Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Chapter Notes

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Chapter 16: In the Hog’s Head

• “He had given the matter a great deal of thought over the past fortnight. Sometimes it seemed an insane idea, just as it had on the night Hermione had proposed it, but at others, he had found himself thinking about the spells that had served him best in his various encounters with Dark creatures and Death Eaters – found himself, in fact, subconsciously planning lessons …” – Again, why has this boy not become a teacher?

• “‘I meant the idea Ron and I had –’ Ron cast her an alarmed, threatening kind of look. She frowned at him, ‘– Oh, all right, the idea I had, then – about you teaching us.’ […]‘I thought it was a good idea from the start,’ said Ron, who seemed keener to join in this conversation now that he was sure Harry was not going to start shouting again.” – I think it is obvious which of the two will be the later the strict parent for their children. But it is the same as with Hermione telling Fred & George off, which she did without the support of Ron. She is the one addressing uncomfortable topics, the one who tells Harry off if she feels she has to, whereas Ron plays the role of the ever supportive friend. But I think a friend like Hermione, someone who is honest with you, who calls out bad behaviour, or brings you out of your comfort zone for your own good, is better than someone who just remains the fun friend. I mean I love Ron, and Ron and Harry’s friendship, and of course Ron gets more mature, but right here and now it is annoying to see him avoiding any kind of responsibility, both as prefect and as Harry’s friend.

• “Harry had been looking forward to the weekend trip into Hogsmeade, but there was one thing worrying him. Sirius had maintained a stony silence since he had appeared in the fire at the beginning of September; Harry knew they had made him angry by saying they didn’t want him to come – but he still worried from time to time that Sirius might throw caution to the winds and turn up anyway.” – It is odd how Harry acts more like an adult here than Sirius. Sirius shouldn’t ignore Harry, which to Harry feels like a punishment, like he did something wrong, when in fact he is worried about his godfather. Sirius is acting reckless and impulsive and Harry is the one worried about him; their roles as child and parent are reversed.

• “‘Don’t worry, Harry,’ Hermione said quietly. ‘You’ve got enough on your plate without Sirius, too.’“ – She is right, of course. It is not Harry’s job to take care of Sirius, it is the other way around.

• “However, Hermione, who was taking more subjects than either of them, had not only finished all her homework but was also finding time to knit more elf clothes. Harry had to admit that she was getting better; it was now almost always possible to distinguish between the hats and the socks.” – Yeah. But also how does magical knitting work? You can bewitch the needles, but apparently not in a way to actually produce decent clothes? How?

• Obviously Harry doesn’t even know all the names of the people coming to the first DA meeting. Like he really only hangs around Ron and Hermione, and with the exception of Luna he never makes any friends outside Gryffindor. It seems however that Hermione might be friends with some of the Hufflepuffs (she mentions she talked to Ernie and Hannah), and Ginny is friends with some Ravenclaws, including her boyfriend. Though nobody even considered to invite any Slytherins, not even assuming not all of them are the same, and that not all of them might support Voldemort.

• So in total there are 28 members of the DA, which considering the number of students at Hogwarts, isn’t that much.

• As a Hufflepuff I just want to distance myself from Zacharias Smith. We took him in out of pity.

• “It had just dawned on him why there were so many people there. He thought Hermione should have seen this coming. Some of these people – maybe even most of them – had turned up in the hopes of hearing Harry’s story firsthand.” – I don’t think you can really blame anyone for this. It is like Hermione tried to explain to Harry, people had hardly time to understand what Dumbledore said before they went back home and the Daily Prophet and the Ministry painted Dumbledore and Harry as attention seeking liars. Of course they want to know the truth and to some extent they have a right to, because they know they do something illegal, they know that this isn’t just about learning spells, but about the war, about defending and risking your own life.

• I wonder whatever happened with the list of the members of the DA? Did Hermione keep it? Did it land in some sort of museum? I’m positive that some time after the war books were written about it, about the Anti-Voldemort-movement, including the Order of course, but also the DA, and that the people who were in it are famous in their own right, because they had been part of an illegal student guerrilla group. I know that in my country, Germany, every little act of resistance against the Nazis is well documented, and I like the idea of something like this happening in the Wizarding World as well, all of these students becoming part of history.

• “‘Ginny used to fancy Harry, but she gave up on him months ago. Not that she doesn’t like you, of course,’ she added kindly to Harry while she examined a long black and gold quill. […]‘So that’s why she talks now?’ he asked Hermione. ‘She never used to talk in front of me.’” – First of all Ron’s behaviour after learning his little sister has a boyfriend is just… super annoying and outdated. Second I love Ginny and Hermione’s friendship, because there is obviously stuff Hermione isn’t comfortable talking about with Ron and Harry, and Ginny, who is used to have so many men in her life, needs a girl-friend as well. But also, Harry would have never noticed Ginny if it wasn’t for her letting him go, living her own life, being her own person. I always loved this about their romance, how Ginny had to become her own person again in order for Harry to notice her, how she gave up on this idealistic idea of Harry, but started to see him for who he is (and isn’t afraid to tell him off), because it is what Harry needs and admires about her.