Battle of the Department of Mysteries

"Did you actually believe, or are you truly naive enough to think, that children stood a chance against us? I'll make this simple for you, Potter. Give me the prophecy now...or watch your friends die."

- Lucius Malfoy to Harry Potter

The Battle of the Department of Mysteries was the first major conflict of the Second Wizarding War between the Order of the Phoenix and the Death Eaters. It took place on June 17, 1996, after Lord Voldemort lured Harry Potter and five of his fellow Dumbledore's Army members to the Department of Mysteries in an effort to obtain the prophecy concerning his possible defeat. It resulted in Voldemort’s return being made public and the Ministry of Magic finally taking action against his rising power.

Prophecy
"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches.…born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies…and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not.…and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives…"

- Prophecy concerning Lord Voldemort and Harry Potter

At the height of the First Wizarding War, Sybill Trelawney made a prophecy about the only person who could defeat Lord Voldemort. This prophecy was heard in its entirety by Albus Dumbledore and in part by Severus Snape, who reported what he heard to Voldemort. The Dark Lord believed that the prophecy referred to Harry Potter and attempted to kill the infant, but the Killing Curse rebounded and resulted in the Dark Lord’s fall.

When Voldemort returned in 1995 and failed to kill Harry for the second time, because of Priori Incantatem  on this occasion, he became determined to know the full prophecy, a record of which was kept in the Department of Mysteries.

Attempts at Theft
"We have confirmed that ten-high security prisoners in the early hours of yesterday evening had escaped. And of course the Muggle Prime Minister has been alerted to the danger which shall we suspect that the escape was engineered by a man who has experienced to escape from Azkaban, notorius, mass murderer, Sirius Black, cousin of the escapee, Bellatrix Lestrange."

- Cornelius Fudge announces the 1996 Azkaban breakout

In January of 1996, there was a mass breakout of Death Eaters from Azkaban after the Dementors defected to Voldemort. Ten long-imprisoned Death Eaters – including Bellatrix, Rodolphus and Rabastan Lestrange, Antonin Dolohov, Augustus Rookwood, Travers, and Mulciber – were free to join their master again. The Ministry of Magic, however, refused to admit that Voldemort had returned and blamed the breakout on Sirius Black.

Because the Ministry did not believe that Voldemort had returned and because he now had many servants to do his bidding, Voldemort did not attempt to retrieve the prophecy he sought himself. The Death Eaters made a few attempts at stealing the prophecy in question.

Lucius Malfoy placed Unspeakable Broderick Bode under the Imperius Curse to force him to steal the prophecy. However, the protection charm placed on items in the Hall of Prophecy only allows those who are mentioned in the prophecy to access them; Voldemort punished Avery Jr. for assuring the Dark Lord that the plan would have worked. Bode was afflicted with a mind-confusing curse and admitted to St. Mungo's. To prevent the plot from being revealed, the Death Eaters sent a pot of Devil's Snare to Bode, and it strangled him in his hospital bed. Sturgis Podmore was also placed under the Imperius Curse to attempt the same, but was arrested trying to break into the Department of Mysteries.

Thus, Voldemort tried a different tactic. Utilizing his connection to Harry Potter, who had failed in his Occlumency lessons, Voldemort planted a false vision in Harry's head that suggested his godfather was being tortured by Death Eaters in the Department of Mysteries. Voldemort predicted that Harry would race to the Ministry to save him.

Dumbledore’s Army


Harry told his friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger of his dream, intending to immediately leave Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to save Sirius. Hermione, suspecting foul play, managed to talk him into first trying to see if Sirius wasn’t at Number 12 Grimmauld Place. With the help of Ginny Weasley and Luna Lovegood, they snuck into Dolores Umbridge’s office so that Harry could contact Sirius by Floo Powder. Just after Kreacher informed Harry that Sirius was not there — having been prompted to mislead Harry by Bellatrix Lestrange and Narcissa Malfoy, who were both Blacks by birth and treated the attention-starved house-elf much more kindly than Sirius did — Umbridge arrived with the Inquisitorial Squad.

Umbridge attempted to interrogate Harry, demanding that Professor Snape provide her with Veritaserum. He told her he had none left, and although he pretended not to have any idea what Harry was talking about when he shouted that the enemy had "Padfoot", he went to check that Sirius was still at Order headquarters. Once Snape was gone, Umbridge threatened to use the Cruciatus Curse on Harry to force him to talk. This prompted Hermione to lie, making up a story about Dumbledore creating a weapon to use against the Ministry and tricking Umbridge into going into the Forbidden Forest with her and Harry. Umbridge summarily offended the Centaurs who confronted them, and with some assistance from Grawp, Harry and Hermione escaped back to the castle. In the meantime, Ron, Ginny, Luna and Neville Longbottom had escaped the Inquisitorial Squad.

The six teenagers rode Thestrals to the Ministry of Magic to try to rescue Sirius Black.

The Hall of Prophecy


Once in the Department of Mysteries, the group made their way to the Hall of Prophecy, which Harry had seen in his dreams. There, he spotted an orb with his and the Dark Lord’s names and picked it up. This prompted twelve Death Eaters – Rodolphus Lestrange, Rabastan Lestrange, Antonin Dolohov, Avery Jr., Walden Macnair, Crabbe, Nott, Augustus Rookwood, Jugson, Mulciber, second-in-command Bellatrix Lestrange, and leader Lucius Malfoy – to emerge from the shadows and demand that Harry give them the prophecy.

On Harry’s signal, the six D.A. members all used the Reductor Curse to smash the shelves of prophecies, distracting the Death Eaters so that they could flee. As they ran, Nott grabbed Harry’s arm, but was stunned by Hermione and subsequently injured by the collapsing shelves. Harry, Hermione, and Neville were then separated from the other three.

Pursuit
"We'll split into pairs and search, and don't forget, be gentle with Potter until we've got the prophecy, you can kill the others if necessary..."

- Lucius Malfoy to his fellow Death Eaters

Harry, Hermione and Neville were pursued into the Time Chamber by two Death Eaters. Harry stunned one and tackled the other when he attempted to use the Killing Curse on Hermione. Neville accidentally disarmed both the Death Eater and Harry, but before the Death Eater could retrieve his wand, Hermione stunned him. He was knocked into a bell jar that made his head turn into that of a baby, and then back into an adult, continuously aging and de-aging.

The three then ran into the next room, where they were struck with Impediment Jinxes by Death Eaters eventually identified as Antonin Dolohov and Jugson. Hermione silenced Dolohov to prevent him from alerting the other Death Eaters as to their location, and Harry placed Jugson in a Full Body-Bind. Dolohov then struck Hermione with an unnamed curse that incapacitated her for the rest of the battle. He broke Neville’s wand and nose and wordlessly threatened Harry, but was distracted by the Death Eater with the baby head, giving Harry the chance to Body-Bind him.

Neville took Hermione’s wand and carried her as he and Harry met up with Ron, Ginny, and Luna in the Thought Chamber. Ron had been hit by a curse that made him highly confused – possibly the Confundus Charm – and Ginny’s ankle was broken, leaving her pale and in shock. They had managed to get away from the Death Eaters chasing them because Luna used the Reductor Curse on the model of the planet Pluto in the Space Chamber to injure their pursuers.

"Let’s see how long Longbottom lasts before he cracks like his parents…unless Potter wants to give us the prophecy."

- Bellatrix Lestrange gleefully threatens Neville with the Cruciatus Curse

The group was then cornered by several Death Eaters, including Bellatrix Lestrange, in the Death Chamber. Ron, in his confusion, summoned a brain and was injured by it, and Ginny and Luna were both stunned. Bellatrix briefly used the Cruciatus Curse on Neville to try to coerce Harry into handing over the prophecy.

Arrival of the Order of the Phoenix
"Get away from my godson."

- Sirius Black to Lucius Malfoy

Just as Harry was about to hand the prophecy to Lucius Malfoy, Sirius Black, Nymphadora Tonks, Remus Lupin, Kingsley Shacklebolt and Alastor Moody of the Order of the Phoenix arrived, and the battle resumed.

Harry and Neville escaped Malfoy, but Harry was then grabbed from behind by Walden Macnair. Neville jabbed Hermione's wand hard into the eyehole of the Death Eater's mask, making him release Harry with a "howl of pain". Harry stunned him, only to be cornered by Dolohov, who had defeated and injured Moody. Dolohov hit Neville with a Tarantallegra and used the same curse he previously used on Hermione on Harry, though most of the harm was blocked by Harry’s Shield Charm. Before he could attack again, Sirius slammed into him and the two began to duel. Harry hit Dolohov with a Full Body-Bind Curse and Sirius ran off to duel Bellatrix, who had just defeated Tonks. In the meantime, Kingsley was dueling Rookwood.

Once again, Harry and Neville tried to escape, but were stopped by Malfoy. Harry passed Neville the prophecy and then used an Impediment Jinx to knock Malfoy back. Before he could attack again, Remus jumped between them and told Harry and Neville to get the other D.A. members and leave. As they tried to do this, the prophecy fell through Neville's pocket and broke. At this moment, Albus Dumbledore arrived and most of the fighting stopped. Dumbledore quickly rounded up numerous Death Eaters, but Bellatrix and Sirius were still dueling. Bellatrix knocked her cousin into the Veil that separates the world of living from that of the dead with a curse, killing him. Remus prevented Harry from jumping after Sirius, telling him that his godfather was dead.

Harry pursued Bellatrix and attempted to use the Cruciatus Curse on her in retaliation for her murder of Sirius. He only caused her a brief moment of pain, however, as he was unable to summon enough malice to make the Unforgivable Curse successful. Bellatrix attempted to curse Harry, but they were interrupted by the arrival of Lord Voldemort.

Duel in the Ministry Atrium
Voldemort attempted to hit Harry with the Killing Curse, but the blow was prevented; Dumbledore arrived and animated a golden statue to cover Harry and shield him from the curse. He animated the other statues from the Fountain of Magical Brethren to immobilize Bellatrix and warn Ministry officials. Voldemort and Dumbledore dueled, Fawkes taking a Killing Curse for Dumbledore at one point; as a phoenix, the curse caused him to burst into flames and instantly be reborn.

Voldemort briefly possessed Harry, hoping that Dumbledore would sacrifice the teenager in an attempt to kill him. However, as Harry dwelt on his grief for his late godfather, the power of his love forced Voldemort to release him. Voldemort took Bellatrix with him as he fled, but not before he was seen by Ministry officials, including Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge.

Aftermath
"Merlin’s beard – here – here! – in the Ministry of Magic! – great heavens above – it doesn’t seem possible – my word – how can this be-?"

- Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge’s reaction to seeing Voldemort

Of the twelve Death Eaters who broke into the Department of Mysteries, all of them but Bellatrix Lestrange were captured and sentenced to Azkaban. They failed in their aim to seize the prophecy made about Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort, but Dumbledore would subsequently tell Harry of its content and importance.

The Order of the Phoenix suffered the loss of Sirius Black as well as several injuries. Mad-Eye Moody, Nymphadora Tonks and Kingsley Shacklebolt were all injured, but recovered. Ginny Weasley’s broken ankle and Neville Longbottom’s broken nose were quickly repaired by Hogwarts nurse Poppy Pomfrey, and Neville eventually got a new wand. Ron Weasley had welts for some time from the brains that grabbed him, but they faded with time and treatment. Hermione Granger had to take ten potions a day to treat the curse she was struck with, which might have been fatal had Antonin Dolohov been able to speak it aloud, but made a full recovery. Harry felt great grief and guilt over the death of his godfather, blaming himself. He was also angry at Severus Snape for what he perceived as only belatedly assisting Harry and the Order, and at Dumbledore for not telling him about the prophecy ahead of time. He was also upset to learn that he must be the one to kill Voldemort.

After the Battle of the Department of Mysteries, the Ministry of Magic was forced to admit to the public that Dumbledore and Harry had been right all along, and that Voldemort had returned. Dolores Umbridge was removed from Hogwarts and Dumbledore was reinstated as Headmaster, as well as in all his other positions. The ineffectual Cornelius Fudge was soon replaced by the more proactive Rufus Scrimgeour as Minister for Magic.

This battle marked the beginning of open war in the wizarding world.

Behind the scenes
The film version of the Battle of the Department of Mysteries differs significantly from the book. Namely:
 * The D.A. members are pursued mostly within the Hall of Prophecies, do not split up, and use mostly different spells — for example, Luna Lovegood uses Levicorpus against a Death Eater.
 * Ginny Weasley's ankle is not broken.
 * Hermione Granger is not incapacitated with a curse from Antonin Dolohov.
 * Neville Longbottom's nose and wand are not broken.
 * Ron Weasley is not cursed to be disoriented or injured by brains.
 * In the Death Chamber, all the D.A. members but Harry Potter are captured and held at wand-point by Death Eaters.
 * Bellatrix Lestrange does not use the Cruciatus Curse on Neville.
 * When the Order of the Phoenix arrives, Sirius Black punches Lucius Malfoy in the face.
 * Lucius, rather than Neville, accidentally smashes the prophecy orb.
 * Bellatrix abruptly kills Sirius with the Killing Curse, which then pushes him into the Veil, rather than with an unknown curse during a duel.
 * Bellatrix escapes by using the Floo Network as soon as Albus Dumbledore arrives, instead of Disapparating with Lord Voldemort after his duel with Dumbledore.
 * It is Harry's love for his friends and godfather, rather his grief over the latter's death, that frees him from Voldemort's possession.

Appearances

 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film)

Notes and references
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