Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Chapter Notes

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Chapter 17: Educational Decree Number Twenty-Four

• I forgot if we ever find out how Umbridge found out about the first DA meeting, and therefore forbidding all kind of clubs and teams. Surely it wasn’t one of the members, because Hermione had jinxed the parchment. But it adds to the overwhelming feeling of being trapped, of having spies everywhere and the feeling that you can’t trust anyone. It further isolates Harry and adds to his paranoia. Psychological warfare if you want.

• And then we learn that while girls can visit boys in their dormitory, it doesn’t work the other way around. The staircase to the girl’s dormitory transforms into a slide when a boy tries to go up there. Hermione says that it is an old-fashioned rule, and that apparently the founders of Hogwarts considered the girls to be more trustworthy than the boys. But the implications are clear here: they wanted to avoid the students having sex. And first of all, they could still meet in the boys dormitory, second that is why the Room of Requirement exists, and third gay people exist. But it makes you wonder how often Madam Pomfrey has to deal with STD and teenage pregnancies (I mean do Hogwarts students get any kind of sex education?).

• The year before Sirius had advised Harry to use other owls than Hedwig, because it would look suspicious if the same owl would have brought him letters to his hiding place in Hogsmeade. And yet, while Harry wrote his letter to Sirius in a way to wouldn’t tell anyone any kind of sensitive information he didn’t think of using a different owl than Hedwig, because he didn’t realize what Filch’s accusation he would order Dungbombs was about: an excuse to read his letter. Umbridge knows about the DA, is reading Harry’s letters, invades his privacy in every way she can. And by infiltrating the Floo network, as she does at the end of this chapter, she makes it nearly impossible for Harry to communicate with anyone outside Hogwarts.

• Also the fact that Professor Binns doesn’t remember Harry’s name like… Harry is living history. There are books written about him. Is Binns even aware of any kind of history that happened after his death? Does he even know he is dead?

• “‘They’re quite within their rights to eat the foul things themselves and I can’t find a rule that says the other idiots aren’t entitled to buy them, not unless they’re proven to be dangerous in some way and it doesn’t look as though they are.’” – The fact that Katie lost lots of blood is a proof of how dangerous those sweets can be. Sure Fred & George tested them on themselves and some other students, but aren’t there any laws that you just can’t sell anything? Especially to people who are underage? I mean there are shitloads of laws about food safety in the Muggle World but apparently not in the Wizarding World.

• Also, Lee Jordan is mentioned to take part in Fred & George’s presentation, but I wonder how much he was involved in the development of the Skiving Snackboxes, and he is never mentioned to be associated with their jokeshop either.

• “‘You know, I don’t get why Fred and George only got three O.W.L.s each,’ said Harry, watching as Fred, George and Lee collected gold from the eager crowd. ‘They really know their stuff.’ ‘Oh, they only know flashy stuff that’s of no real use to anyone,’ said Hermione disparagingly. ‘No real use?’ said Ron in a strained voice. ‘Hermione, they’ve made about twenty-six Galleons already.’” – This is an interesting conversation. Harry simply admires Fred & George’s talent, because it takes some skill to invent those Skiving Snackboxes. Hermione dismisses them because she thinks they are of no real use, whereas Ron only sees the profit they make with it. I share the same view as Harry, that it takes some talent for those inventions, and that Fred & George’s intelligence is in a different area. And Hermione is wrong in dismissing them so easily; they will later use them in book 7 to infiltrate the Ministry. Besides you can approve of craftsmanship even if you personally see no value in the product. And of course Ron wouldn’t care about neither of those things as long as you can make money with it, which to him is a talent in its own right.

• “Crookshanks purred loudly and approached the fire, trying, despite the heat, to put his face close to Sirius’s.” – Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.

• It is mentioned that Molly is on duty, therefore actively helping the Order, instead of just cooking for them and cleaning the house. (Which are of course important tasks, but it always underestimates Molly’s skills as a witch a bit.)

• “‘Of course I do!’ said Sirius. ‘D’you think your father and I would’ve lain down and taken orders from an old hag like Umbridge?’” – Sirius always mentions James, which makes it impossible for Harry to separate him from his father, and Sirius always sees Harry as James’s son, compares the two, and again that is the core problem of their relationship.

• I think Hermione asked Sirius about his opinion (“‘Well, better expelled and able to defend yourselves than sitting safely in school without a clue”), not because she looks up to him as an authority, the way she did last year, but out of curiosity, and perhaps to prove what she is already thinking: that Sirius has become reckless, and that perhaps Harry shouldn’t trust him blindly.