Harry Potter and The Order of The Phoenix is the fifth thrilling installment in the Harry Potter franchise. The book that was first published in 2003 with the film adaptation following four years later gives us an insight to Harry’s fifth year at Hogwarts. Where he has to deal with a twisted and evil new defense against the dark arts professor, his examinations and the return of the Dark Lord.
The Order of The Phoenix is the longest book within the 7 part series. Within the pages of this book, we start to see the rise of Voldemort and his followers as well as the complete disregard the ministry shows for Harry and his welfare. Lord Voldemort has now taken physical form, and is getting stronger by the day. Potter and his friends take it upon their selves to strengthen their knowledge and skills in order to try and be better armed to beat the Death Eaters and their leader.
One of my favourite scenes from this film adaptation is when Ron defends Harry in the common room upon returning to Hogwarts. Harry has been kept in the dark by a lot of what has been said in the magical world over the summer, and when confronted by his class mates Ron jumps to his defense. This is a classic Ron trait and something we read about many times in the books and it is great to see a whole moment on screen dedicated to showing the length Harry’s best friend will go to. In this scene we also see a lot of the other Gryffindor students in the common room, all with their own unique style and take on their uniform. At this precise time in the film, the common room could be at any school anywhere, pop music is blaring, there is stuff scattered everywhere and an awful lot of noise from all of the students, another reminder that witches and wizards can be just like muggles.
Another scene I like within this movie is when we meet Professor Umbridge in her classroom. Our first impression is of a stout woman dressed head to toe in pink, this usually connotes sweet and girly however what sits below the frilly clothing is a patronizing, evil woman. Umbridge is power mad, and takes it upon herself to force her views upon her students. Within this scene we are also reminded of our golden trio’s traits, Hermione instantly opens the book that is handed out and observes that there is no spell work within the pages of it, highlighting her studious characteristic and eagerness to learn. Ron is curious by questioning the teacher in the most obvious way “We’re not gonna use magic?” he takes Hermione’s word for it and doesn’t check the book himself. This represents a lot of how he has got through school by copying or making her help him with his homework and assignments. Harry becomes the natural leader and speaks up on behalf of the class and answers back to Umbridge. This shows his courage and passion for proving not only his innocence in it all, but showing the teacher that he isn’t scared of her or what she thinks. He also demands that they are taught defensive spells because he fears they will come to harm soon, and how right he is. All in all, the three characters have not changed much since the beginning of the series, they still have their own unique traits and it is in key scenes like this that we are subtly reminded as to why they are our heroes.
Another great scene in this movie is in the room of requirement when Dumbledore’s Army meet. The female students are really doing it for the girls. In the montage that appears with Harry teaching his fellow classmates, we see Hermione stun Ron in a duel, Cho perfect the levitation charm and Ginny blowing up the practice enemy when everyone else simply disarms it. Dumbledore’s Army is filled with students of both genders,all ages, all races and from a mixture of houses. However the representation of the girls in their skirts, with their hair and make up all done, as well as dressed more neatly than the boys means nothing. They are as skilled, if not more in Hermione’s case than the boys. This signifies that in the magical world it is not all about strength, but pure talent and knowledge. We see Neville learn and improve and by Christmas time, he is able to perfect the spells Harry has been teaching.
The death of Sirius Black signifies Harry’s complete lost opportunity to have a family. Black was the closest thing Harry had to having parents, and although he didn’t spend a lot of time with him you can tell from pages in the book, and the chemistry between the two on screen that the relationship was strong. The reason Harry ends up at the ministry in the first place is because Voldemort wants to lure him there and uses Sirius to do so. It is also represents the moment that Harry learns about his connection to the Dark Lord. This is also the first moment we see Dumbledore’s Army in combat, they are soon joined by the more experienced Order however they manage to hold their own for a while thanks to Harry’s earlier tuition. Although Harry has fought Voldemort many times now, this is the first time that his classmates have been fighting for their lives. The Death Eaters will stop at nothing to get what they need for the dark lord and that includes holding Potter’s friends hostage. The battle in the department of mysteries marks the first real battle of the second war.
Harry Potter and The Order of The Phoneix provides the audience with an insight into why Voldemort is after Harry. A segment that teaches us to stand up for what we believe in, as well as showing us that it is ok to do what is right, even if it will cause trouble. With a tragic ending, it only made me want to move onto part 6 immediately!
You Are Just As Sane As I Am 