Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is the fifth book in the Harry Potter series of children's books by J. K. Rowling. The book was published on 21 June 2003 in the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Australia, and several other countries. It sold almost seven million copies in the United States and the United Kingdom combined on that day. It has 38 chapters, and is about 255,000 words long http://books.guardian.co.uk/harrypotter/story/0,10761,875390,00.html.

Plot overview

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The Order of the Phoenix

The story begins with Harry at the Dursleys' home experiencing some teenage angst. Harry is frustrated because he doesn't know what the newly-reborn Lord Voldemort is planning, and because his friends won't share any information through correspondence. After an argument with his aunt and uncle, Harry wanders around Little Whinging and meets his obnoxious cousin, Dudley. As the two boys are heading home, Dementors appear and attack them, but Harry drives them off with the Patronus Charm. This saves Dudley from having his soul sucked out, but still leaves him chilled and almost unconscious. Fortunately their neighbour, Mrs. Figg, arrives to help. She later reveals that she is a Squib and that she has been watching over Harry on Professor Dumbledore's instructions.

Related Topics:
Harry - Dursleys' home - Lord Voldemort - Little Whinging - Dudley - Dementor - Patronus Charm - Mrs. Figg - Squib - Professor Dumbledore

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Once the boys arrive home, Vernon and Petunia turn on their nephew, blaming him for Dudley's condition. Vernon demands that Harry leave, even though Harry explains that Voldemort is after him. As this is going on, Harry receives a letter stating that he has been expelled from Hogwarts (as students are forbidden to do any magic outside of school) but then several more letters arrive in quick succession. Letters from Arthur Weasley and Sirius Black warn Harry not to leave the house, while another overturns his expulsion and orders him to appear at a hearing at the Ministry of Magic. The last letter is a Howler which screams "Remember my last, Petunia". Upon hearing this, Petunia insists that Harry will have to stay.

Related Topics:
Vernon - Petunia - Hogwarts - Arthur Weasley - Sirius Black - Ministry of Magic - Howler

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After being locked in his room for several days, a menagerie of wizards and witches comes to rescue Harry, Professor Remus Lupin and Mad-Eye Moody among them. They take him to 12 Grimmauld Place, the home of the Black family, who have used various techniques to hide the building, making it an ideal headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix. The Weasleys, Hermione, and Sirius are all staying there. Sirius has been ordered not to leave the house because of the Ministry's continued search for him (see Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban). Harry finds himself angry and argumentative with those at Grimmauld Place, fuelled by his feeling that, despite his trust, they have not been honest with him. He is also disappointed to learn that Ron and Hermione have been made school Prefects, but he has not. They all maintain that Dumbledore ordered absolute secrecy, which is why Harry has not been made aware of events. Harry nonetheless manages to learn quite a bit about what has transpired since the end of the last school year.

Related Topics:
Remus Lupin - Mad-Eye Moody - Order of the Phoenix - Weasleys - Hermione - Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

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Although both Harry and Dumbledore have told the world that Lord Voldemort has returned, no one believes them. Indeed, the complacent Ministry of Magic, keen to avoid panic, has been working to discredit them both, using the wizarding newspaper The Daily Prophet to suggest that Harry and Dumbledore are eccentric liars. Dumbledore's supporters, however, have reformed the Order of the Phoenix, which existed the last time that Lord Voldemort threatened the world. A number of new members are in the Order as well, and it is dedicated to saving everyone from the resurgence of Voldemort and his Death Eaters.

Related Topics:
The Daily Prophet - Death Eater

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Harry on Trial

Harry's hearing for his possible expulsion from Hogwarts finally arrives. It fills much of the household with trepidation, but they are fairly confident that he will be acquitted -- he used the magic strictly in self-defence, which is permissible under the rules. However, upon arrival at the Ministry of Magic, Harry and Mr. Weasley find out that the hearing has been brought forward without their knowledge, and its location moved to the basement, near the Department of Mysteries. Luckily, they make it just in time, though when Harry arrives, he realises that a full trial has been called, with the entire Wizengamot assembled.

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Although this appears to be an attempt to intimidate Harry and to keep Dumbledore from showing up as Harry's defence, the ancient wizard and headmaster of Hogwarts appears nonetheless. Mrs. Figg also appears as a witness, testifying that the Dementors were real, not mere figments of Harry's imagination or lies, and Harry is exonerated. However, something seems strange - Dumbledore scarcely pays any attention to Harry, and as the young boy leaves, he sees Lucius Malfoy conferring with Cornelius Fudge. This shocks Harry, as Malfoy is a known Death Eater, though Mr. Weasley alludes to bribery.

Related Topics:
Hogwarts - Lucius Malfoy - Cornelius Fudge - Death Eater

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Return to Hogwarts

Eventually, Harry and his companions return to school. On the Hogwarts Express they meet a girl named Luna Lovegood, who takes on a prominent role later in the book. At Hogwarts they discover shocking news: Hagrid has not yet returned from whatever task Dumbledore sent him on at the end of last term; and their new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher is none other than Dolores Umbridge, one of the Wizengamot panel members at Harry's hearing. Umbridge refuses to allow the students to use actual magic in her classes, and it soon emerges that she works for the Ministry of Magic, which has installed her as a teacher at Hogwarts by decree, against Dumbledore's wishes, and in order to impose the Ministry's agenda on the school.

Related Topics:
Hogwarts Express - Luna Lovegood - Hagrid - Defence Against the Dark Arts - Dolores Umbridge

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Once school starts, things happen at a rapid pace. The fifth year is when the O.W.L.s are taken, and the teachers push the students hard in preparation. Professor Umbridge gains more and more influence on the school, through a succession of further Decrees passed by the Ministry of Magic, culminating in her appointment as Hogwarts High Inquisitor, and begins to make intrusive and intimidating inspections of teachers and students alike. Ron is made the new keeper for the Gryffindor Quidditch team.

Related Topics:
O.W.L.s - High Inquisitor - Gryffindor - Quidditch

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Umbridge's Oppression

Umbridge, the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, is a particularly unpleasant character. In light of her refusal to teach anything useful in her Defence Against the Dark Arts classes, Hermione convinces Harry to give secret lessons to a number of students who want to learn how Defence Against the Dark Arts really works; reluctantly, he agrees, and they all sign a paper stating their intent to never reveal the group to Umbridge.

Related Topics:
Defense Against the Dark Arts - Defence Against the Dark Arts

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Hagrid later returns, looking much the worse for wear. Although he eventually divulges his mission to recruit the giants to the Order's side, he is much more reluctant to come clean about the cause of his injuries. Both he and Professor Sibyll Trelawney are under heavy scrutiny by Umbridge, as she views both of them as incompetent; Umbridge is also prejudiced against "half-breeds," and Hagrid is half-human, half-giant.

Related Topics:
Hagrid - Sibyll Trelawney - Human - Giant

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As Umbridge convinces Fudge to pass more edicts, activities in the school become intensely curtailed. All student groups are banned; the Slytherin Quidditch team is almost immediately reactivated, but the Gryffindor team is held up until Minerva McGonagall goes over Umbridge's head and has Dumbledore reinstate it. The Slytherins compose a taunting ditty entitled "Weasley is Our King" in an attempt to intimidate Ron into playing poorly. It succeeds, but Harry captures the Snitch in the first game to clinch victory. However, a fight afterwards provoked by Draco Malfoy results in Harry and Fred and George Weasley being permanently banned from playing by Umbridge.

Related Topics:
Minerva McGonagall - Slytherin - Snitch - Draco Malfoy - Fred - George Weasley

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Dumbledore's Army

Secretly, however, the Defence Against the Dark Arts classes led by Harry go on. They now call themselves the "D.A.", initially for Defence Association but settling on Dumbledore's Army. The name expresses the students' defiance of the paranoid and complacent Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge, who fears that Dumbledore is seeking to create his own army to use against the Ministry itself.

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All along, Harry has had a number of strange dreams, mostly about running down a hallway and attempting to open a door in the Ministry of Magic's Department of Mysteries. In one of these nightmares, Harry dreams that he is a snake attacking Ron's father, Arthur Weasley, who works at the Ministry. Waking up, Harry raises the alarm, believing his dream to have been a vision, and Arthur is indeed discovered with poisonous snake bites and hospitalised, eventually recovering from his injuries. Harry begins to wonder if he is being possessed and transported by Voldemort to do his bidding; others reassure him that this cannot be so. Soon, however, Dumbledore orders Harry to be placed under Severus Snape's tutelage in the art of Occlumency, the ability to block one's mind from being manipulated.

Related Topics:
Arthur Weasley - Severus Snape - Occlumency

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Hermione has contacted the journalist Rita Skeeter, threatening to reveal to the authorities that she is an unregistered animagus (see Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban) unless she interviews Harry concerning the truth about Voldemort's return. Luna Lovegood's father happens to be the editor of The Quibbler, and her father agrees to take Rita's article. When it appears, Umbridge is furious: she forbids Harry to go on any further Hogsmeade trips, and bans copies of The Quibbler inside the school. Fortunately for Harry, this gives the magazine the lure of the forbidden and soon the publication spreads like wildfire throughout the school despite Umbridge's frantic efforts to stop it.

Related Topics:
Rita Skeeter - Animagus - Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - The Quibbler

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Empowered to do so by Ministry edicts, Umbridge sacks Professor Trelawney, but Dumbledore, citing his remaining authority as Headmaster, insists that Trelawney be allowed to stay in residence at the castle despite Umbridge's attempt to evict her as well. Dumbledore also manages to recruit a replacement Divination teacher, a centaur named Firenze, whom Harry met in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. This irritates Umbridge greatly. Dumbledore has outwitted her using her own rules; the Ministry decrees have only given Umbridge the power to make appointments when the Headmaster is unable to find a satisfactory candidate. She also dislikes what she disdainfully - but wrongly - refers to as "half-breeds", including centaurs.

Related Topics:
Centaur - Firenze - Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

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A Dating Disaster

Harry's attraction to the Ravenclaw Quidditch player Cho Chang further complicates the situation; he is awkward and confused in close situations with her. A particularly painful experience in the wizarding town of Hogsmeade on Valentine's Day appears to destroy what little foundation the two had built for their relationship; Harry's continuing close friendship with Hermione and Cho's sorrow over the death of her ex-boyfriend, Cedric Diggory appear to be the key problems they face. Also, Harry has trouble understanding or communicating with Cho adequately.

Related Topics:
Ravenclaw - Cho Chang - Hogsmeade - Valentine's Day - Boyfriend - Cedric Diggory

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Things begin to come to a head when, in the middle of a DA meeting, the members are informed that they have been exposed and Umbridge is on her way to punish them. Harry is the only one caught and is taken to Dumbledore's office. Dumbledore, in order to protect the students, convinces Fudge and Umbridge that it was his idea to form the DA in order to depose Fudge as Minister of Magic, pandering to Fudge's existing paranoia. Dumbledore escapes, and Umbridge is installed as the new Headmistress (per one of the many Decrees passed by the Ministry) and forms an Inquisitorial Squad. The Weasley twins use their talent for practical jokes to cause trouble around the school, while all of the teachers, who dislike Umbridge intensely, pointedly do nothing to help the new Headmistress cope.

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The Weasley twins set off one last prank as a decoy so that Harry can talk to Sirius via the fireplace in Umbridge's office - the only one not under surveillance - and are caught; they decide to leave Hogwarts in spectacular fashion, leaving a magical swamp inside the school, and to use the winnings from the Triwizard Tournament given to them by Harry to start their joke shop, 'Weasley's Wizard Wheezes'.

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Sirius in Trouble

During the Astronomy OWL exam at night, Harry and others witness a group of people attempting to capture and expel Hagrid. Professor McGonagall tries to stop them, and is hit with a number of Stun Charms, which incapacitate her. Soon after, Harry has a dream which seems to complete the journey down the hallway: as Voldemort, he has Sirius captured in the Department of Mysteries, and is torturing him.

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Harry and his crew make a desperate attempt to contact Sirius via the fireplace in Umbridge's office, but the Black family's house-elf, Kreacher, deliberately tricks Harry into believing Sirius has vanished; he was in fact tending to Buckbeak, the hippogriff. Umbridge and her minions--mainly Slytherin students--capture Harry's gang. Thinking fast, Hermione makes up a story about who they were trying to contact, and says that they were protecting a weapon, and that she and Harry would lead Umbridge to it. Umbridge asks Snape to give her some Veritaserum, but he claims he has none left; she is not aware that he is also a member of the Order of the Phoenix. Umbridge tells Harry that it was she who ordered the Dementors on him during the summer.

Related Topics:
House-elf - Kreacher - Buckbeak - Veritaserum - Order of the Phoenix

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Escape to London

Hermione entices Umbridge to march her and Harry into the woods, knowing that the haughty centaurs, furious that one of their brethren now works for humans, are disposed to hate adult wizards. The centaurs take Umbridge away, and are about to do the same to Harry and Hermione, when Hagrid's half-brother--a "small" giant named Grawp, whom Hagrid had brought back with him from his quest over the summer--appears and distracts the centaurs. Ron, Ginny, Luna and Neville arrive, and they resolve to go to the Ministry to rescue Sirius, riding on thestrals, horse-like creatures visible only to people who have seen death.

Related Topics:
Centaur - Grawp - Thestrals

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Upon arriving at the Department of Mysteries, and after a number of false turns, they arrive at the location in Harry's dream, to find not Voldemort and Sirius but a group of Death Eaters. The Death Eaters include, among others, Draco's father Lucius Malfoy; MacNair the executioner in the employ of the Ministry; Azkaban escapee and former Department of Mysteries employee Rookwood; and Azkaban escapee Bellatrix Lestrange, who is Sirius's cousin and the torturer of Neville Longbottom's parents. The vision of Voldemort and Sirius at the Department of Mysteries was a trap. When Voldemort realised that Harry's dreams gave him access to Voldemort's mind, he planted the vision of Sirius being tortured to lure Harry to the Ministry and use him to retrieve a glass sphere, the record of a prophecy, from the Department of Mysteries. The prophecy, made before Harry's birth, is apparently about Voldemort and Harry. Only the subjects of a prophecy can handle it, and as Voldemort does not want to risk discovery, he lures Harry into retrieving it for him. Having previously heard the first part of the prophecy relating to Harry's ability to conquer the Dark Lord - on which basis Voldemort attempted unsuccessfully to murder Harry as a baby, precipitating his own downfall - Voldemort is now determined to hear the full prophecy, hoping to learn how to destroy Harry.

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The Battle

A great skirmish begins between the students and the Death Eaters. Most of the students are injured, and, as they near defeat, five of the adult wizards from the Order of the Phoenix appear to help them, including Sirius. During the ensuing battle, the glass sphere which holds the prophecy is shattered. A ghostly image pronounces the prophecy but no one can hear it amidst the fighting. Also, tragically, Sirius is struck by a curse from the wand of his cousin, the Death Eater Bellatrix Lestrange. He falls through a veil inside an arch in the Death Chamber of the Department of Mysteries, and vanishes. Dumbledore shows up and ropes off most of the Death Eaters, but Bellatrix escapes.

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Harry blindly chases after Bellatrix, intent on avenging Sirius, and as catches up with her in the main atrium of the Ministry of Magic, where they fight. Then Lord Voldemort himself appears inside the atrium. He and Dumbledore duel, and after a dramatic fight and a brief episode where Voldemort actually manages to possess Harry, tempting Dumbledore to kill him in Harry's body, Voldemort eventually retreats by disapparating, taking Bellatrix with him. Alerted Ministry of Magic employees arrive in time to see "He Who Must Not Be Named" for themselves. Among them is Cornelius Fudge, who finally accepts Voldemort's return and believes what Dumbledore and Harry have been saying. In turn, the Daily Prophet reverses its hostile attitude towards the pair, restoring their reputations and praising them for warning the wizarding community of Voldemort's return.

Related Topics:
Cornelius Fudge - Daily Prophet

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The Prophecy

As the story draws to a close, Dumbledore explains much to Harry. He did not wish to be close to him during the year, as he could sense Voldemort's growing power over the boy--indeed, on more than one occasion, Harry was filled with a desire to strike down Dumbledore. He regretted not helping Harry learn Occlumency, and also reveals the prophecy. It turns out that at her initial Hogwarts interview, held sixteen years ago at the Hog's Head Inn at Hogsmeade, Sybill Trelawney prophesied that:

Related Topics:
Dumbledore - Sybill Trelawney

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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 either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives...the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies...

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This was interpreted to mean that Voldemort would kill either Harry or Neville Longbottom, who were both born at the end of July, or vice-versa. After Voldemort, hearing of the prophecy, attacked Harry as a child, the latter part of the prophecy was realised; Harry would be his foe and kill or be killed by him, not Neville.

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The existence of this prophecy brings clarity to Dumbledore remarking that Trelawney's prediction in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban has been her second real one. The first prediction was the Harry/Voldemort prophecy.

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Dumbledore also tells why Harry must stay with the Dursleys each summer. After Harry's mother died to save him, the charm of protection against Voldemort that her act cast on Harry is sustained as long as Harry has a home among those who share Lily Potter's blood. Aunt Petunia, Lily's sister, therefore acts as a protector for Harry, and it was Dumbledore who sent Petunia the Howler at the beginning of the story to remind her of this.

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In the end, Harry goes back to the Dursleys', but not without Vernon and Petunia getting a stern talking-to by a number of wizards in the Order (including a menacing Alastor Moody). Changes are brewing in the wizarding world. Indeed, the last chapter of the book is entitled "The Second War Begins."

Related Topics:
Alastor Moody - Wizarding world

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