Chapter Seven: The Ministry of Magic
In chapter seven of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Harry wears his fancy jeans, Mr. Weasley is the only person alive delighted by the London Underground, and I boo and hiss at the Ministry.
(Please be advised that this is a reread and I will be discussing book and movie spoilers.)
A lot of serious foreboding happens this chapter but it opens with the hilarity of Harry putting on his best “freshly laundered jeans and t-shirt” for his hearing and this is AMAZING.
Tonks continues her Bella Swan impression when she knocks over her chair and I’m reminded afresh of why on first read I made this face during Tonks sections of the book:
Mr. Weasley is delightful as usual around Muggles, actually appreciating their ingenuity instead of sneering about it, and we go to the Ministry for the first time, which is hidden in a sketchy part of London…underground, which yikes am I the only one who gets the willies about being underground sometimes?!
We get some exposition about the Ministry and it’s magical departments which is cool enough, but also reminds me of real adult life and is therefore nowhere near as interesting to me as a magical school so I won’t delve into this too deeply. I will say we get red flags galore about the Ministry, what with their creepy subservient magical beings statue, the fact that the department that deals with Muggles is tiny and basically in a janitor’s closet even though there are billions of Muggles in the world, and, oh yes, the fact that they change Harry’s trial time at the last second by hours like the corrupt assholes they are.
I’ve got a lot of feelings about how much the Ministry sucks y’all, so buckle in for it this book.
We do get introduced to what is frankly the only department I’d ever want to work in at the Ministry: the Department of Mysteries before poor Harry is shoved inside a trial room without an adult representative (is this legal?!) to await my rage stroke at the next chapter where we meet New!Asshole!Fudge and FUCKING UMBRIDGE.
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Which Ministry department would you want to work in?
Why do most wizards not respect Muggles, when Muggles have invented lots of impressive things?
What is your fanciest outfit?
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