Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter/Books/Order of the Phoenix/Chapter 36
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Chapter 36 of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix: The Only One He Ever Feared
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[edit] Synopsis
A stunned Harry is unable to believe that Sirius is dead. Ignoring the non-stop wand flashes, he struggles with Lupin, attempting to reach the archway and save Sirius. Meanwhile Dumbledore has rounded up most of the Death Eaters, but on the dais' far side, Kingsley duels Bellatrix until she jinxes him. Dodging Dumbledore's spell, she exits the amphitheatre. Enraged, Harry chases her through the Brain Room, ducking her curses. Bellatrix runs into the hallway with the lifts (elevator). Harry follows, but the door slams behind her and the room's walls are already spinning. As they slow, Harry asks, "Where's the way out?" A door behind Harry pops open, revealing the hallway. Hearing a lift clattering upwards, Harry presses a call button for another lift.
Harry runs into the Atrium, vowing to kill Bellatrix, who fires another spell at Harry, then laments the prophecy being lost. Voldemort suddenly appears, apparently in response to this discovery, angry that his Death Eaters have failed him again. He fires a killing curse at Harry, but the now-headless magician from the Statue of Magical Brethren leaps and blocks the spell. Dumbledore has arrived in the atrium, and he manipulates the magician to protect Harry and keep him out of the way, while the witch statue pins Bellatrix to the floor and the House-elf and Goblin figures guard the fireplaces lining the Atrium walls. Dumbledore and Voldemort fiercely duel; Harry can only watch. Voldemort hurls a killing curse directly at Dumbledore, but Fawkes flies between them, swallowing the curse and falling dead. Voldemort seemingly vanishes, but he enters Harry's mind and demands that Dumbledore kill him by killing Harry. Harry, hearing his own voice, is filled with thoughts of Sirius: if Dumbledore kills him, he will be able to see Sirius again. Voldemort suddenly releases Harry, who collapses.
Cornelius Fudge, other Ministry officials, and Aurors begin arriving from the fireplaces; several, including Fudge, see Voldemort as he physically reappears in the Atrium, grabs Bellatrix, and disappears. Dumbledore tells a stunned Fudge what has happened and that Death Eaters are under guard in the Death Chamber. Fudge seems ready to arrest him, but Dumbledore points out that Fudge saw Voldemort, and should now realize that he has been chasing the wrong man. Fudge sends Dawlish and Williamson to the Department of Mysteries. Dumbledore demands that Umbridge be removed from Hogwarts and the Aurors stop chasing Hagrid. He says he will explain everything, but he first gives Harry a Portkey, sending him back to Hogwarts.
[edit] Analysis
Voldemort possesses Harry's mind, but overcome by Harry's memories and feelings for his friends, Sirius, and his parents, the Dark Lord quickly exits. As Dumbledore will shortly explain, the power Harry possesses that Voldemort can not is love, which among other things makes Harry's mind an extremely uncomfortable place for Voldemort to be; he is unlikely to reenter it anytime soon, if at all.
Though Harry loses his godfather and failed to kill or capture Bellatrix Lestrange, the battle at the Ministry of Magic yields some benefit as Voldemort's presense is exposed and many Death Eaters are captured. Now the Wizarding World will know that Harry was telling the truth, and the Ministry will be forced to cease their campaign to discredit Harry and Dumbledore. It is expected that the Ministry will now take action against Voldemort and his followers. Additionally, the much-despised Umbridge will be removed from Hogwarts, and Dumbledore and Hagrid can return to their posts.
Fawkes is killed when he intercepts Voldemort's Avada Kedavra curse, but Dumbledore's loyal Phoenix will be reborn from its own ashes.
[edit] Questions
- What happens when Voldemort hurls a killing curse at Dumbledore?
- Who arrives just before Voldemort disapparates? What is the reaction?
- What does Voldemort do just before disapparating?
- Who, besides Voldemort, escapes?
[edit] Greater Picture
In the next book, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Dumbledore asks Harry if his scar has been hurting. Harry replies, with some surprise, it has not hurt all year, though he would have expected it to. Dumbledore explains that when Voldemort possessed Harry's mind, he found it so uncomfortable a place to be that he likely has been shielding his own mind from Harry's since then. In the series' final two books, Voldemort never possesses Harry again, though as the final book progresses, Harry gains more and more ability to see what is happening inside Voldemort's mind.
