Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter/Books/Order of the Phoenix/Chapter 18
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Chapter 18 of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix: Dumbledore's Army
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[edit] Synopsis
Hermione suspects Hedwig's injury was caused by Umbridge attempting to intercept Harry's mail. That is likely the real reason Filch had earlier tried to confiscate Harry's letter when he was in the Owlery.
Angelina announces that the Gryffindor Quidditch team has been allowed to reform. Practice is that evening. After Angelina leaves, Hermione expresses second thoughts about the defence classes; Sirius supporting it therefore makes it suspect to Hermione, who feels Sirius is somewhat immature and may be trying to live through Harry. This gets an angry rebuttal from Harry and Ron.
The weather during the Quidditch practice is dreadful; Fred and George debate skipping practice by using their Skiving Snackbox products, but Angelina knows about them. Testing their latest item, Fever Fudge, has given them pus-filled boils in a rather personal place. Because of this and the bad weather, practice lasts for only an hour. Following the first practice, Harry's scar pains him. He tells Ron that Voldemort is angry because he wants something done that is not happening fast enough. Ron asks if that was what had happened in Umbridge's office, but Harry says no, Voldemort was happy then. And the time before that, just before they left for school, he was furious.
Alone in the common room later that evening, Harry nods off over his homework. He has the now familiar dream of the windowless corridor. He is awakened by Dobby the House-elf bringing back the healed Hedwig. Dobby, who seems to be wearing all of Hermione's knitted elf hats and socks, says that because the clothing is hidden throughout Gryffindor tower, the other House-elves will not clean there anymore. They find the items insulting. Harry decides not to tell Hermione. Harry asks Dobby for suggestions on a meeting place for the defensive magic class. Dobby tells him about the Room of Requirement, a room that appears fully equipped with whatever the person asking for it needs. Dobby uses it as a place for Winky to dry out, and offers to show Harry how to summon it.
The next day, Harry passes the word that the first meeting is that evening. Hermione is doubtful, remembering how Dobby's other schemes have failed, but Harry tells her that Dumbledore had also mentioned this room once. That night, Harry, Ron, and Hermione summon the room; it is perfect, with cushions to catch Stunned students, there are Dark detectors, which Harry thinks were in the false Moody's office the year before, and, most reassuring to Hermione, a full library of Dark Arts reference books. The other students file in, awed by the space's perfection, and the first session begins.
Hermione suggests voting for a leader, and Harry is elected unanimously. Hermione also wants to name their group, and after numerous ideas are tossed out, Cho Chang suggests "Defence Association," or D.A. for short. Ginny Weasley points out that the initials could also stand for "Dumbledore's Army," and the members choose that, mostly to mock paranoid Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge, who fears Dumbledore is secretly organizing a wizard army against the Ministry of Magic. Hermione writes "Dumbledore's Army" at the top of the parchment with the students' names on it and attaches it to the wall. Harry begins the first lesson – the disarming charm, although Zacharias Smith complains it is too simple. Harry says it served him well enough against Voldemort, but Zacharias is free to leave if he chooses.
Practice goes well, although Cho badly fumbles her charms whenever Harry is watching. Harry, evaluating the spell-casting, is glad he started with something so simple. The session ends, and everyone agrees to meet the next Wednesday, a time that does not conflict with Harry's Quiddich practice.
[edit] Analysis
The school Houses have always maintained separate identities which have created (mostly) friendly rivalries, although Gryffindor and Slytherin have traditionally been more antagonistic toward one another. As is so common, an external threat creates an alliance among these more-or-less disparate groups. With the exception of Slytherin, the Houses become united over a common cause: opposing Umbridge and the Ministry. While Umbridge does seem to show obvious favoritism towards Slytherin House, it would seem that they were not deliberately excluded from the DA, and the organizers may have simply felt students from that House would be uninterested in joining or possibly feared that some were untrustworthy.
Also, the name, Dumbledore's Army (or D.A.), that the students have chosen for their secret group not only reflects their defiance and willingness to oppose Umbridge and mock Fudge, but re-enforces their loyalty to Dumbledore and Hogwarts. Fudge's ongoing paranoia that Dumbledore is secretly building a wizard army to take over the Ministry is ridiculous; there is simply nothing to support this, and significant evidence against it — we were told by Hagrid in the first book that Dumbledore had been offered the post and declined it — but it shows just how warped Fudge's reasoning now is. Dumbledore's Army becomes an extreme example of Fudge "creating what he fears." Fudge suspecting that an army is being built, for which he has no proof, is in stark contrast to his unbending claims that, despite concrete evidence, Voldemort and Peter Pettigrew are still dead and Sirius Black is indeed guilty. Umbridge supports his stance, of course, although she has a different agenda.
Dumbledore's mention of the Room of Requirement, that Harry alludes to to calm Hermione's fears, is an extremely fleeting one: at the Yule Ball the previous year, Dumbledore, conversing with Professor Karkaroff, had mentioned discovering, and then losing, a room full of chamber pots. The fact that Harry is able to recognize this as the Room of Requirement from Dobby's description is rather astute. Harry has probably chosen to read more into the wink that Dumbledore tipped him at the time than was meant.
Returning to Gryffindor tower, Harry only half listens to Hermione and Ron discussing the meeting; he is also thinking about Cho admitting that she is nervous when he is nearby. Harry sees this as the beginnings of the romance he has dreamed about since the previous year. However, because this is tied to Cedric Diggory's death, for which he feels partially responsible, Harry remains unsure of himself.
Dobby's comments about the House Elves' opinions of the clothing scattered around is quite telling. We are already well-aware of the way house-elves feel about their work and their masters; Dobby's re-iteration of them quite strongly reinforces our understanding of these feelings, reminding us that the house-elves fully believe that their place is to work for the comfort of their masters, in this case the school. Hermione cannot give them their freedom, as they will not accept it if offered, and are offended if they believe they are being tricked into it.
[edit] Questions
[edit] Review
- Why does Hermione suspect it was Umbridge who attempted to capture Hedwig? What does she think about Filch?
- Why does Hermione express second thoughts about starting the defensive group? Is she justified?
- What does Harry think is the reason his scar hurts during Quidditch practice?
- Why do the House-elves avoid Hermione's gifts of clothing? Why would they find them insulting?
- How does Harry learn about the Room of Requirement? What's Hermione's thoughts about it?
- What do the defensive magic group call themselves? Why is that name agreed on?
- Why does Cho fumble her charm whenever Harry is watching?
- Why is Harry glad he started the students off with such a simple spell?
[edit] Further Study
- Could there be repercussions from the choice of the name for the group?
[edit] Greater Picture
What Voldemort wants done that is not happening quickly enough could be extracting the Prophecy from the Ministry, although, equally, it could be recruiting the Dementors to his side, and the associated jail break. Whatever it is, is never clear, though most likely it is retrieving the Prophecy. Adding weight to this is, of course, Harry's recurring dream: the hallway that he sees will be revealed shortly after Christmas to be the hallway that leads to the Department of Mysteries, where the Prophecy is stored, and the dream is a representation of Voldemort's desires. As Malfoy was tasked with putting Bode under the Imperius Curse, that may be taking too long to suit Voldemort and could be the start of the Malfoy family's downfall within the Death Eaters.
It is Fudge's paranoia that Dumbledore is creating a secret Wizard army that leads to the D.A. being formed. It, ironically, becomes the core of the army that helps to battle Voldemort and his Death Eaters, after they have taken over the Ministry in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. In the meanwhile, the group's name will be used by Fudge, when the group is discovered, to "prove" that Dumbledore was, in fact, organizing a private army; this will result in the attempted arrest of Dumbledore and his departing the school.
The Room of Requirement will play a significant role in the next two books. Throughout this book, Harry will use it as a meeting place for Dumbledore's Army; in the next book, Malfoy will be attempting to perform some task in this room, and in the final book, it will once again be used by Dumbledore's Army, and will be found to have been used as a place where Lord Voldemort had hidden something quite valuable.
