrid. He’s stopped by Draco, angry that his father is in Azkaban. Harry pulls his wand and is caught by Snape. McGonagall returns to Hogwarts and awards Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Neville, and Luna points for alerting the world to the return of You-Know-Who. This allows Snape to take a few points from Harry. Harry is still put out with Snape. But a visit with Hagrid doesn’t improve his mood, when Hagrid tries to comfort him by saying that Sirius would have wanted to go out with battle. So Harry leaves; he knows his desire to talk about Sirius varies with his mood. He avoids the end-of-year feast and runs into Luna. She’s searching for her missing items, which people steal and hide.
Harry is pleasantly surprised at King’s Cross station to find Moody, Tonks, and Remus waiting for him. They want to have a chat with his aunt and uncle before letting Harry go home with them. They have something to say about how he’s treated. Moody threatens Vernon, “if we get any hint that Potter’s been mistreated in any way, you’ll have us to answer to (pg. 869).” And yes, Vernon is the sort of man Moody can threaten and intimidate. They’ll send someone along if they haven’t heard from Harry three days in a row. Molly also promises Harry they will have him away as soon as possible. A little hope to end the year.
There’s a hopeful scene at the end of the film, with Harry talking to his friends. “Even though we have a fight ahead of us, we have one thing Voldemort doesn’t have. Something worth fighting for.”
This is not one of my favorites in the series. I’m not fond of teenage drama, particularly second-hand, and that pops up in this book. I agree with the community that Umbridge is horrid, and I hate that Rowling killed off Sirius. Like, come on! You introduce him two books ago, he’s barely in the last one, and then you kill him off! He was one of the few adults that Harry trusted and saw Harry as himself (and we are going to ignore the filmmakers’ decision for Sirius to mistake Harry for James for a minute). Ok, as a writer, I can understand killing a beloved character and fallout for the main character. But I don’t have to like it.
Apparently, Daniel Radcliffe was the one to suggest looking a bit like Professor Lupin while he was teaching Dumbledore’s Army. (Also, Stephen King has said that the character of Dolores Umbridge was the ‘greatest make-believe villain to come along since Hannibal Lecter.’) First movie of the series to not utilize any of Britain’s castles and cathedrals for filming locations; all of the interior Hogwarts scenes were filmed on studio sets.
And I will admit that I’m a little fascinated by Bellatrix Lestrange; she’s related to a beloved good character but is the polar opposite: crazy and evil. And I have dressed up as her for Halloween (and I would love to be able to fit back into that costume that my mother made for me)
Up Next: Half-Blood Prince
Dreamer in the Mirror 