Chapter Thirty-Six: The Only One He Ever Feared
In chapter thirty-six of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Harry tries to torture Bellatrix, Voldemort tries to kill Dumbledore, and Dumbledore reveals why everyone is scared of him.
(Please be advised that this is a reread and I will be discussing book and movie spoilers.)
When Order of the Phoenix was first released, there was a massive amount of hype that someone was going to die this book. I remember reading those hype pieces, and somehow convincing myself beyond a shadow of a doubt that it would be Neville who would die. Why? I no longer remember, but I was positive. So I read every scene of Neville learning how to defend himself against his parent’s torturer, sure I was right and this was foreshadowing. During the scenes in the Department of Mysteries with Neville and the Death Eaters I kept waiting for the axe to fall. So when Sirius died? I didn’t have much of a reaction on first read. It was later on (by which I mean, the next chapters where Harry is suffering) and during subsequent re-reads that Sirius’s death hit me right in the feels. Sirius had an abusive childhood, and then maybe a few years of freedom before he had his whole youth stolen from him in Azkaban, and then he’s killed by his terrible blood supremacist cousin. It’s a rough ending for our boy wizard’s godfather.
So Harry’s in denial, and poor, poor Remus is trying to hold him back and talk some sense into Harry, and it’s always killed me that what convinces Harry that Sirius is dead is the knowledge that Sirius was keeping him waiting while he screamed his name. And Sirius never kept Harry waiting.
Dumbledore’s still distracted by lasso-ing the other Death Eaters and Bellatrix is escaping (as awful as she is, let’s tip our hats to Bellatrix for taking out Tonks, Sirius, Kingsley, and deflecting Dumbledore’s curse because she’s an evil BAMF) and Harry runs after her to maybe kill her. Perhaps I should frown upon these murderous tendencies but…
Harry also casts a Crucio at dear old Bella who for some reason has stopped fleeing…? Maybe she thinks she should get the prophecy…? Yes this is a one way ticket to Azkaban and maybe concerning that our hero is resorting to torture but you know what?
(Random PSA watch Black Sails it’s amazing and no one will talk about it with me augggh!)
After Bellatrix drops the baby-voice thank fuck Harry starts a-taunting that the prophecy is dunzo, smashed to pieces like our hearts about Sirius, and Voldz shows up. Instead of saying the words “Dumbledore is here” Bellatrix is repeatedly like “Master there’s something you should know” and UGH I hate this trope! Just f’ing say it!!
Voldemort and Dumbledore fight and it’s impressive and all, but my favorite part is that Dumbles refuses to call him anything other then Tom which you KNOW enrages Voldz more then anything else.
Voldemort possesses Harry, and while this works in the book, the movie…er…less so.
Everyone’s acting is great, but something about this scene has always made me giggle inappropriately. #UnpopularOpinions4Life
Fudge N’ Useless Aurors show up to be like “wow Voldemort is here but HEY IT IS DUMBLEDORE MAYBE ARREST THE TRUTH TELLING LAST HOPE WE HAVE” until Dumbles tells Fudge to get a damn grip and sends poor Harry back to school, where he can suffer in peace for a solid twelve seconds.
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Who did you think was going to die before you read Order of the Phoenix?
Who had the more tragic death/life: Sirius or James?
Why does Bellatrix stop to face Harry?
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