Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

1.  To answer a previous question of my own, "Bellatrix and her husband Rodolphus came in [to Azkaban] with Barty Crouch, Junior . . . Rodolphus's brother, Rabastan, was with them too" (114).  So the four people Harry saw on trial in the pensieve were Barty Crouch, Jr and Bellatrix, Rodolphus and Rabastan Lestrange.

2.  OotP really strikes the chord that Harry has always had older and wiser wizards to lean on when fighting evil in the past.  When Hermione and Ron ask Harry to give them Defense Against the Dark Arts lessons, they bring up all the things he's done in the past-- saving the Stone from Vodlemort, killing the basilisk and destroying Riddle, fighting off a hundred dementors at once, and defeating Voldemort in the graveyard.  Harry yells, "It sounds great when you say it like that, but all that stuff was luck-- I didn't know what I was doing half the time, I didn't plan any of it, I just did whatever I could think of, and I nearly always had help . . . I got through it all because -- because help came at the right time, or because I guessed right" (327).  The first time Harry really IS on his own is when he sees the faux vision of Sirius in trouble: "There was nobody left to tell.  Dumbledore had gone, Hagrid had gone, but he had always expected Professor McGonagall to be there, irascible and inflexible, perhaps, but always dependably, solidly present" (730).  I think it will be interesting to see Harry "on his own" in DH because I think we can all agree that this first time he tried to do something on his own it didn't exactly turn out how one would hope.  He misinterpreted the whole situation, dragged five of his friends and the entire Order of the Phoenix into danger and got Sirius killed.  Let's hope his powers of deduction and judgement have grown over the course of HBP.  Also, see #s 15 and 20 below for hints on how I think Harry will have to change his ways to confront challenges like this more effectively in DH. 

3.  To answer another one of my questions from a previous email, I now see what people mean about the proprietor of the Hog's Head being Aberforth Dumbledore.  When Ron, Hermione and Harry walk in for their first DADA meeting, "The Hog's Head bar comprised one small, dingy, and very dirty room that smelled strongly of something that might have been goats," and when the barman comes up to Harry, he is described as, "a grumpy looking old man with a great deal of long gray hair and beard.  He was tall and think and looked vaguely familiar to Harry" (335-336).  This makes me even more curious about Dumbledore's past.  How did his brother end up running a ramshackle establishment in Hogsmeade and performing illegal charms on goats while Dumbledore wound up one of the best sorcerer's of the age? 

4.  When Hagrid returns, he uses a piece of dragon meat to soothe his bruised face: "He picked up the steak and slapped it over the left side of his face.  Greenish blood trickled down into his beard as he gave a soft moan of satisfaction" (422).  Well, there's one use for dragon's blood out of twelve: soothing wounds.

5.  When Hagrid presents the thestrals to the Care of Magical Creatures class, he says, "I reckon I'm probably the on'y person in Britain who's managed ter train 'em" (443).  Who's death did Hagrid witness that he is able to see the thestrals?  If I recall correctly, this is also a question that was posed on mugglenet.

6.  When Harry goes to Dumbledore with his dream of Arthur Weasley being injured, "Dumbledore . . . swooped down upon one of the fragile silver instruments whose function Harry had never known, carried it over to his desk, sat down facing them again, and tapped it gently with the tip of his wand.  The instrument tinkled into life at once with rhythmic clinking noises.  Tiny puffs of pale green smoke issued from the miniscule silver tube at the top.  Dumbledore watched the smoke closely, his brow furrowed, and after a few seconds, the tiny puffs became a steady stream of smoke that thickened and coiled in the air . . . a serpent's head grew out of the end of it, opening it's mouth wide.  Harry wondered whether the instrument was confirming his story . . .'Naturally, naturally,' murmured Dumbledore apparently to himself, still observing the stream of smoke without the slightest sign of surprise.  'But in essence divided?'" (470).  What does this instrument do, and what is going on here?  I mean, I get the big picture: Dumbledore is insinuating that Harry and Voldemort are connected in some way.  But how did this instrument help him come to this conclusion?  Will Harry be able to use it or something like it in DH?  And what exactly does he mean when says, "but in essence divided"?  Like I said, I get the big picture: Harry and Voldemort are connected.  But that's a strange way to express it.  What is "divided" between the two of them?

 7.  "'I thought,' said Phineas Nigellus, stroking his pointed beard, 'that to belong to Gryffindor House you were supposed to be brave? It looks to me as though you would have been better off in my own house.  We Slytherins are brave, yes, but not stupid.  For instance, given the choice, we will always choose to save our own necks.'" (494-495).  I think this gives us some insight into Draco's character and what he'll be doing in DH: whatever's best for him. 

8.  When Neville visits his parents at St. Mungo's, his mother gives him an empty Droobles Blowing Gum wrapper.  Neville's grandmother says, "she must have given you enough of them to paper your bedroom by now" (515).  Significance?  Or is it a meaningless detail to show us how nuts she is?

9.  Harry occlumency lessons.  When Harry fails to master occlumency, Snape screams, "Then you will find yourself easy prey for the Dark Lord! . . . Fools who wear their hearts proudly on their sleeves, who cannotn control their emotions, who wallow in sad memories and allow themselves to be provoked this easily-- weak people, in other words-- they stand no chance against his powers!" (536).  Interesting seeing as love is what Dumbledore constantly terms Harry's major STRENGTH against Voldemort.  Here, however, Snape points out that the ability to love and care for others also makes Harry vulnerable (see #s 15 and 20).  When Snape stops giving Harry occlumency lessons, Lupin gets angry and says, "Harry, there is nothing so important as you learning Occlumency!" (672).  But Harry failed miserably at Occlumency.  Will it be important in DH or was it just important because of what Voldemort was trying to do in OotP?

10.  Hermione's patronus is an otter.  Thoughts?

11.  When Montague tries to dock points from George and Fred, they "forced him headfirst into the Vanishing Cabinet on the first floor" (627).  So I was wrong before.  The broken cabinet in CoS was NOT the matching cabinet for Burgin and Borkes.  More questions on this vanishing cabinet, though.  What is it doing in Hogwarts?  Or, conversely, what is it's mate doing in Knockturn Alley?  Did someone put one of the cabinets in one location or another purposefully, or is this just a big tragic accident?

12.  In addition to Dumbledore, I am equally eager to learn about Lily's past.  When we see Snape's worst memory, Lily and James are up in arms at one another.  How do they get together?  Also, how did a muggle family produce the likes of both Aunt Petunia and Lily Evans? 

13.  What makes Snape's worst memory his worst memory?  I mean, yeah, it's embarassing, but he's always trying to show Harry what an awful person his father was.  Wouldn't he WANT Harry to see evidence that actually backs that up?  Harry admits that when he considers the memory: "He had been so sure that his parents had been wonderful people that he never had the slightest difficulty believing Snape's aspersions on his father's character" (653).  A theory I read somewhere which Molly had trouble believing was that it isn't James's abuse of Snape that makes this a memory he wants to keep hidden but rather Snape's treatment of Lily.  After Lily defends Snape and tells James to leave him alone, he rounds on her and says, "I don't need help from filthy little Mudbloods like her!" (648).  The theory conjenctured that it was insulting Lily like this that Snape was truly embarassed about and wanted to hide from Harry.  Betzi? 

14.  What is the veil?  In the Department of Mysteries, Harry and Luna seem to be the only two who can hear the voices from behind the veil, Ginny and Neville appear entranced by it, and Hermione is angry and afraid.  Is the veil like the thestrals?  Can you only hear the voices if you've seen someone die?  Then why wouldn't Neville have also been able to hear them? 

15.  Harry's heroics.  When Harry is all up in arms to get Sirius out of trouble, Hermione accuses him of having a "saving people thing."  She's worried that Voldemort will use this against him, and he does.  When they are in the department of mysteries, Malfoy says that Harry "has a great weakness for heroics; the Dark Lord understands this about him" (782).  Harry confirms this again and again in the Department of Mysteries.  They're there because he wants to save Sirius.  When Malfoy orders Bellatrix to torture Ginny until Harry gives up the prophecy, Harry steps in front of her.  When Hermione is cursed, he thinks "Don't let her be dead . . . it's my fault if she's dead" (793).  When Bellatrix uses the cruciatus curse and threatens to kill Neville, "Harry did not have to think; there was no choice.  The prophecy was hot with the heat from his clutching hand as he held it out.  Malfoy jumped forward to take it" (801)-- even though Neville is willing to sacrifice himself and screams at Harry more than once to not give it to them.  Because of Harry's ability to love, he cares about people too much ot sacrifice them-- even when they're willing to be sacrificed.  If Harry's vision were real, I am sure that Sirius would rather have died than had Harry and friends come to the Department of Mysteries to save him.  But Harry cares about him too much to let that happen.  Same with Neville.  He screams at Harry not to give Malfoy the prophecy, but Harry cares about Neville too much to let him die.  Although Harry's ability to love separates him from Voldemort, it's also a weakness.  I think it will be interesting to see how this effects Harry in DH.  Yes, he can love.  And yes, he needs his friends.  But they're fighting supreme evil here.  While Harry would gladly sacrifice himself, that's not always what the situation requires.  I think he's going to need to learn in DH that the fight they're taking on also might require the sacrifice of people he cares about if it means furthering the cause, and I do think he'll have to make the choice to let people die. 

16.  What curse does the Death Eater use on Hermione?  "The Death Eater Hermione had just struck dumb made a sudden slashing movement with his wand from which flew a streak of what looked like purple flame.  It passed right across Hermione's chest; she gave a tiny "oh!" as though of surprise and then crumpled onto the floor where she lay motionless" (792).  When Hermione returns to relative health, "she winced slightly and put a hand to her ribs.  The curse Dolohov has used on her, though less effective than it would have been had he been able to say the incantation aloud . . . Hermione was having to take ten different types of potion every day" (847).  This ties in with my former query about killing a wizard and if avada kedavra is the only way.  Also, does avada kedavra have to be uttered orally?

17.  I second a question Molly posed when I talked about Lupin and Sirius using the avada kedavra curse on Wormtail.  Why couldn't Harry use the Cruciatus curse on Bellatrix?  Bellatrix says, "You need to mean them, Potter!  You need to really want to cause pain-- to enjoy it-- righteous anger won't hurt me for long" (810).  This is arguably the angriest Harry has ever felt in his life.  I believe he sincerely wants to hurt Bellatrix and cause her pain for what she did to Sirius.  So why can't he use the Cruciatus curse?  Is it a question of controlling his emotions like Snape urges him to do in Occlumency lessons? 

18.  When Dumbledore and Voldemort meet in the Ministry of Magic, Voldemort questions, "You do not seek to kill me, Dumbledore?" to which Dumbledore responds, "We both know that there are other ways of destroying a man, Tom . . . merely taking your life would not satisfy me, I admit."  When Voldemort says, "There is nothing worse than death!, Dumbledore responds, "You are quite wrong . . . Indeed, your failure to understand that there are things much worse than death has alwasy been your greatest weekness" (814).  What does Dumbledore mean by "other ways of destroying a man?"  Will this come into play in DH?  Is it possible that the fate that awaits Voldemort in DH isn't death but something worse? 

19.  Dumbledore says, "It is my fault that Sirius died . . . you should never have believed for an instant that there was any necessity for you to go to the Department of Mysteries tonight.  If I had been open with you, Harry, as I should have been, you would have known a long time ago that Voldemort might try and lure you to the Department of Mysteries, and you would never have been tricked into going there tonight" (825-826).  "I believed it could not be long before Voldemort attempted to force his way into your mind, to manipulate and misdirect your thoughts" (827).  I bring up the same question I did in SS.  It seems like Dumbledore knew from the beginning what was happening and just . . . let it happen.  And this makes NO sense to me.  I mean, come on.  Harry never would have struggled so much against occlumency if Dumbledore just said "Hey, Harry, Voldemort can read your mind and he's going to try to make you do stuff.  That's why it's so important you learn occlumency."  Harry never would have gone to the Department of Mysteries if Dumbledore had just told him what was there and said that Voldemort would try to lure him there.  I get that he wants to "protect" him (see #20), but this just doesn't make sense!  If he knew what was going on all along, as it seems he does, he could have done so much more to prevent it.   

20.  Dumbledore tells Harry, "I cared about you too much . ..  I cared more for your happiness than your knowing the truth, more for your peace of mind than my plan, more for your life than the lives that might be lost if the plan failed.  In other words, I acted exactly as Voldemort expects we fools who love to act" (838).  Once again we see that love can be a strength but also a weakness.  If Dumbledore hadn't been so worried about Harry's happiness, much could have been avoided.  Going back to what I said in #15, Harry's going to have to walk a fine line in DH.  Yes, he will need to use his love as a strength, but he'll also have to know when it can be used against him.