Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Chapter Notes

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Chapter 38: The Second War Begins

• “According to Madam Pomfrey, thoughts could leave deeper scarring than almost anything else, […]”- Like obviously Ron was literary attacked by thoughts/brains, but of course metaphorically thoughts can leave scars behind, so I have always been fond of that little sentence.

• “She winced slightly and put a hand to her ribs. The curse Dolohov had used on her, though less effective than it would have been had he been able to say the incantation aloud, had nevertheless caused, in Madam Pomfrey’s words, ‘quite enough damage to be going on with’.” – Despite the students learning non-verbal spells in their sixth year it is interesting that this particular curse is more powerful when it is spoken. Perhaps it is particular in the nature of curses that they are more powerful when spoken, as for example I can’t remember a single time an Unforgiveable Curse has been used non-verbal. Perhaps Dolohov’s curse, just as the Unforgiveable Curses, requires intent to cause harm, and therefore needs to be spoken.

• “‘Well, Flitwick’s got rid of Fred and George’s swamp,’ said Ginny, ‘he did it in about three seconds. But he left a tiny patch under the window and he’s roped it off –’ ‘Why?’ said Hermione, looking startled. ‘Oh, he just says it was a really good bit of magic,’ said Ginny, shrugging.” – A lot of the spells and potions Fred and George used on their Skiving Snackboxes and their fireworks were rather advanced and it shows that despite being academic unsuccessful that the twins are very talented wizards. Intelligence can’t and should not be measured in grades alone.

• “He was finding it hard to decide whether he wanted to be with people or not; whenever he was in company he wanted to get away and whenever he was alone he wanted company.”- Whenever you are alone you are trapped with your own thoughts, but being in company does not help either, as Harry feels isolated from the rest of the world after what has happened.

• “‘You think you’re such a big man, Potter,’ said Malfoy, advancing now, Crabbe and Goyle flanking him. ‘You wait. I’ll have you. […]” – I mean he does have Harry, in like every fan fiction out there.

• “Perhaps the reason he wanted to be alone was because he had felt isolated from everybody since his talk with Dumbledore. An invisible barrier separated him from the rest of the world. He was – he had always been – a marked man. It was just that he had never really understood what that meant … And yet sitting here on the edge of the lake, with the terrible weight of grief dragging at him, with the loss of Sirius so raw and fresh inside, he could not muster any great sense of fear. It was sunny, and the grounds around him were full of laughing people, and even though he felt as distant from them as though he belonged to a different race, it was still very hard to believe as he sat here that his life must include, or end in, murder …” – Harry feels isolated, not only in the knowledge of the prophecy, the knowledge of what he has to do, but also in his grief for Sirius. He has always been different, despite only wanting to be normal, to belong. In many ways this marks the end of Harry’s childhood. He lost the only parent figure he had and he learned about the prophecy, learned that he has to kill or to be killed. His last remaining innocence is gone. He is – in his own words – a marked man, no longer a boy.

• Harry’s first thought when he finds the two-way-mirror while packing is that he can communicate with Sirius again, though that obviously doesn’t work. The great tragic irony though is that ever since Christmas Harry could have talked to Sirius whenever he wanted and could have also used the mirror to find out if Sirius actually was in the Department of Mysteries. And it makes you wonder why Sirius never mentioned the mirror when Harry talked to Sirius and Lupin after he saw the memory of his father.

• “‘I was afraid of death,’ said Nick softly. ‘I chose to remain behind. I sometimes wonder whether I oughtn’t to have … well, that is neither here nor there … in fact, I am neither here nor there …’ He gave a small sad chuckle. ‘I know nothing of the secrets of death, Harry, for I chose my feeble imitation of life instead. I believe learned wizards study the matter in the Department of Mysteries –’” – I wonder if ghosts can still die then. If one day they can choose to go on or if they forever remain neither here nor there. But with everything we learn about them they are to be pitied: unable to move on they are forever stuck, not part of the dead, not part of the living.

• “Harry felt almost as though he had lost his godfather all over again in losing the hope that he might be able to see or speak to him once more.” – We actually see a number of ways for people to communicate with the dead. Ghosts, portraits, the Mirror of Erised, the Resurrection Stone, etc. Wizards, as we learn, can leave an imprint of their souls behind. I wonder though if perhaps it makes the process of grieving harder, because it gives you the impression someone is still there, when it is only a shadow of the living person.

• “Harry nodded curtly, but found that for some reason he did not mind Luna talking about Sirius. He had just remembered that she, too, could see Thestrals.” – Grief and loss are rather personal feelings, and everyone deals with it in a different way, but it also sets you apart from people who never lost anyone. There is a bond between Luna and Harry (and Neville as well) that is quite different from Harry’s friendship with Hermione and Ron. There is silent understanding between them, something that doesn’t need to be put in words, because they all suffered in the same way.

• “Harry was surprised to find that this information did not hurt at all. Wanting to impress Cho seemed to belong to a past that was no longer quite connected with him; so much of what he had wanted before Sirius’s death felt that way these days … the week that had elapsed since he had last seen Sirius seemed to have lasted much, much longer; it stretched across two universes, the one with Sirius in it, and the one without.” – Whenever you have to deal with a loss as big as Harry’s there is always a world before and one after. And Harry’s boyish crush on Cho belongs to his old self. It doesn’t really matter anymore.

• “‘You’re well out of it, mate,’ said Ron forcefully. ‘I mean, she’s quite good-looking and all that, but you want someone a bit more cheerful.’” – Can we like not judge a person on a) their looks and b) their mental state? Give the girl a damn break and let her cry as much as she wants.

• “‘Well, I always thought he was a bit of an idiot,’ he said, prodding his queen forwards towards Harry’s quivering castle. ‘Good for you. Just choose someone – better – next time.’ He cast Harry an oddly furtive look as he said it.” – This always read to me as though Ron wanted Ginny and Harry to date, despite being angry when they did. Then again nobody will ever be good enough for your baby sister, I guess?

• “Harry nodded. He somehow could not find words to tell them what it meant to him, to see them all ranged there, on his side. Instead, he smiled, raised a hand in farewell, turned around and led the way out of the station towards the sunlit street, with Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia and Dudley hurrying along in his wake.” – I love how we start this book with Harry feeling isolated and alone, and end it with him surrounded by all those people who love him and have sworn to protect him.