Character Analysis of Sirius

      Sirius Black is an important adult figure in the series. Not only is he Harry's godfather and an escapee from Azkaban, he is also a part of the Order of the Phoenix. He is first mentioned in Sorcerer's Stone, having met Hagrid at the Potter's house shortly after the murders, but we aren't formally introduced to him until Prisoner of Azkaban, when he breaks out and is supposedly after Harry, becoming the main focus of the book. He is perceived to be a bad guy, a killer, but we learn that he actually was innocent, and manages to escape with help from Harry, and lives on the run for the rest of his life.

Role in the Order of the Phoenix

       His role in the Order is minimal after Voldemort's return, due to his status in the Wizarding World, so therefore the only thing he can really do is offer his house as headquarters. He feels terrible and helpless towards the cause because of this, but it actually turned out to be a huge help and advantage to the Order and the trio in the long run. He wants to go out into the world and fight, get information, or recruit: anything to get out of his house. He was active in the original Order during the First War, though it is unclear what exactly he did. He was a skilled duellist, as we see in OOTP during the Battle in the Ministry when he was fighting off the Death Eaters.

Family

       Sirius' entire family had been in Slytherin; all except him. They were obsessed with the Pureblood society and were very racist. Most were supporters of Voldemort and even before that,bad things like Muggle-hunting. He didn't want to be anything like them. He "went out of his way to annoy his parents" by putting Gryffindor and Muggle things on his wall with a permanent sticking charm: everything they despised. His great-great grandfather, Phineas Nigellus Black, was the most unpopular Hogwarts Headmaster ever. He is cousins to Bellatrix and Narcissa, as well as Andromeda and Tonks. Sirius is related to basically every Wizarding family some way or another due to intermarriage.

Sirius and Regulus

       Sirius and Regulus are very alike in character, though it doesn't seem that way on the surface. You have Regulus-the Slytherin, the favorite son, a supporter of the Dark Arts, and a Death Eater. Then there's Sirius- the Gryffindor, outcast (and proud of it) of the family, a hater of the Dark Arts, and a member of the Order of the Phoenix. They seem like polar opposites, but actually, their characters are very similar. Regulus became a Death Eater, probably with loads of support, if not persuasion from his family; but when he joined, he immediately wanted to back out. He found out about the Horcruxes and attempted to destroy them but died in the process. This is similar to Sirius, because he really wasn't as bad as he was made out to be, as Sirius was, and in the end, he showed Gryffindor-like traits in his pursuit to get away from Voldemort. Perhaps, like Harry, Regulus had chosen to be in Slytherin due to his family, when there is a slight possibilty he could've been in Gryffindor, as the Sorting Hat 'knows' true traits and underlying character like in Neville's case, where it wasn't clear why he was a Gryffindor until DH.

Relationships with the Marauders

       Sirius was hardly ever in the background. In his school days, he and James were popular and top of their class, though they did a lot of rule-breaking. The two were as close as brothers, the way they got along. They were the closest friends in the Marauders.
       Lupin was befriended by the rest of the Marauders shortly after their arrival at Hogwarts. After finding out about his "furry little problem", Sirius and James taught themselves and Peter to become Animagi to accompany Lupin during the full moon and give him company. He was very grateful, as it really helped him get through the pain.
       Lupin was not told of the Potters' switch in plans from Sirius to Peter regarding the Secret-Keeper of their residence. We see in Prisoner of Azkaban that Lupin had thought, along with the rest of the Wizarding World, that Sirius was Secret-Keeper and sold his friends out, and was genuinely shocked when news of the Potters' fate reached him. When he sees Sirius for the first time after his escape in the Shrieking Shack, he immediately realizes the switch and believes it without a doubt, much to the bewilderment of the trio. This is a defining trait in their friendship: that without a doubt, he would believe his friend, no matter what the situation or blame. He automatically knew the truth, even though he didn't at first. After Sirius escaped and was in his family home, Lupin kept him company when he wasn't working with the werewolves or nearing the full moon, giving him comfort, much like Sirius did for him.

Relationship with Harry

       As he was in Azkaban for the majority of Harry's life, he wasn't able to fufill his duties as godfather to him until Goblet of Fire; but even then, it was minimal. After his escape, he had become a central figure in Harry's life. As Dumbledore said, Harry had "com[e] to regard [Sirius] as a mixture of father and brother." He gave Harry help during the Triwizard Tournament and during his fifth year when he was teaching the DA. The latter is more important, as he was very supportive of Harry and basically a driving force in his decision to teach in the first place. It reassured Harry that he had support from Sirius.
       Sirius' death was a really low blow for Harry. Already having lost his parents, his next parental figure being taken from him really impacted him. He had just gotten to know him; not even two years had passed from their first meeting. Their time was cut short twice. Had it not been for the importance of the blood protection that Lily provided for Harry, he probably would have gone to live with Sirius, therefore would have been brought up differently: with love and care.

Favorite Moments

       My (Paige) favorite Sirius moment is when they are taking Pettigrew to the castle from the Shrieking Shack, and he tells Harry that he is his godfather, and offers him a place to stay, trying, somehow, to make up for the lost years. Harry then says one of my favorite lines: "Are you insane? Of course I want to leave the Dursleys! Have you got a house? When can I move in?" I love this scene because it shows a complete contrast to the image of his character that we've seen througout the book, and it is a comic relief bit. It is also establishes the beginning of his role as a father figure to Harry, a relationship that I love in the series, and one that was tragically short-lived.
       My (Calie) favorite Sirius moment was probably in Goblet of Fire, when Sirius is trying to protect Harry after his ordeal in the graveyard. Here we see Sirius act as a parent, something we don't see so often. His love for Harry is so apparent in this scene that I can't think of another time that Sirius looks like a better guy. Sirius is acting like any parent would, trying to keep Harry from feeling anymore pain then he has to. We see the best in Sirius here, and I really like that.

Happy Birthday JKR, HP, and...Pottermore

So today was a big day. JKR celebrated her birthday as well as the birthday of the boy who lived. I'm sure Hagrid sent a...lovely homemade cake to each. But this day is important for another reason. Today Pottermore opened its early registration. Now, if you happened to forget that was today, and you want one of those few precious spots, don't fret. There will be another chance tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that... So happy birthday, and good luck to all of you pottermore hopefuls.

Quote of the Week

"Death's got an Invisibility Cloak?" Harry interrupted again.
"So he can sneak up on people," said Ron. "Sometimes he gets bored of running at them, flapping his arms and shrieking..."

-Deathly Hallows

So we are all aware of Ron's use as comic relief, and this statement definitely has some comic value. But once again we also see some bit of amazing truth behind it as well. It is interesting to think of death as a person, an actual figure, in the past I have talked about how Rowling does this with a lot of things. But then to think about him using an invisibility cloak that way he can kill people without warning. The different ways that death presents itself. Sometimes it is fast, sometimes slow, expected, or sudden, etc. This quote is a bit thought provoking, as well as causing a few giggles. This has always been one of my favorite lines out of DH. It has a pleasant combination of insight and humor that Ron always seems to bring to the table. 

Department of Queries: Wand Allegiance

As I said in a post a few days ago, we are starting a new series here on SR. This series, Department of Queries, attempts to answer some of the conundrums within the series. Paige and I have compiled a long list of questions during our readings this summer, but this is also a chance for you to throw in a few of your own. So here is our first post:

Question: What influences the allegiance of wands?

        Well I suppose the best place to begin is how does a wand align with a person in the first place? What makes a wand choose its owner? How does Ollivander know what wands someone will need, and how does he know which he should make? So basically, that is what Paige and I used as our starting point (we will get to changes in allegiance in just a second). I have always been under the assumption that Ollivander just has some kind of inspiration. He makes a wand when he feels he has a good core and wood that will make a great match. There must be some kind of science behind it, as Griphook says that Wizards refuse to share the secrets of wandlore with the Goblins. I always figured that Ollivander has a shop full of wands because he makes a wand without any person in mind, then it is ready for whenever the right person comes along. On to how Ollivander figures out what kind of wand will be likely to choose a certain person. Well, we think that the cores and woods posses certain qualites (supple, unyeilding, good for charm work, etc.) that lend them to a certain kind of person. Ollivander understands wands better than anyone in the world, so we can assume that he understands these characteristics and uses them to make wands. We also found it interesting that he measures people before giving them wands to test. Does this indicate that size of person has an impact? I have wondered this ever since the books said that Hagrid had a wand that was very large, while Umbridge had a very short wand. Perhaps height has an impact on the length of wand that will be best for you.

        So for the most part, Paige and I saw eye to eye on this first question. But when it comes to allegiances changing, we not only found the questions harder to answer, but we also didn’t always agree. We started this part of the conversation off with the question, what would happen if a won wand was returned to its original owner? Paige sees wand alliances as a bit more black and white than I do. I think that the wand would probably return its allegiance to its owner, especially if returned (or won back) immediately. I kind of feel like wands and wizards form a bond between each other, and they sort of learn from each other. So a wand going back to its original owner, especially if it was hardly used by anyone else, wouldn’t change. Paige had problems with that; she thought that once a wand was won it would be a bit harder to regain its allegiance, because the new person was already in charge of it. She wondered how the wand would react if it realized that it was fighting its old master. Would there be some kind of defense to where it wouldn’t work properly against the old master, like the Elder Wand or Harry and Voldemort’s when faced against each other? We finally decided that neither of us knew nearly enough about wandlore to answer this question (hopefully Pottermore will help). Next, we talked about why Hermione’s wand worked so well for Harry, while almost none other did. We thought that the intention of the owner had an impact on how the wand would work for other people. So since Hermione lent him the wand and intended that the wand work for him, the wand would obey her wishes and work without much resistance. But in the instance of the Blackthorn wand, when it was taken by force but not won by Harry, the wand didn’t work properly. The Snatcher neither intended to hand over his wand nor let someone else use it, so it was resistant to all of the magic that Harry tried to do. Paige and I struggled with this a little, as with the next topic. What happens to a wand’s allegiance when the owner dies or becomes incapacitated? Paige and I both agreed that the allegiance would die with the owner, or perhaps be passed to a person who was similar to the owner, like a relative. The Elder Wand was able to change allegiance easily, because it was a particularly power thirsty wand, but we thought that a normal wand would most likely not function that way. We both found it interesting that some wands worked well with other members of the same family, like Ron with Charlie’s wand and Neville with his dad’s, and we think that it may be because of the similar characteristics of the people that have to do with why the wand suits them (as mentioned above).

        Our final topic that we discussed was the biggest head-scratcher of all. Could one person have more than one wand’s allegiance? Paige and I could not come to a consensus on this. I had this feeling that you couldn’t have more than one true wand at a time, as it would take away all the meaning of a loyal wand. But then you have the Harry/Draco Elder Wand conundrum. Both Harry and Draco had the allegiance of Draco’s wand at the same time as they had the allegiance of the Elder Wand. How is this possible, and how did the change in allegiance of Draco’s wand also change the allegiance of the elder wand? What was the allegiance of the Phoenix and Holly wand during this period? Did Harry possibly have three wands at his beck and call at once? Well, Paige and I never could figure this out, but we would (as always) love to hear what you think about this, or anything else in this post.

We Have Been Working, Honestly.

So you may have noticed that Paige and I have been a bit silent since last week's flood of posts. That is for two reasons: one, we have been relaxing a bit since most of our summer has been filled with deadlines and analyses; for Paige, relaxing has meant rereading the entire series and doing a little project with that, and for me, it has been doing some non-Potter related reading.

Second, we have been working on all the stuff that we are going to be doing for the next few months. We will include more of our independent (not part of a series) posts, as well as a new series. What is this new series you ask? Well in fact it is all about asking. It is a series based off of the questions we put at the bottom of each of our read throughs. This new series is similar to Pottercast's Cannon-Conundrums. Paige and I will discuss a question, and then write a post based on our discussion and revelations. This new series is, as of now, being called The Department of Queries. We have begun our first question, and it should be posted in the next few days. We, as always, welcome any questions, suggestions, or feedback you would like to add to this new venture.

Quote of the Week

"I suppose she thinks you don't forget your name. But we're not stupid- we know we're called Gred and Forge."
-George Weasley SS, 20

This is one of my favorite Weasley twin quotes. This is at Christmas and they are discussing the sweaters that Mrs. Weasley made. Fred and George are hilarious characters and it's moments like this that show their sense of humor.

Paige Cyrus

A Slightly Late Quote of the Week

"We did it, we bashed them wee Potter's the one, and Voldy's gone moldy, so now let's have fun!" 

-Peeves, Deathly Hallows

      What a great quote, eh? So I choose this quote because as Ron says "Really gives a feeling for the scope and tragedy of the thing, doesn't it?" This quote is not only humorous, but a great way to sum up the end of Deathly Hallows. Unfortunately it wasn't in the movie, but I guess we can't have everything. So, this quote is another prime example of JKR's comic relief. After a terrible battle, a death and resurrection, as well as a battle to the death; this laugh was nice. Well have a great week, I hope you are coping well with the grief of the end of the movie series, Paige and I are working on some new things which should come out soon..   

Deathly Hallows Part 2 Reactions

Paige:
The first thing that comes to mind is: WOW! They actually stuck to cannon fairly well! There were direct quotes and everything! This movie was pretty awesome. It went beyond my expectations (admittedly, they weren't that high, but still) and I'm happy with it. There were some things that made me mad but I can see why they did them, like Ollivander telling them about the Hallows, and not showing Fred's death/Percy coming back. I LOVE that they gave McGonagall those extra lines; they were amazing. "I've always wanted to use that spell!" I also enjoyed Harry's 'description' of what the Horcrux could be; that was pretty funny as well.
The Prince's Tale (here comes the Snape rant) was epic. Absolutely amazing. They didn't exactly stick to cannon, but it worked really well and was my favorite part of the movie. Alan Rickman had amazing acting and it was so sad. I nearly cried (though most of the audience did.) That was the one scene I was most anxious to see, and it was not disappointing. Another thing that I really enjoyed was the Epilogue. I think that they found really good actors for the kids. I was disappointed when they left out the "It's me, I'm extremely famous" line. But you can't have everything.

Calie (there are some repeats from what Paige said):
       Well, I won't herald Part 2 as a masterpiece, and I will admit that I was a little disappointed. To start off, the good. The battle of Hogwarts, especially the first part, was great. I loved the suits of armor and all the protective spells. Secondly, I loved the humor they incorporated into this movie. McGonagall was so funny, "I have always wanted to use that spell!"Overall they stuck to the book really well, I mean I don't see why they would change those action sequences, you can't really make them more exciting. I have no critiques of the first half of the movie, it was great and did everything right. Direct lines from the book, not going off and adding stuff, they did a really good job. Gringotts was almost exactly as I had imagined, as was the room of requirement/room of lost things scene. Both were amazing. As far as non-action goes I loved the princes tale, that was just amazing. I also loved the Bellatrix/Hermione, I thought it was perfect. Speaking of Hermione, I thought the way that they did their whole relationship was pretty good, the book was better (but it always is). And finally, the epilogue. This is almost exactly how I pictured it in the book, I loved every minute of it. It was a great way to end the series, and really gave it a proper closing. Overall this movie did a really good job of taking the book and translating it into film.
       Now you must be wondering why I was disappointed. For the most part I wasn't, the movie was great. But the filmmakers got caught up in the action and left out somethings that were very important. First of all we see the continued lack of the doubt in Dumbledore plot line. I don't think this would of been that hard, most of the scenes where you see him doubt Dumbledore are in this movie and Part 1. That was a huge piece of the book that has been axed. Second is his wand, he didn't ask Ollivander about repairing it, nor did he repair it at the end. His wand was really important to him, and to the plot of the entire series, I didn't like that he seemed to just accept that it was gone. I also hated that Neville seemed to just kill Nagini by accident, he was never made Harry's replacement. I was really disappointed by that. Finally, my biggest problem with this movie was that Harry did not use the cloak in the forest again scene. He was supposed to walk through the castle unseen, no goodbyes, no recognition. He was also supposed to be using the cloak when he used the stone, uniting the hallows.

Deathly Hallows Analysis

The Ministry of Magic

In Half-Blood Prince, Scrimgeour succeeds Fudge as Minister of Magic. Many thought that this would bring change to the Ministry for the better towards Voldemort, but it turned out to be the opposite-Voldemort was able to infiltrate it. After Voldemort returned to power, the Ministry practically became another branch of Death Eaters. He doesn’t control directly, but uses Thicknesse as a puppet to do what he wants whenever he wants so that he can stay out of public and cause more fear. The Muggle-born Registration Committee is another new branch that was formed to weed out the Muggle-borns in the Wizarding community to establish a Pure-blood society. The Death Eaters were able to convince people that Muggle-borns were evil and had stolen wands and magic. They sent them to jail, killed them, or forced them into exile. This is almost exactly like the Jews in Nazi Germany; the public was told that Jews were trying to undermine the Germans, and they used this excuse to persecute the Jews. It was a bunch of outright lies and ridiculousness. The shift in position was very sudden from pre-Voldy to after.

The Magic is Might statue is a sick, twisted creation of the Ministry and depicts their disturbing Pureblood beliefs. The portrayal of Muggles is disgusting; they appear as if they’re only there to hold up magical existence. They’re ugly, deformed, and not accurately depicted. The wizards are huge and magnificent: literally saying that wizards are bigger and better than Muggles. “Magic is Might” advocates the use of magic to overpower muggles. Voldemort and the Death Eaters believe that magic is THE tool to be superior. This point of view doesn’t show the good side of magic, the side that is harmless and wonderful.

The Snatchers are another new addition to the Ministry. They are very much like the Gestapo. Their purpose is to catch Muggle-borns and anyone who breaks the Taboo. The Taboo is a rather clever device made by Voldemort designed to catch people who are brave enough to say his name. This is mainly to catch the Order members. It was very effective: not only did they probably catch people, they also sparked more fear. Voldemort created more fear of him by making it punishable to say his name. As Dumbledore would say, “Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself.” The laws of the Taboo are very advanced as well. Not only would they be able to automatically Apparate to the spot it was said, but they would be able to breach any protective spells there. It is very advanced magic.

We see the “value” of Muggle borns to the Death Eaters. The prize of a Muggle-born that is caught is five galleons. The price of Harry’s capture and wand was 200,000 galleons. It is disturbing that Harry’s wand was worth 100,000 while a Muggle-born was worth 5. That shows the importance level of Muggles in this new society. Most schoolbooks cost more than a muggle-born. The Ministry hired thugs to run around rounding people up for their benefit, much like a citizen’s arrest.

The Malfoys

We see the character progression of all three Malfoys throughout this book. In the beginning, we see them at the Death Eater meeting in their house. Lucius is broken in spirit and reputation and has had his wand taken. He is not respected anymore, and is at rock bottom. Draco is terrified; he sees a Hogwarts teacher about to be killed, and it scares him that someone he has seen for years is going to be killed in front of his eyes. In Half-Blood Prince, Dumbledore tried to ‘convert’ him to the good side and he twitched his wand and hesitated for a second, as if wanting to take the offer, it gave him a new perspective and was a big turning point in his character, because he showed a bit of remorse. He changes from bully to bullied, as does Lucius.

In the Malfoy Manor chapter, we see that Lucius’ respect has truly been taken away after they catch the trio. Not only has Voldemort taken over his house, but now his sister-in-law is showing authority over him, mocking him, and trying to make decisions for him. When they realize that they have Harry, Lucius goes ballistic and wants to call Voldemort immediately so that he can get some of his respect and reputation back. In this same scene, Draco acts completely different from his father by being very hesitant to admit that it is Harry. He shows doubt even though it is obvious that the captives are the trio. I think that this is because he doesn’t know where his true allegiance lies. He doesn’t want to cause harm on his behalf, and even though he and Harry are enemies, he can’t bring himself to turn him in and is willing to lie to protect them, though this contradicts his actions in the Final Battle when he ‘returns’ to the Dark Side because they were winning. At the end, the entire Malfoy family is sitting in the Great Hall, defying the Death Eaters, yet not fitting in with the ‘Good Side’.

Narcissa is the least affected by Voldemort; she is a mother, not a Death Eater, and serves the mother role more by comforting Lucius and Draco. She doesn’t want to be a Death Eater, but wants to support her family. She is in it for a reason similar to Lucius: to be respected and to be on the good side of powerful people and use them for gain. Both Narcissa and Lucius have significant roles at the Final Battle. Lucius doesn’t care about the Death Eaters anymore and only wants to find his son, and Voldemort sees this. Narcissa has similar views and that becomes her only concern. She sees an opportunity to learn of Draco’s fate, and that is by saving Harry’s life to get away from Voldemort and return to the main grounds. By doing this, she ultimately shows that love can rise above evil by lying to Voldemort for her son’s sake.

Ron/Hermione

Well, the bickering finally paid off, though it is hilarious that it happened over house-elves. The reason it did was because it showed that Ron actually always listened to her, contrary to her belief because he made fun of her so often. There are several instances where he compliments her, even if it is just to Harry. Hermione is very insecure and that is why she reacts the way she does towards Ron. She puts her faith in books rather than people, which is one of the reasons she cracked when Ron left. When he walked out, it brought back all of her insecurities and fears. Their relationship had obviously been developing for years, since Goblet of Fire, and it had definitely began to develop further from the beginning of Deathly Hallows until he left.

When Ron came back, he was very supportive of Hermione in every decision or comment, having realized how much he had hurt her. He did all that he could to try to win her sympathy again, including voting against Harry and comforting Hermione first. His attempts to foster the relationship were amusing and it shows his character returning to the role of comic relief. One of the defining parts of Ron’s character was in the Malfoy Manor chapter, when Hermione was being tortured. Harry felt the same desperation, but they reacted differently. Ron lost control and acted like he was lost and desperate because he didn’t know what to do or how to cope if he lost her and all he could think about was rescuing her. Ron and Hermione’s characters compliment each other by being complete opposites. She is intellectual and a fast-thinker, but doesn’t have Ron’s street smarts and common sense. She’s insecure, he’s not. Ron is the average Joe, the best friend, is loyal and confident (except in Quidditch), and has all the confidence she lacks, while she has the emotions that he lacks. Whatever one is missing, the other has.

Hallows

The Hallows are misinterpreted as enabling one to be the Master of Death in an immortal sense, when really it meant that you were able to accept death and be ready for it when it came. Not everyone could use them in that way; we saw how Dumbledore turned in his quest. They were misused to attempt to defeat death, especially in the case of the Elder Wand whose past is bloody, used for offense, and is a tool for another’s demise rather than protecting from your own. The owner openly bragged about having it, and would become overly cocky, challenge someone to a duel, lose and then die, meaning that death would win before they were ready. The Wand is a tricky object, though. It doesn’t really fit into mastering death. The only way, in Harry’s case, is to possibly kill the Horcrux. It is probably the least powerful, in that sense, of the three.

The Resurrection Stone is not the most misused, but has the possibility to be. It is misused by the grieving who want to bring back a loved one unwillingly and cause them to be unhappy, as we see with Cadmus Peverell and his lover. He attempted to use it to defeat coping with death so that he didn’t have to grieve, but that is not truly defeating death. They have to be ready to accept death rather than grieve so that you could defeat death by bringing back the dead to overcome it. It gave Harry the strength to go to his death because he was with people that had died and they helped him, but he did not bring them back foolishly.

The Invisibility Cloak’s power is to be able to hide and help hide others from death. It is the only Hallow that doesn’t directly antagonize death; it is meant to escape death rather than offend it. It allows you to hide until your time to go: until you accept it and take the cloak off to welcome death like Ignotus Peverell did. Without the cloak, you could die before you’re ready or have accepted and come to terms with it.

Horcruxes

Voldemort was arrogant to turn Hogwarts Founders’ items into Horcruxes; he was saying that he was better than them by overcoming their unique magical abilities to turn it evil. It is interesting that would he taint Slytherin’s object. Although it would’ve been symbolic to him to put his soul into his ancestor’s object, something he would have taken pride in. He saw the locket as something that linked him to magical world. He might’ve thought that the Slytherins and Peverells would’ve wanted him to prolong life, continue their bloodline. He would’ve thought he was making the objects better.

Godric’s Hollow

Godric’s Hollow is the nigredo, or darkest, stage in the book. Here is where Harry is confronted with several things that throw him into a dark state. First he is confronted with the sadness around his parents’ death. He felt more here than ever before. In front of their graves he had to come to terms with the incidents of sixteen years ago. He also struggled with the grief involved, and wishes that he too had been killed. As Harry reads his parents headstone he sees the epitaph, “The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.” He doesn’t understand it, he sees it from the Voldemort/Death Eater point of view, that being mortal is defeating death. Hermione has to explain that it means an acceptance of one’s own mortality. This is a clear reminder that Harry is not yet at the point where he could stand up to Voldemort and sacrifice himself. He still has a way to go. In addition to the grief of seeing his parent’s grave Harry also finds the Dumbledore family plot. This is on top of seeing Ariana and Kendra Dumbledore’s grave, and bringing up the doubt and frustration he feels with Albus. A third important discovery is made: the grave of Ignotus Peverell. Harry doesn’t care much at the time, the discovery of his grave becomes very important in just a few chapters. As they leave the grave yard they come upon the house that Harry once lived in. It is just as damaged as it was on the night that Voldemort came for a visit. It has been left as a memorial. Here Harry and Hermione find a wooden sign detailing the importance of the place. But it also had words from supporters written on it. This support provided a bit of an uplift in mood. It is a relief from the grief of the graveyard.
As you are well aware, more than just a jaunt through a graveyard takes place in Godric’s Hollow. Harry and Hermione encounter something much worse in the form of an old, blind, and apparently mute woman: Bathilda Bagshot; well what is left of her. This is the scene that increases the dark nature of this part of the book. Harry and Hermione follow the old woman back to her house. There she beckons Harry upstairs, apparently to give him something. Then one of the most disturbing things in the entire book happens: Nagini emerges from Bathilda. This is one of those times when we see Voldemort’s complete lack of respect for the dead. He has had his snake living in a corpse, using it like a human puppet. This is one of the things that really shows Voldemort’s evil. Well, of course the snake attacks. Harry, who is taken by surprise, attempts to fight back, but it is dark and the snake is big. He drops his wand and his scar is burning. He is defenseless, then Hermione intervenes. She attempts to kill the snake with Confringo, but it ricochets all around the room. Finally, just a Voldemor appears, they leap out the window and Disapparate, just barely getting away. Then the biggest blow of the nigredo stage is dealt: it is discovered that the pheonix wand is broken.

King's Cross

The King’s Cross chapter is an extremely significant and interesting chapter. The King’s Cross itself in this chapter represent limbo, the space between life and death. It is significant and not by accident, in my opinion, that JKR chose King’s Cross to be the destination of the ‘limbo’. For Harry, the real King’s Cross is the barrier between the Muggle and Magical world, much like it represents the barrier between life and the after-life in this chapter. It is a distinguishing landmark in Harry’s life because he grew up in the Muggle world where he didn’t belong, but he crossed this barrier to go into the Wizarding world where he truly belonged and had a place. At the end of the chapter, Harry is given the choice to go on or to return, and he chooses the latter.

Once Voldemort kills the Horcrux in Harry, he appears here along with Dumbledore and an ugly, helpless baby-like creature, which represents Voldemort’s soul. What is interesting about this is that the representation of Harry’s soul (as he appears) and Voldemort’s soul (the baby-thing) are complete opposites. Harry is unscathed, clean, and naked; pure, basically. Voldemort is a baby, which shows weakness, and its appearance represents evil. It is ugly and writhing as though in pain, which reflects Voldemort’s inner self: pure evil. Harry acknowledges Voldemort’s soul more than once and wants to help it. What is interesting is that when Dumbledore tells Harry that he can’t help it, he doesn’t understand why, and it is ironic because it could symbolize him not understanding evil. Death to Harry was painless, but to Voldemort, it was very painful. Voldemort’s realization of mortality came back to him in a way that it hadn’t before after he had lost all of his Horcruxes. He had disregarded death as something that wouldn’t happen to him and therefore didn’t even feel when the Horcruxes were destroyed. He built his own demise.

Dumbledore’s death symbolized the end of the wise man’s instructions. He left Harry with little information, though enough to where Harry could eventually figure it out and defeat Voldemort. Harry was in a state of confusion, and after his death, as Harry begins to discover the “real” Dumbledore, he is completely befuddled by his findings and is very hurt. His perception was off, and Harry had a very hard time coping with this and forgiving Dumbledore. This is perhaps why Dumbledore didn’t return from the Resurrection Stone to assist Harry to the forest. The Dumbledore in this chapter could’ve been a figment of Harry’s imagination that was meant to help him figure everything out before he went back to finally defeat Voldemort, and not Dumbledore’s actual consciousness/soul. Maybe Harry was figuring it out by himself. The King’s Cross Dumbledore didn’t tell Harry anything he hadn’t have already considered. He seemed to simply prompt Harry to give the correct answer most of the time.

Religious Symbolism

First of all, there was a prophecy that proclaimed Harry would overcome evil and save the Wizarding World. This mirrors Jesus and the prophecy of his role as Messiah. Then in the Forest of Dean, Ron and Harry undergo a symbolic baptism, reliving each of their fears and hate, just as Jesus was baptized in the River Jordan. Next we have the death of Dobby and the digging, and subsequent emergence, from his grave. This is conjecture, but I wouldn’t be surprised if this took three hours. As he descended into the earth (digging the grave) he came to a new realization of his mission, and a new focus. He emerges a changed man, ready to face the evil of Voldemort, just as Jesus descended into hell and on the third day, rose again. Then we have Harry’s death; he sacrifices himself. He makes a choice to do so, and most importantly had the option to live, but chose not to. By doing so he was able to protect all of the Wizarding race from Voldemort. To me this sounds very similar to Christ’s Crucifixion. After his death, he descends into the abyss, a kind of limbo that forms into King’s Cross (more religious symbolism, eh?). Here he has a clearing of the mind and he discovers the truth. From this, he is able to defeat Voldemort. Some of this is speculation, some of it I have heard, but most of it is just obvious.

Questions:
Paige:
How would Bill and Fleur be able to fly the thestral into the boundaries of the Burrow? Shouldn’t there be precautions and protections similar to Hogwarts where no one can get in?
What does Harry do with Grimmauld Place in the future?
Why would Mrs. Weasley give Ron a new watch and Harry her brother’s? I think it would be more of a family tradition if Ron got it.
Is there a magical binding-type thing that happens with marriages; maybe like they can’t separate? It says: “I declare you bonded for life.”
Do other Wizarding schools have the same amount of education? How similar/different are the curriculums?
How did the protective charms at the Burrow suddenly break after Kingsley’s warning Patronus?
Would using ‘Obliviate’ be the same as ‘modifying a memory?’ Hermione says that she “modified [her] parents’ memory’ but had never done ‘Obliviate,’ but knew the theory to. Is there a certain amount of moderation you can do or a way to control the amount?
Why did the anti-Snape charms stop at certain words?
Could a person that placed a permanent sticking charm remove it?
Hermione won Mundungus’ wand- what happened to it?
How would a wand react if after it had been won by someone else, the original owner tried to use it?
How would Ollivander make a new wand for a specific person if the wand has to choose the wizard? Would/could he be able to just duplicate their previous wand?
Could Priori Incantatem really show that Hermione's wand broke Harry's even though she cast the curse at the room, not the wand? It would be obvious, though, if they saw the Reparo Charm. How specific is Priori Incantatem?
What color was the Polyjuice form of Bellatrix?
How was Harry able to just put the cup in his pocket and it stop multiplying/burning?
Why did the Gray Lady and the Bloody Baron choose to live at Hogwarts as ghosts?
What would Snape have told Harry before he died?
What did Voldemort go through during the King’s Cross chapter?

Calie:
Wouldn’t the Taboo have told the Death Eaters that the trio was hiding in Grimmauld Place?
Yaxley isn’t a Secret Keeper, so how could he bring other Death Eaters into Grimmauld Place?
How did Snape find the tent to cast the doe? How did Harry and Ron find it when they came back from the pool?
What was the question that “burned” inside Harry as he approached the doe?
What is the significance of the owl hoot before Harry dived into the pool?
Why did Hermione’s wand work so well for Harry?
When was the Fidelius charm placed on shell cottage? How was Harry able to enter if he was never told the secret?
How is Colin at Hogwarts? He is both Muggle-born and underage, meaning he wouldn’t have been able to attend Hogwarts, thus he wouldn’t have snuck back in.
Does Hermione use Bellatrix’s wand throughout the battle? Didn’t it not work properly for her?
What happens to the memories in the Pensieve after a person dies?
Why didn’t Dumbledore come back from the Stone to accompany Harry? As the man that has taught Harry about death, you would think he might have been included.
How exactly did the sword go from Griphook’s possession to the Sorting Hat’s? What was Griphook’s reaction?

Mischief Managed.

Paige Cyrus and Calie Holden

Predictions for Part Two

OK, the final movie comes out at midnight. Paige and I, of course, are going. But what will we see? These are our predictions for the movie: all the things they will do right and wrong and what will be kept and changed from cannon.

Calie:
I expect it to be like every other film in this franchise. Adding action sequences while reducing (or eliminating) important non-action scenes. I also expect that King's Cross will lose much of its power because we have not seen any internal struggle, loss of faith in Dumbledore, and depression. It won't be the end of a long physical and emotional journey. I also worry about some of the scenes in the trailers that definitely were not in the books: Harry confronting Snape in front of a crowd, an inexplicable swandive off of Hogwarts, etc. This causes me to wonder if this movie will be like all the others: extremely important things being changed to put in more action.
Ok that is the bad. here are the things I am looking forward to. I can't wait to see the Prince's Tale and the whole Lily/Snape background. The battle will be awesome I'm sure. I also can't wait to see Neville in his element. The Gringotts heist should also be really cool. This franchise has shown that it can do a really good job with action sequences and most of the second half of DH is action. I have high hopes for these parts, JKR wrote some great action sequences so they shouldn't have had to change much (though I'm sure they found something to make stupid changes to).

Paige (after changing half because Calie stole her ideas):

Some of the things I think are going to be kept in and very close to cannon are the Gringotts, Rom of Requirement, Prince’s Tale, and Epilogue scenes. I think that the movie will begin in Shell Cottage where the last movie broke off. Some of the things I have doubts about or have the possibility to be changed a lot are the Final Battle, King’s Cross, Harry's Voldemort flashes, Aberforth’s story, and the Diadem story. I have a feeling that they will show Helena Ravenclaw and Harry asking her about the diadem, but it won’t show her story with the Bloody Baron. I also don’t think that they will show Voldemort checking the hiding places. There’s not a lot of stuff left after Part One, so I think that basically the majority of the movie will be of the battle. I think that we’re going to see way more fighting than actually cannon; for example, we might get to see Remus, Tonks, Colin, etc actually die instead of them only being seen in the Great Hall.

I’m really excited to see Snape’s background in the Prince’s Tale. I swear that if they mess this up, I will write tons of hate-mail to Warner Brothers. I hope that with the scenes, they do Snape's character justice, because Alan Rickman makes Snape’s character seem so bad in the movies, but by far the most accurate, and they need to relay his goodness and intentions to the non-readers. I also have the feeling that they are going to mess up King’s Cross (mostly by Gambon being in it) because a lot of the Dumbledore-Harry relationship was left out. There’s also the possibility that the movie staff felt the necessity to add in deaths and scenes in this movie like they did scenes in previous movies that weren’t needed, because they obviously don’t read the books… I mostly just hope that they end the series on a good send-off.

Mischief Managed.

Calie Holden and Paige Cyrus

Forest Again Analysis

Forest Again is a rather short chapter, but to me, it is one of the most powerful. I find this chapter incredibly beautiful. This chapter is composed of Harry’s walk to death. Here he must come to terms with his quickly approaching demise, yet while he is contemplating his own life and death, the readers are able to glean from his experience.

The first part of the chapter is Harry walking through his home, the Hogwarts Grounds, and is passing by his loved ones for the last time. The school is empty, dead. It appears abandoned not only by the living, but also by the portraits and ghosts. As he passes the Great Hall he looks back, but he doesn’t see any of the people he loves. He is determined to do what he knows that he has to do, but a part of him wants to be stopped by one of his loved ones. He forces himself to go on. He encounters Neville and asks him to kill the snake. Neville, as the possible boy who lived, seems a fitting replacement for Harry. As he moves on towards the forest he sees Ginny, again he has the desire to be stopped and dragged away, but he continues into the forest.

Throughout this chapter, Harry shows a courage that we normally don’t see from him. He shows the slow courage. This isn’t what you need to charge into battle or jump in front of a wand to save a friend. This is the courage to continue, to put one foot in front of the other. There is no excitement of battle or audience to give you strength. Harry has to do what he knows is right: a true sacrifice. He doesn’t get any reward for this, unless you count the hope that his friends will be safer because of it. This is true altruism, doing something without any reward. This courage takes more than any other, yet Harry bears it well.

At the edge of the forest, Harry remembers the Snitch, which he finally opens (at the close). I would argue that this moment is when he becomes the Master of Death. He uses the Stone, as it should be used, to give you comfort in the time of your death. He also uses the Cloak to evade death from the Death Eaters, until he is able to present himself to Voldemort. This is the point where Harry completes his journey; he has now reached the point where he is able to do what needs to be done.

This chapter teaches us a lot about death and the strength needed to face it. Harry spends time in wonder of the miracle, and brevity, of life. How incredible his own body is. JKR chose to punctuate this chapter about death, with Harry’s heartbeat. Once again proving that she is an incredibly skilled author. Harry also expresses a fear of death when he asks Sirius if it will hurt, from who he learns that it will not. Harry comes to terms with death, so much so that he feels more a part of that world than the world of the living. He is straddling both of them, he embraces both of them. This is what gives him the power to go to King’s Cross, and then to go back (I believe anyway).

Finally in this chapter, we see his death. How he dies is very important. He didn’t fight back, he chose to die. This is what provides protection to all of his friends. This is an echo of his mother’s death. Voldemort himself was also the one who had to kill him. By doing so he killed his own soul fragment attached to Harry, but becuase Harry’s blood runs through his veins, he couldn’t kill Harry outright.

Silver Doe Analysis

In the final days until the movie Paige and I are going to post several analysis of the seventh book. We have a big analysis, but we also decided to write about important chapters within the book. The first on is Silver Doe, I assume you were able to glean that from the title of this post. So enjoy.

The Silver Doe chapter begins with the Harry in his most broken and defenseless state. He has just survived his ordeal in Godric’s Hollow and he is definitely not better because of it. He is wandless, unable to sleep, and his doubts about Dumbledore are still fresh in his mind. It is in this state that he agrees to take the night shift. The night is dense, so dark that Harry wonders if he could see his own hand in front of his face. In many ways, the night is a resonance of what he feels within. But then something inexplicable happens; a shining doe appears. This doe seems to not only light the surroundings, but also comfort Harry. We see the resonance again in the affect she brings with her arrival. Harry feels he knows this doe, there is something familiar about her. He follows, though she is always a step ahead.

Then she stops and vanishes. She has lead him to a pool; and in the pool is a silver cross: the sword of Gryffindor. This scene contains two allusions, the first is religious. What he sees at the bottom of a pool is not recognized immediately as a sword but rather a cross. This is one of the many hints that Rowling gives to the religious connotations within the book(s). The second is to the story of the lady of the lake. Harry is lead to a pool where he can retrieve a sword. Is this not remarkably similar to the story of Arthur being given Excalibur by the lady of the lake? Rowling has many strong allusions to classical myths in the books, I believe this is another that she is hinting towards. 

After some contemplation he knows that he must dive into the frozen pool to retrieve the sword. As he dives, something tightens around his neck. It is the chain of the horcrux. Harry begins to suffocate, but is soon pulled out of the pool. Who is his savior? Well, Ron of course. As Harry gets up he sees Ron, standing there with the sword in one hand and the horcrux in the other, he is filled with more happiness than the doe brought. After some conversation, they decide to kill the horcrux. As it opens, we see Ron’s fears and doubts: that his mother loved him least, that Hermione loves Harry, and that he is always second best. These are many of the same fears we have seen from Ron throughout the books, all the way back to the Mirror of Erised. Ron overcomes his fears as he stabs the Horcrux. He proves that he is back and that this time he is worthy to battle Voldemort. We see the change this has on Ron in the next few chapters as he takes the lead and is the one who drives the group.

They then make their way back to the tent. On seeing Ron, Hermione is angrier than we have ever seen her. Her anger is understandable, she felt abandoned by Ron. Harry separates the two in the same way that Hermione separated them when Ron left. This scene is another example of JKR’s understanding of human nature. The reader expected Hermione to jump into Ron’s arms, as you would see in so many other books. But JKR knows that there is no way for this to happen in real life. Hermione was hurt too deeply when he left, that was not going to simply vanish when he returned. JKR proves again that even in fantasy, human nature must be realistic.

This chapter has it all. There are religious and classical illusions, an internal battle which is externalized (and conquered) at last, as well as a not so happy homecoming. This chapter serves the most important role of pulling Harry out of the deep depression we found him in, to the much happier and hopeful person he needs to be to continue his task.

Mischief Managed,

Calie

Quote of the Week

"Nothing I have seen in the world has supported your famous pronouncements that love is more powerful than my kind of magic, Dumbledore." - Voldemort, HBP

This quote is almost a perfect summation of Voldemort. He believes that he is the greatest wizard to have ever lived, and also the most powerful. He believed that he could conquer death and therefore made Horcruxes, to which he is reffering to in this quote. He had already underestimated the power of love once when he killed Lily to kill Harry and was torn from his body, and after that, he still refused to believe that even after his "rebirth", that the love sacrifice would account for anything.

This is a strong quote, and it shows Voldemort's ignorance to good and his failure to realize the true power of love, which JKR clearly has made the most powerful thing in the Harry Potter universe. He is so shrouded with evil that he cannot even come to terms with the true power, as we see when he tries to possess Harry after Sirius' death. He created his own downfall.

Mischief Managed.

Paige Cyrus

Character Analysis of Hedwig

Hedwig may not have been human, but she certainly played a big role in the books. She served a role as a friend, a symbol, and a character who furthered the plot of the series. Hedwig is not just a pet, she ends up serving some very important roles in Harry’s life. JKR took great care when she created Hedwig, and used her well throughout the series.

Hedwig’s Roles

Hedwig’s most important roles were served at Privet Drive. This is the place that we see her the most, perhaps because Harry spends more time with her here than anywhere else. Here she serves as his companion. In Privet Drive, he suffers from the abuse of his aunt and uncle, and Hedwig is the thing that helps him get through it. Hedwig is truly the closest thing he has to a family. They have squabbles, they care about each other, and most importantly they trust each other. She is also his link to the magical world: in Privet Drive where nothing is magical, she is the thing that keeps his connection with it. She does this by sending and receiving letters, and simply by her presence.
In Hogwarts, she serves as his link to the people outside of Hogwarts that he cares about. She brings him letters from Sirius and Hagrid. These letters bring him care, advice, and news. Though she rarely has the chance to bring Harry letters, he is always more than happy to see her. In Hogwarts, Hedwig also comes down to breakfast to simply visit Harry to peck his hand or drink a little of his orange juice. Here once again, we see the companionship involved in their relationship.

Hedwig: The Symbol

Hedwig serves a second function other than being Harry’s companion. She is a symbol of innocence and childhood. When she dies in Deathly Hallows, her death marks the end of Harry’s childhood. Throughout the series, Harry takes care of her by feeding and loving her; the same way you would care for a child. Hedwig is a snowy owl, this is another clue that she serves as a symbol of innocence. White is often used to symbolize purity and innocence. Hedwig also serves as a kind of security blanket for Harry. She is able to calm him down when he is upset. Her death shows Harry that this war is real, and it is personal. When she dies, it is a very sudden way of tossing Harry from the safety of childhood into the dangers of being an adult.

Other Things About Hedwig

As an owl, Hedwig obviously cannot talk. Harry and Hedwig’s entire relationship is non-verbal, yet through her coos, head turns, and pecks, we come to know her quite well. But in the real world, snowy owls are almost entirely silent. So Harry and Hedwig’s non-verbal conversation should perhaps have been even quieter. But we do have to remember that Hedwig comes from the magical world...
Hedwig seems to be the only snowy owl at Hogwarts. She stands out among the other owls. This makes her a very appropriate pet for Harry, who is also singled out from his peers. I can’t imagine that JKR did this by mistake, I think it makes her a perfect pet for him.

Favorite Moments

I (Calie) love whenever Harry gives Hedwig the vegetables from his cold soup during the summer before second year. This is when the Dursleys lock him in his room and feed (I should say, starve) him through a catflap. For some reason this really shows the amount of love and devotion between the pair, and it shows a lot about Harry’s character. He is sacrificing his own food for her, perhaps this is a sign that he is willing to sacrifice for those he love.

The snowy owl clicked her beak and nibbled his ear affectionately as Harry stroked her feathers.

“She’s been in a right state,” said Ron. “Pecked us half to Just as he limped past the window, Hedwig soared through it with a soft rustle of wings like a small ghost.
“About time!” Harry snarled, as she landed lightly on top of her cage. “You can put that down, I’ve got work for you!”
Hedwig’s large amber eyes gazed reproachfully at him over the dead frog clamped in her beak.
“Come here,” said Harry, picking up the three small rolls of parchment and a small leather thong and tying the scrolls to her scaly leg. “Take these straight to Sirius, Ron and Hermione and don’t come back here without good long replies. Keep pecking them till they’ve written decent-length answers if you’ve got to. Understand?”
Hedwig gave a muffled hooting noise, beak still full of frog.

Later, at Number 12:
“Hedwig!”
death when she brought your last letters, look at this-“
He showed Harry the index finger of his right hand, which sported a half-healed but clearly deep cut.

This is my (Paige) favorite Harry-Hedwig passage. It shows their relationship very well. This passage is at the beginning of OOTP after Harry was attacked by the Dementors and received the various mail. He was frustrated from the lack of information, so when Hedwig gets there, he is very mad and isn’t exactly nice to her. He gives her the task and Hedwig is obedient to Harry, even though we can tell that she is annoyed. I love that JKR incorporates her emotions and the interactions she has with Harry. It is what develops her character, I think. Here, we also see the ear nibbling and Harry stroking her, which shows that they are close. She is the main link to the magical world when he is at Privet Drive, and basically helps keep Harry sane.

Mischief Managed.

Calie Holden and Paige Cyrus

Order of the Phoenix Analysis

    
Sorry this is a week late. It is a long book so it yielded a rather long analysis. Well without further ado:

Harry’s Depression and Anger

Harry’s fifth year is a difficult one to say the least. He has to deal with feelings of abandonment, especially from Dumbledore, and with being an outcast who is publicly doubted by the press and government; something that for anyone would be hard, but is even harder for a teenager who is struggling with other issues. His home, Hogwarts, is also being destroyed in front of him. Hogwarts is the place where he feels safe and happy, but now all of that is being taken away. He is being abandoned by people he considers friends, e.g. Seamus, and many of the other students at the school think he is a liar or mentally unbalanced. He is not able to talk to the people outside of Hogwarts that mean most to him; namely Sirius. Finally, if you consider all of this, it is no surprise that throughout the year Harry shows signs of depression and struggles with his anger. Teenagers at that age already struggle with self image and moodiness, even without the majority of a country judging your sanity and waiting for you to make a mistake.

New Characters: Luna and Tonks

Luna is a very ethereal character. She lives in her own world filled with nargles and crumple-horned snorkacks. Hermione tells Harry that she only believes in things that have no proof at all. She is above the taunting and harassment of her fellow students. She appears to show no emotion to any of their taunts or pranks. In a way, she posses the qualities that Harry lacks. She is confident in herself, she has faith in things like life after death, and she is willing to do anything for her friends.

Tonks on the other hand, is very similar to Harry. She is an Auror (Harry’s dream job) and she is young. She is a Metamorphagus, meaning that she can change her appearance at will. Tonks is outgoing and is always offering a warm and excited welcome. She is also the protege of Moody, which means that she can pack a punch when she needs to. She is a newer member of the Order, but a very good addition.

Order of the Phoenix

In the fifth book, the Order is the only force combating Voldemort and the Death Eaters. It is a secret society established by Dumbledore during the first war, and the one that Harry’s parents worked for before their deaths. They are composed of several different types of people, though they mainly are Aurors or people with qualities that allow them to access secluded parts of society. During this book, their main objectives were to convince people that Voldemort had indeed returned, and to guard the Department of Mysteries to prevent the Death Eaters from accessing it. 

Corruption in the Press and Government
JKR has said that one of the themes that she wanted to incorporate into her books was that you shouldn’t always trust the government and the press, because all to often they lie and have agendas. Well I would say that she definitely got that theme into the fifth book. We see how both the ministry and the Prophet are able to lie to the public, as well as how the slander against Harry affects him and his relationships. Fudge was interested in remaining in power more than protecting his people. He was either in denial of the truth, or worse, he knew that Voldemort was back and decided to do nothing and deny it. In Order of the Phoenix, we also see how the Ministry in able to affect the press and pressure them to print what they want. That isn’t the only thing that motivated the Prophet to print lies though, another factor was money. When Harry gave his interview, Rita Skeeter talked about why the Prophet wouldn’t print his story: because when they print things about him being crazy, they sell more papers. The public doesn’t want to hear the truth when the lie is so much more entertaining.

The Giant Plot Line

This is one of those plot lines that I think JKR planned on doing more with but didn’t have the space in the series to devote to it. We do see them appear at the final battle and Grawp does make a few more appearances in the last few books, but overall JKR spends a lot of the fifth book on giants, but they don’t appear much after that. Maybe that will be one of the revelations in Pottermore (cross your fingers). She has admitted to other plot lines that have been dropped: Dean’s background, Florean Fortesque’s disappearance, etc. But the sheer amount that giants appear in this book but don’t seem to be used later on, force me to conclude that JKR had other plans for them that we never got to see.

Umbridge

Umbridge may be one of the best written villains in any book I have ever read, and I have read quite a few books in my life. Few characters have ever felt quite as evil and twisted as Umbridge. I think that this may be one of JKR’s best characters; because she serves her function perfectly and she instills an uneasiness within the reader, as well as the characters. Umbridge is a complex villain, she is evil by nature, but as we will see later, she doesn’t really care who she serves. She will support whoever will give her the most power and is at the time the most powerful. She takes great joy in the suffering of others, like all great villains should. She is also complex because she has this very disturbing facade. She wears pink cardigans and covers the walls of her office in plates decorated with kittens, and basically she has the taste of an old person, but on the inside she is evil. Her soft and inviting outside is only a ruse; she is truly a psychopath. We get even more support for this by the fact that she is able to gain the trust of the people she wants to: Percy says that she is a lovely woman, and obviously the minister trusts her. Overall, Umbridge is a terrifying character, and in many ways scares me more than Voldemort throughout the books. Harry has a lot of direct contact with her and we see more of her evil directly than we did of Voldemort. Umbridge is truly fascinating.

Dumbledore’s Army

The DA is, in a way, Harry’s version of the Order. Hermione proposes it to allow students the opportunity to learn how to fight, since Umbridge was not teaching them. Harry became the leader and teacher of the DA. The DA became a band of resistance to Umbridge, and a group that Harry could call upon for help. The DA also served as a kind of beacon of hope to Harry. As everything Harry loved was taken away, he began to long for the time he spent with the DA. He was really proud of the progress they were making, and in the end, it was his instruction that gave his friends the skills they needed to fight at the Ministry. 

Department of Mysteries

The Department of Mysteries is one of the things I find most interesting in the books. The rooms are filled with interesting topics that are studied by the ‘Unspeakables’. It is a top secret department of the Ministry, and for good measure. Each of the rooms we see in the DoM seems to focus on a theme: the brain room (knowledge), the room with the clocks and bell jar (time), the Hall of Prophecies (the future), the room with the veil (death), and the room with love that Dumbledore told Harry about. It seems that this is where the wizarding world researches life’s most basic, yet complicated, questions.

The veil, like the Mirror of Erised, is one of JKR’s most interesting objects. It is literally the divide between life and death. It is a one-way passage- in other words, you can’t come back. There is also a bit of a mystery around who can here voices from the other side. Luna, Harry, and Ginny were all able to here some sort of sound coming from the veil; but Hermione, Ron, and Neville didn’t seem to be able to. JKR explained it like this in an interview in 2008: that being able to hear the voices is determined by the level of belief you have in an afterlife. Luna would hear them the most because she is definite in her belief that there is something beyond death. Harry has had to live with death for so long that it is part of his life in a very real way. JKR also says that she believes that women would be able to hear the voices more frequently than men, thus Ginny. I find the veil fascinating, it is a very complex object, yet in some ways very simple.

The Loss of Sirius

As Dumbledore said: Harry had begun to think of Sirius as a “mixture of father and brother.” Sirius was the closest thing that Harry had to a parent, so when Sirius dies, we see a reaction that is equal to his love for Sirius. Harry always has a hard time controlling his emotions, and this is no different. He is smashing all of Dumbledore’s possessions. We see him go through grief. I think that JKR was perhaps putting a bit of her own life experiences into this part. As many readers know, JKR lost her mom as she began writing the first book. I think that JKR is very familiar with grief, and wanted to show what it was like here. I have to say, she did a pretty good job. Harry feels lost and doesn’t want to talk about it, then he does. He doesn’t want to be around people, but when alone, he does. He is truly grief stricken by Sirius’ death.

The Prophecy

Then on the heels of Sirius’ death, we have the revelation of what the Prophecy entails. Harry, someone whose life has been filled with death up to this point, is going to have to either kill or be killed. The entire wizarding world rests on some battle between himself and Voldemort. For a fifteen year old who should be more concerned with quidditch matches and girls, this is a lot to bear. Finding out about the Prophecy not only reveals a bit of his future, but also his past. He discovers that the reason that Voldemort killed his parents was because he was trying to kill Harry. So, needless to say, the end of term was a very hard time for Harry all around.

Questions

How could Fred and George Apparate with the extendable ears in Grimmauld Place after Harry arrived? Did they apparate with them? In fact, why didn’t headquarters have the protections preventing people from Apparating within its boundaries?
What did Moody see when he checked if it was a boggart in the writing desk?
Does Fudge believe that Voldemort is back and is just lying, or does he actually believe that Voldemort hasn’t returned?
What do portraits see when they look into other portraits beside them? Is there some three dimensional world back there?
Where did Sirius get a wand? Wouldn’t they have destroyed his after he was sent to Azkaban?
Is McGonagall Scottish? She has a lot of tartan things.
Couldn’t Dumbledore have found a way to explain to Harry why they couldn’t have a lot of contact rather than ignoring him?
What venom was in Nagini’s fangs? Isn’t she a constrictor ? If so, did Voldemort use magic to give her venom?