hol name: April Criddle
ID: ap404
First Year

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix starts on
the hottest day of the summer, with Harry trying to
listen in on the news of the day. His aunt and uncle
stop him, as usual, who were alarmed by the loud noise
(that no doubt was Fletcher Disapparating). Harry
gets into a huge fight with the Dursleys and walks
out. Harry’s huge mood change seems mostly due to the
fact that he is hugely frustrated with the wizarding
world for not contacting him at all about Voldemort.
He subscribed to the Daily Prophet in hopes of seeing
some news there, but the newspaper seemed to be
ignoring the fact that Voldemort was back. Even
Harry’s friends Hermione and Ron would not tell him
anything useful. Thus, Harry is disappointed that his
friends get to spend time together while he is stuck
at the Dursleys. He is also feeling
under-appreciated. On top of it all, he still dreams
of his last battle with Voldemort and Cedric’s death
This all no doubt prompted him to walk out on the
Dursleys and mock Dudley mercilessly later.
When Harry sees Dudley and his friends, we can
definitely see a change in Harry, because he actually
wants them to come attack him; to provoke a fight.
This is something Harry has not previously done.
Harry waits until Dudley is alone to show himself,
though, and taunts Dudley all the way home. We find
that Harry enjoys this mocking. I think that,
remembering what we learn about James Potter in this
book, this first chapter is a great example of Harry
acting like James except perhaps Harry’s anger.
(James probably was not so angry.)
Anyway, Dudley starts teasing Harry back, about
Harry’s dreams, and Harry is angered enough to take
out his wand. Then, two dementors show up. Harry
manages to fight them off with Expecto Patronum before
Mrs. Fig and Mandingos Fletcher finds them.
Harry finds that Figg is a Squib, and Figg yells her
head off at Fletcher for abandoning Harry and letting
dementors attack him. Harry also finds that
Dumbledore has been having him followed. Dudley was
scared pretty badly by the dementors, which of course
gets his parents angry with Harry.
Harry also receives a notice from the MoM that since
he has performed magic in front of Muggles again, he
has been expelled from Hogwarts. He is, of course,
very disappointed. At this time, we learn that
Petunia actually knows what dementors are, which means
she somehow retained this small piece of information
over the years. Harry also receives messages from
Sirius and Mr. Weasley telling him not to worry and to
stay at the Dursleys. The Dursleys get so fed up with
Harry that they nearly threw him out, except Petunia
received a frightening message that compelled her to
make him stay.
Later, while the Dursleys are out, the Advance Guard
comes to pick up Harry. They bring him to Number
Twelve, Grimmauld Place, which turns out to be Sirius’
old home. By this time, Harry is quite bitter, angry,
and frustrated, and he ends up taking it out on Ron
and Hermione. From these two, Harry finds that Ron’s
brother, Percy had forsaken Dumbledore for Fudge.
Percy also fought with Mr. Weasley. He also finds
that Fudge and the Ministry are basically refusing to
believe that Voldemort is back, and it was Dumbledore
who made sure Harry knew nothing.
Harry later talks with Sirius, who seems grouchy about
being left inside his house all summer. He is also
unhappy with Dumbledore, who will not let him leave
his old house. Sirius seems like the type that would
prefer adventure to boredom. Then, after getting into
a fight, Sirius, the Weasleys, Tonks and Lupin tell
Harry everything they can. The Ministry does not want
the public to know about Voldemort, so they don’t. No
one in the Order of Phoenix can say anything because
they are not respected or in venerable positions.
They hint at a powerful weapon Voldemort has, but
refuse to tell Harry about it.
Harry learns that Sirius’ family was unsupportive of
Muggles, and pureblood to the core. Sirius ran away
when he was 16. Sirius is also related to Tonks, the
Malfoys, the Weasleys and the Lestranges. It seems
pureblood families are interrelated.
Mr. Weasley takes Harry to the Ministry of Magic for
his hearing. Harry finds Dumbledore there, and the
Wizengamot, (Wizarding Court system). After calling
in Figg as a witness, Harry is cleared of all charges,
much to Fudge’s disappointment.
Back at the Black house, Ron finds that he has been
named prefect, much to everyone’s surprise. Mrs.
Weasley has a scare from a boggart. She is worried
that her children, Harry and Mr. Weasley will die
because most people in the Order of Phoenix have ended
up dead.
The next day, on the train to Hogwarts, Harry meets
Luna Lovegood, who seems to be somewhat of an
eccentric girl, whose father is the editor for
somewhat of a rubbish magazine, the Quibbler. Harry
also learns that he can finally see the thestrals that
carry the carriages to the school.
Harry, Ron and Hermione find that Hagrid is not at
Hogwarts anymore, and the new DADA teacher is Dolores
Umbridge, who works for Fudge. The Sorting Hat sings
a warning song, foreshadowing what will happen during
the school year. Through Umbridge’s speech, they learn
that the Ministry is interfering with education at
Hogwarts. In his dorm, he finds that Seamus’ family
believed that Harry and Dumbledore were lying about
Voldemort, like many others.
Later, Harry goes through his classes, where all the
professors are talking about OWLS, the wizarding exams
the students have to take at the end of the year.
Harry gets thrown out of class for calling Umbridge a
liar. Umbridge appears to be a very strict teacher,
against any mention of Voldemort in her classroom.
Harry gets detention for the entire week, which
interferes with Quidditch tryouts, much to Angelina
Johnson’s (captain) distaste.
Detention with Umbridge is painful for Harry,
literally. He has to write lines on parchment, and
the lines seared into his hand, the ink coming out his
blood. Eventually, the sentence “I will not tell lies”
remains etched on the back of his hand. He also feels
an odd sensation while with Umbridge; his scar hurting
again. Ron tries out for the Keeper position on the
Gryffindor team, and he manages to land the spot
Harry writes to Sirius about his scar, and Hermione
finds in the Daily Prophet that Podmore was been
charted with trespass and attempted robbery at the
Ministry. Ron suggests that perhaps he was framed, and
Hermione agrees with him. Later, Ron and Harry go to
Quidditch practice, which does not turn out very well
for Ron, who misses many catches due to the
Slytherin’s taunting (they were watching).
While doing homework, Ron receives a letter from his
brother Percy advising him to befriend better people
than Harry. Ron promptly rips the letter into shreds.
Later, they get to talk to Sirius, by way of fire, and
he assures them Umbridge probably isn’t working for
Voldemort. Sirius tells that Fudge believes
Dumbledore is trying to seize power. He wants to see
them again, but Harry and Hermione know that Lucius
Malfoy probably recognized him the last time Sirius
ventured out.
In the Daily Prophet the next day, they find that
Umbridge ha been named the High Inquisitor of Hogwarts
to inspect the teachers to make sure they are teaching
properly. Professor Trelawney is first inspected, and
she came off as somewhat of a fraud in front of
Umbridge. Later, in DADA, Harry lands another week of
detention with Umbridge for talking about Quirrell and
Voldemort.
Umbridge next inspects McGonagall and Professor
Grubbly-Plank’s classes. That night, Hermione has the
idea that Harry should teach them real DADA—the stuff
they aren’t learning from Umbridge. Harry is hesitant
about it initially, but he is gradually convinced into
it. Hermione invites some people to meet them in the
Hog’s Head at Hogsmeade to discuss the matter. Harry
gets really excited about the group—but the next day,
they find that all groups have been disbanded,
including the Quidditch teams.
During History of Magic, Harry finds that Hedwig has
been injured while delivering a message from Sirius.
Hedwig was probably intercepted by spies. The message
said to meet Sirius by fire again. Sirius found out
about their group by way of Fletcher and he likes the
idea, although he tells Ron that Mrs. Weasley does
not. Sirius has to leave abruptly because it seems
Umbridge nearly found out about how they were
communicating.
Again, Harry feels his scar hurting, but this time he
is beginning to understand what it means. The first
time, it was because Voldemort was angry, the time
with Umbridge because Voldemort was pleased, and then
now, because he was angry again. This is a sign of
the connection between Harry and Voldemort.
Dobby brings Harry Hedwig back, and also tells him
about the Room of Requirement, where they could
possibly hold the DADA lessons. They hold their first
lesson there, and it seems to be a very suitable
place, and due to a suggestion of Ginny’s call their
group Dumbledore’s Army. Harry’s crush on Cho is
continuing to grow at this point. Hermione finds a
clever way of communicating the time and date to all
the members with a fake Galleon that is Protean
Charmed to reflect the time and date on Harry’s
Galleon.
On the day of the first Quidditch game, Ron is
extremely pessimistic and doubtful about his skill.
The Slytherins only make it worse by taunting him with
their new song, “Weasley is out King”. Ron does not
play very well during the game, but Harry still
manages to catch the snitch so that Gryffindor wins.
Malfoy, very sour about losing, ends up taunting the
Weasleys and Harry, which makes Harry and George so
furious that they try to beat up Malfoy. Umbridge
uses her new authority over Hogwarts’ punishments to
ban Harry and the twins from playing Quidditch ever
again.
To brighten the mood, Hermione tells them that Hagrid
has finally come back. Harry, Ron and Hermione visit
him and learn that he was indeed looking for giants
for Dumbledore. He didn’t have much luck overall, but
some giants at least considered what Hagrid had to
say. Umbridge visits Hagrid as well, who is very
interested in where he went during his leave.
At the next CoMC (Care of Magical Creatures) lesson,
Hagrid shows the class thestrals, horse-like creatures
that one can only see if they have seen death.
Umbridge inspects during this class and attempts to
write Hagrid off as an idiot because of her hate of
half-breeds. Angelina finds replacements for the
twins and Harry, one of them being Ginny Weasley as
the seeker.
Later, after the last DA meeting before the holidays,
Harry receives his first kiss from Cho Chang. While
he is sleeping, Harry dreams of Mr. Weasley being
attacked by a snake, almost like he was the snake. He
wakes up and tells Ron. Neville runs to tell
McGonagall, who further takes Harry to see Dumbledore.
Dumbledore still seems to be avoiding Harry as he
barely looks directly at him while they are in his
office. Dumbledore sends two of the old Heads to look
for Mr. Weasley, and tells another head Phineas
Nigellus to alert Sirius that the Weasley children and
Harry Potter will be at the Black household shortly.
After a night, they receive news that Mr. Weasley is
recovering at St. Mungo’s so they will spend the
holidays at Sirius’ house. Harry and the Weasley
children go to the hospital to visit Mr. Weasley, who
seems to be doing considerably well. Through use of
the twins’ Extendable Ears, he learns that the adults
are afraid that Voldemort may be possessing Harry.
Hermione shows up at Sirius’ house a few days later,
and Ginny, the one person who has been possessed by
Voldemort assures Harry that he is probably not being
possessed. They exchange Christmas presents on
Christmas; Hermione makes a present for Preacher, but
they find that he has gone missing. They visit MR.
Weasley in the hospital wing again, but get a bit
lost. They see Lockhart, who still hasn’t fully
recovered from Chamber of Secrets, and Neville, who is
visiting his parents in the hospital.
Later, Snape visits the Black house to see Harry
about teaching him Occulmency, much to both their
distastes, and Mr. Weasley finally comes from the
hospital.
They return to school again, and Harry has his first
Occulmency lesson. Occumency is basically how to shut
out one’s mind to Legilimency’s influences. Harry is
not very successful in letting go of his anger. His
lessons with Snape make him realize he has been
dreaming of the Department of Mysteries. He also
feels another pain in his scar—Voldemort is very
happy.
The next day they find that there has been a mass
break out of Death Eaters at Azkaban, and a Ministry
Worker named Bode died under strange circumstances.
Things are only getting worse at Hogwarts as both
Divination and CoMC teachers are under probation.
Harry is also not improving at al at Occumency. On
their next Hogsmeade visit, Harry spends a rather
interesting day with Cbo, who seems to be jealous of
all the attention Harry is giving Hermione. She runs
out crying, leaving Harry quite frustrated as well.
Hermione also manages to convince Rita Skeeter to
write an article about Voldemort coming back, with
quotes from Harry, to be published in the Quibbler. Of
course, when the article is published, Umbridge is
furious and forbids people from reading the Quibbler
at school. Of course, this makes people want to read
it more, and many people become convinced that
Voldemort may, in fact be back, including Seamus.
Harry has a vision of himself as Voldemort with the
Death Eater Rookwood, impatient about some
information. He refuses to tell Dumbledore because he
is supposed to be learning how to block out Voldemort.
At his next Occumency lesson. Snape sees a bit of
Harry’s vision and questions him about it, but Harry
lies and says that was the only one he had. Then
Harry finally makes progress and sees a bit of Snape’s
bad memories. The lesson is interrupted by Trelawney
being sacked by Umbridge. Dumbledore surprises
Umbridge by finding a substitute right away: Firenze,
the centaur.
Firenze tells Harry to send a mysterious message to
Hagrid: his attempt is not working. Harry, of course,
is baffled by this, but he tells Hagrid anyway.
Later, Dobby warns Harry that Umbridge has found out
about the DA. Fudge even came to Hogwarts to inspect
the matter. Harry is brought to the headmaster’s
office where he finds that it was a friend of Cho’s;
Marietta, who sneaked. Yet when Marietta is
questioned further, she mysteriously denies meeting
for the past six months. When Umbridge brings out
Hermione’s list with :”Dumbledore’s Army” at the top,
Dumbledore takes a surprising act by claiming that he
started the DA, and running out before Fudge can throw
him in Azkaban. Now Hogwarts doesn’t even have
Dumbledore as a salvation against Umbridge.
The next day, Umbridge declares herself the new
Headmistress and appoints Slytherins as her
Inquisitorial Squad. Then, Umbridge tries to get Harry
to tell her the whereabouts of Dumbledore and Snape
with truth potion. Fred and George decide to cause
chaos in the classes so that Umbridge always has to
come clean up afterwards. Right before his Occulmency
lesson, Harry has a fight with Cho about Marietta,
further spoiling their relationship.
Harry is about to start Occlumency with Snape when
Malfoy comes in about the Slytherin Chaser, Montague,
who had been stuck in a toilet. Harry discovers
Snape’s penseive while Snape is gone and looks into
it. He sees one of Snape’s worst memories—of when
Harry’s father James Potter and his gang bullied
Snape. He also saw his mother Lily Evans stand up to
them. Harry is crushed by this because he always
thought his father was a perfect person. Snape
catches Harry in his pensieve and refuses to teach
Harry Occlumency ever again.
Harry wants to talk to Sirius again, but he knows
it’s impossible. Fred and George decide to distract
Umbridge so that Harry can use Umbridge’s office fire
to contact Sirius. Sirius and Lupin manage to
convince Harry that James did grow up to be a good
person after the scene Harry saw. They are appalled to
hear that Snape stopped giving Harry lessons. Fred and
George’s distraction was to turn a corridor into a
swamp. They decide to leave Hogwarts forever on
broomstick, to show Umbridge.
During the Ravenclaw-Gryffindor Quidditch match,
Hagrid finally shows Harry and Hermione his
half-brother, Grawp. He tries to introduce them to
him, but Grawp turns out to be very disagreeable.
Meanwhile, Ron and the Gryffindor team manage to win
the Quidditch cup
During Harry’s OWLs, Umbridge tries to sneak up on
Hagrid, who also manages to run away. Then Harry has
another vision, this time of Voldemort killing Sirius
during his History of Magic OWL. Harry, of course,
immediately wants to rescue him, but Hermione decides
that they should at least check to make sure Sirius
has left the house. They use Umbridge’s fire and get
a hold of Kreacher, who confirms the claims. Harry is
then caught by Umbridge, and he tries to tell Snape of
Sirius’ situation. When Umbridge catches Harry,
Hermione devises a clever plan to show Umbridge a
weapon: the centaurs and Grawp.
Harry, Ron Hermione, Ginny, Neville, and Luna all
decide to travel to the Department of Mysteries to
rescue Sirius on the thestrals. They find mostly an
empty place except a room with a bunch of prophecies.
When Harry picks up the one with his name on it, the
Death Eaters finally show themselves. They seem
intent on having the prophecy unharmed. There is a
fight where Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Luna are all
unconscious, injured or mentally unhinged afterwards.
Neville’s wand breaks but otherwise he is all right.
The prophecy drops and breaks. Then they are attacked
by Bellatrix Lestrange, but Sirius, Lupin. Moody,
Tonks and Kingsley show up to help out fight.
Dumbledore arrives as well, but while fighting, Sirius
falls behind the veil to his death.
Harry is of course, furious with grief. He tries to
use the Cruciatus curse on Bellatrix, but to no avail.
Then Voldemort shows up, only to be faced by
Dumbledore, the only one he ever feared. They fight,
and Harry’s scar starts to hurt again, as he is fused
with Voldemort. His last thought before he thinks he
might die is that he’ll be able to see Sirius again,
not of his parents, showing how much he cherished his
godfather,
After Voldemort disappears with Bellatrix, Fudge and
some Ministry workers show up, finally convinced that
Voldemort is back. Harry takes a portkey back to
Hogwarts in Dumbledore’s office, lamenting about
Sirius’ death. Harry becomes extremely angry with
Dumbledore for trying to understand how Harry feels.
But Dumbledore will not let Harry leave because he has
more to tell Harry. Dumbledore then claims
responsibility for Sirius’ death , because he did not
tell Harry about the connection between Harry and
Voldemort. Dumbledore distanced himself with Harry to
protect him which turned out to be a huge mistake.
Harry finds that Kreacher lied about Sirius being gone
and had conspired with the Malfoys to lure Harry to
the Department of Mysteries. Dumbldore also finally
tells Harry that he has a special bond with his aunt
Petunia that has kept him alive for the past 14 years.
He admits his mistake was to not tell Harry why
Voldemort tried to kill him—because he cared about
Harry too much. Voldemort tried to kill Harry because
of a prophecy , and he never heard how to kill Harry,
Dumbledore then shows Harry the prophecy, made by
Trelawney herself. The prophecy says that one who was
born at the end of July, whose parents had denied
Voldemort three times would defeat Voldemort. This
could have been Neville or Harry, but Voldemort chose
the one to be Harry. And Harry finally learns that in
the end, either he or Voldemort will die.
The Daily Prophet finally releases an article saying
that Voldemort is indeed back. Hermione, Ron, Ginny
and Luna all recover nicely, and Umbridge is in the
hospital wing, recovering from a centaur attack. Harry
discovers an old package Sirius gave him, which turns
out to be communicating mirrors. Then Harry has the
idea to talk to Nearly Headless Nick about ghosts, but
he finds that Sirius will not come back as a ghost.
After, Harry talks with Luna , who tells him that she
saw her mother die. She gives Harry new hope, though,
that he may see Sirius again beyond the veil. They
both remember hearing voices there.
Then, it’s the last day of school and Lupin, Tonks ,
the Weasleys and Moody decide to come to greet Harry
so they can have a talk with the Duisleys. They
threaten the Dursleys not to do anything horrible to
Harry over summer vacation. There, the book ends.


Nice Work!
Excellent use of foreshadowing and analysis! I enjoyed reading your report!

50 Points