Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Chapter Notes

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Chapter 26: Seen and Unforeseen

• “But the breakout of Bellatrix Lestrange and her fellow Death Eaters had given Harry a burning desire to do something, whether or not it worked …” – Wait a minute. Wasn’t it Hermione who wrote to Rita after she read about the breakout? Harry didn’t even know he would be giving an interview up until 5 minutes before it started.

• “‘Well, you see,’ said Hermione, with the patient air of someone explaining that one plus one equals two to an over-emotional toddler, ‘you shouldn’t have told her that you wanted to meet me halfway through your date.’” – Oh Hermione, I feel your pain. I mean I’m a huge fan of people just being honest about their feelings and what they want. I get Harry and his annoyance that he has to interpret and analyse what Cho might have meant with the things she said and did. But it takes a lot of courage as well to honestly tell someone how you feel, so we invent all those little games to find out how much that other person likes us instead of simply asking. And it is interesting that Hermione can read between the lines and translate what Cho meant to Harry, given that Hermione can be a bit tactless as well at times.

• “‘You should write a book,’ Ron told Hermione as he cut up his potatoes, ‘translating mad things girls do so boys can understand them.’” – Didn’t Ron later have a book that would help him wooing Hermione? The one he gave Harry as a present for his 17^th birthday? It would make sense that Ron would read such a book, when he thinks you have to speak a secret language in order to date someone.

• “‘Come on, Ginny’s not bad,’ said George fairly, sitting down next to Fred. ‘Actually, I dunno how she got so good, seeing how we never let her play with us.’ ‘She’s been breaking into your broom shed in the garden since the age of six and taking each of your brooms out in turn when you weren’t looking,’ said Hermione from behind her tottering pile of Ancient Rune books.” – I always love those small snippets into Hermione and Ginny’s friendship, confirming that they have a relationship outside of the boys surrounding them, and obviously there are things Hermione can’t and won’t talk about with Harry and Ron.

• “‘Maybe not,’ she said darkly, returning to her translation, ‘but at least my happiness doesn’t depend on Ron’s goalkeeping ability.’” – I used to be a sports fan (I watched a lot of soccer/football) and I can confirm how dependent your mood is on your team winning or losing.

• “He dreamed that Neville and Professor Sprout were waltzing around the Room of Requirement while Professor McGonagall played the bagpipes.” – Why wasn’t that in the movie adaption? WHY????

• “‘Oh, Harry, don’t you see?’ Hermione breathed. ‘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!’” – If you wanna make sure teenagers do something forbid it. There would be less smoking and drinking and sex if none of those things were considered a taboo.

• “The teachers were of course forbidden from mentioning the interview by Educational Decree Number Twenty-six, but they found ways to express their feelings about it all the same. Professor Sprout awarded Gryffindor twenty points when Harry passed her a watering can; a beaming Professor Flitwick pressed a box of squeaking sugar mice on him at the end of Charms, said, ‘Shh!’ and hurried away; and Professor Trelawney broke into hysterical sobs during Divination and announced to the startled class, and a very disapproving Umbridge, that Harry was not going to suffer an early death after all, but would live to a ripe old age, become Minister for Magic and have twelve children.” – I love Flitwick’s reaction: you’ve been through a lot of trauma kiddo, here have some candy. And of course Trelawney is as always not exactly wrong. Harry doesn’t die young (or rather he doesn’t stay dead) and well he gets a job at the ministry and has a bunch of kids, the general drift is right.

• “When Bode tried to steal this weapon, something funny happened to him. I think there must be defensive spells on it, or around it, to stop people touching it. That’s why he was in St Mungo’s, his brain had gone all funny and he couldn’t talk.” – We know that the weapon is the prophecy about Harry and Voldemort, and that only those two are able to touch it. I wonder if this specific defensive spell is put on prophecies afterwards or if it is in their nature, that they create a special kind of magic, that makes it impossible for anyone to hear a prophecy that isn’t about them. Then again there are prophecies were it is unclear who they are about. Even the one about Harry didn’t specifically mention his name, it is because Voldemort choose Harry that it became about him. And I wonder if all those people mentioned in prophecies are aware of that? Do they get a letter from the ministry? Do they have a right to know?

• “‘That is just as well, Potter,’ said Snape coldly, ‘because you are neither special nor important, and it is not up to you to find out what the Dark Lord is saying to his Death Eaters.’ ‘No – that’s your job, isn’t it?’ Harry shot at him. He had not meant to say it; it had burst out of him in temper. For a long moment they stared at each other, Harry convinced he had gone too far. But there was a curious, almost satisfied expression on Snape’s face when he answered. ‘Yes, Potter,’ he said, his eyes glinting. ‘That is my job. Now, if you are ready, we will start again.’” – Isn’t it funny though? Snape always accuses Harry that he thinks he is special, that the normal rules don’t apply to him, etc. But here Snape basically confirms that he is the one who wants to feel special and important, that he enjoys the special role he plays in the war, as a spy for both Dumbledore and Voldemort. It is about value and it is the only kind of value he can get. And ironically I think Sirius is quite similar in that: he wants to play a special role as well. Whereas Harry is right in the middle of this war, no matter if he wants to or not.

• “Harry did not speak; he felt that to say anything might be dangerous. He was sure he had just broken into Snape’s memories, that he had just seen scenes from Snape’s childhood. It was unnerving to think that the little boy who had been crying as he watched his parents shouting was actually standing in front of him with such loathing in his eyes.” – One might say that of course years of abuse would naturally lead to a bitter hateful man the way Snape is. But Harry carries his own package of unhappy childhood memories with him and guess what? He didn’t become a dick. When Harry sees Snape as a child he also sees himself, but they both became very different men.

• “‘It was your home,’ said Professor Umbridge, and Harry was revolted to see the enjoyment stretching her toadlike face as she watched Professor Trelawney sink, sobbing uncontrollably, on to one of her trunks, […]” – Umbridge is a sadist. She feeds on power and she feeds on her power to destroy lives. That is why she could fit in in Fudge’s ministry as well as Voldemort’s ministry in book 7: this isn’t about ideology. It is about power and the abuse of power. And every system allows people like Umbridge to come to power. And that is what makes her such a great villain.

•  I love how all the teachers stood together to protect and help Trelawney. We know that McGonagall isn’t very fond of Divination or Trelawney, and yet she is the first to defend her.