Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter/Books/Order of the Phoenix/Chapter 2
From Wikibooks, the open-content textbooks collection
Chapter 2 of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix: A Peck of Owls
Contents |
[edit] Synopsis
As Harry struggles to comprehend the Dementor attack and Arabella Figg's enigmatic announcement, Mrs. Figg assumes control of the situation. She reveals that she is a Squib and that she has long been in contact with Albus Dumbledore. In her frustration with the situation, she tells Harry that he has been followed all summer; Mundungus Fletcher was supposed to be on duty but left early. As the two struggle to move Dudley to the house, Mundungus reappears. Mrs. Figg berates him, hitting him with her shopping bag, and sends him off to inform Dumbledore about what has happened. Mrs. Figg and Harry reach Harry's front door. Mrs. Figg now leaves to await Dumbledore's orders, leaving Harry to face the Dursleys alone.
While Vernon and Petunia Dursley confront him about their now-ill son, Harry receives a letter from the Ministry of Magic expelling him from Hogwarts and saying his wand will shortly be destroyed. Harry decides that his only option is to become a fugitive, but before he can get past Uncle Vernon, another owl letter arrives from Arthur Weasley saying to stay in his uncle's house, not let Ministry representatives break his wand, and not to use magic again; Dumbledore is straightening things out. Harry sits at the kitchen table, trying to explain what happened and insisting that it was Dementors who use magic against Dudley. When Uncle Vernon asks what Dementors are, Aunt Petunia responds, "they are the guards of the Wizard prison, Azkaban."
Petunia's shocking revelation stuns everyone, including Petunia, who belatedly covers her mouth, as if realizing she had uttered something horribly obscene. As Harry sits in Aunt Petunia's antiseptic kitchen answering questions about the Wizarding world, another owl arrives from Mr. Weasley, and one from Sirius, briefly telling Harry that the situation is being sorted out. Finally, a second owl from the Ministry of Magic arrives revoking his expulsion and wand destruction. Harry's fate now rests on a hearing scheduled for "9 A.M. on August 12th."
When Harry says Lord Voldemort has returned, Uncle Vernon, recognizing the danger while they house Harry, demands he leave. However, this is interrupted by one final owl carrying a Howler—surprisingly, for Petunia Dursley. A menacing voice reverberates throughout the kitchen: "REMEMBER MY LAST, PETUNIA!" Petunia quickly overrides her husband, insisting that Harry remain at their house, but sending him to bed immediately.
[edit] Analysis
Even the unsophisticated reader, reading the series for entertainment, will be left with questions after this chapter. The two largest, unanswered questions are: How did Petunia learn about Dementors, and given that she knows that much, what else does she know about the Wizarding world that she hasn't told us? And the Howler was sent by someone who not only had a reasonable idea of what was happening in the house, probably based on knowledge of Petunia and Vernon's likely reactions, but also holds some sort of power over Petunia, seeing how quickly she changed her mind when the Howler uttered its four words; who could that be? While we can speculate on those questions, the true answers will not be given to us until later in the series.
Petunia's explanation about Dementors and Azkaban not only shocks her family, but shows she knows far more about the wizarding world than she has ever admitted. Based largely on this, Harry leaps to the conclusion that Dumbledore sent her the Howler; this is fueled largely by wishful thinking, as Harry has been hoping for a communication from Dumbledore all summer without receiving anything. However, if the Howler is from Dumbledore, it implies that Petunia has had more contact with him than has yet been revealed; although Harry may be unaware, this is hardly surprising as Petunia, being Harry's legal guardian, would need to be informed regarding any event affecting her nephew, regardless what her personal feelings are toward him.
That Harry would be expelled from school and have his wand broken, without an official inquiry and for such a minor offense, indicates the Ministry of Magic probably has some ulterior motive in moving so quickly against him. Obviously, others (apparently including Dumbledore) have intervened on his behalf to prevent this, and a hearing has been scheduled to allow Harry to present his side. As Harry often does, his first response to a difficult situation is to run away or isolate himself, rather than attempt to find a solution or seek help from others. Luckily, in this case, he is overridden by instructions from Arthur Weasley.
Although Harry has been protected from Voldemort since infancy by spells Dumbledore cast that reinforce the protection created by his mother's death, Dumbledore has taken additional precautions to ensure Harry's safety. Arabella Figg, a squib, has apparently been keeping a close eye on Harry since he came to live with the Dursleys. She explains that she has been rather mean to him because she knows if his aunt and uncle thinks he has a friend, they would not have allowed her to occasionally watch him. No doubt there are others who have also been watching Harry when he stays with the Dursleys.
[edit] Questions
[edit] Review
- Who or what are 'Squibs'?
- How does Petunia know about Dementors and Azkaban prison?
- Why does Uncle Vernon order Harry to leave the house? Who overrules him and why?
[edit] Further Study
- Why would the Ministry of Magic want to break Harry's wand and expel him from Hogwarts without an official inquiry?
- Who sent Petunia the Howler? What does its message say and what might it mean?
- Why does Petunia react so strongly to the Howler?
[edit] Greater Picture
Dumbledore mentions later in the book that the Howler was, as Harry surmised, from him. This, in association with comments Dumbledore makes in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, would indicate he has kept a closer eye on the Dursley household than we have, to date, realized. Mrs. Figg's revelation that the house is being watched, at Dumbledore's instructions, would account for some of the knowledge he has of the Dursleys, but the sort of observation that Mrs. Figg would be capable of likely would not include sufficient detail to allow Dumbledore to understand the need for a Howler at that specific time.
It is perhaps interesting that Dumbledore's Howler says "Remember my last" instead of "Remember my letter." The implication here is that there have been more letters than the single one which we have seen, left with Harry on the doorstep at the beginning of the series. It is not until the final book of the series that we learn that Dumbledore had written a letter to Petunia earlier, refusing her entry into Hogwarts. We learn at the same time that much of Petunia's understanding of the Wizarding world actually comes, not from Harry's father, as we would expect given her apparent dislike of "that dreadful boy", but Severus Snape, who at the time was telling Lily Evans, Petunia's sister and later Harry's mother, what to expect in the Wizarding world.
