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Warning!
Some content in this article is derived from information featured in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, and, as such, spoilers will be present. |
- "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's ultimatum[src]
The Battle of the Department of Mysteries[3] was the first official conflict of the Second Wizarding War. It took place on 18 June,[1] 1996, after Lord Voldemort secretly lured Harry Potter and five of his fellow Dumbledore's Army members to the Department of Mysteries inside the Ministry of Magic in London, England, U.K.G.B. in an effort to obtain the prophecy concerning his possible defeat.
Once at the Ministry, the six D.A. members were cornered by a dozen Death Eaters, whom they managed to fend off until the Order of the Phoenix came to their rescue. In the resulting skirmish, the prophecy was destroyed, Voldemort was seen by the Minister for Magic himself, eleven of the Death Eaters were captured, and Sirius Black was killed by his cousin Bellatrix Lestrange.
The battle resulted in Voldemort's return being made public, the Ministry of Magic finally taking proper action against his rising power, and the start of open warfare.
History
Background information
The 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... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies...."
- — Sybill Trelawney's first prophecy[src]
At the height of the First Wizarding War, which lasted for eleven years [from 1970-1981]; Sybill Trelawney, the Divination teacher at Hogwarts School Of Witchcraft And Wizardry, made a prophecy predicting the coming of the only person who could truly defeat and destroy Lord Voldemort, due to this person having strength and power that would not only equal and surpass those of the Dark Lord; but those of Albus Dumbledore himself.
This prophecy was in turn heard in its entirety by Albus Dumbledore, while the latter was interviewing Professor Trewlaney in Hogsmeade, and in part by Severus Snape, at the time a loyal Death Eater, who immediately reported what he heard to Voldemort. The Dark Lord then came to believe that the prophecy referred to Harry Potter, due to his status as a Half-Blood like Voldemort; rather than Neville Longbottom; who was a Pure Blood. Both boys were born at the end of July of 1980, the timeline referenced in the prophecy; and he then began seeking out James and Lily Potter's location.
Potters' cottage in Godric's Hollow under attack, Lily is murdered by Lord Voldemort
The Potters had gone into hiding when Snape, who had been secretly in love with Lily Evans since childhood, warned Dumbledore of the approaching danger and defected from the Death Eaters to the Order of the Phoenix. However, on Hallowe'en, October 31, 1981, their location in Godric's Hollow, England was secretly revealed to the Dark Lord by Peter Pettigrew, and after killing Harry's parents, Voldemort attempted to kill the infant Harry, but the Killing Curse rebounded and his body and power was broken.
When Voldemort returned to power years later in 1995, and failed to kill Harry for the second time during the Little Hangleton Incident, because of Priori Incantatem on this occasion, he became determined to hear the full prophecy, believing it to contain the secret of destroying Harry Potter, and was informed by Lucius Malfoy that a record of it was kept in the Hall Of Prophecies, inside the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry of Magic.[4]
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. There is convincing evidence that the escape was engineered by a man who has experienced to escape from Azkaban, notorious mass murderer Sirius Black, cousin of the escapee, Bellatrix Lestrange."
- — Cornelius Fudge announces the 1996 Azkaban breakout[src]
The Daily Prophet announces the Azkaban breakout
In January of 1996, there was a mass breakout of several top Death Eaters from Azkaban after the Dementors secretly defected to Voldemort's side. Ten long-imprisoned Death Eaters — including the Lestrange Family, the Carrow Siblings, and their comrades Antonin Dolohov, Thorfinn Rowle, Augustus Rookwood, Tobias Travers, and Morgan Mulciber, among others — were free to join their master again. These ten were considered to be some of the most dangerous and highly guarded convicts due to their crimes being almost legendary. Lord Voldemort had little trouble arranging this, as many of the Dementors were happy to oblige to his dark whims and had grown tired of the laws put in place by the Wizarding World.
The Ministry of Magic, however, refused to admit that Voldemort had returned and instead blamed the breakout on Sirius Black. Because the Ministry did not believe that Voldemort had returned and because he now had many of his old servants ready to do his bidding, Voldemort did not attempt to retrieve the prophecy he sought himself, as he considered such a thing to be beneath him and being seen by the wizarding community would likely ruin his plans and was not an option. The Death Eaters then made a few secret attempts at stealing the prophecy in question, but all the attempts ended in failure.
Order member Arthur Weasley is attacked while guarding the prophecy
Lucius Malfoy, while donating money to a charity fund at the Ministry, secretly managed to place Broderick Bode, an Unspeakable who worked in the Department of Mysteries, under the Imperius Curse to force him to steal the prophecy. However, the protection charm placed on the items in the Hall of Prophecies only allows those who are mentioned in each prophecy to access them. Voldemort then punished Avery with the Cruciatus Curse 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 Hospital in Diagon Alley.
When word of Bode's improvement somehow reached the Death Eaters, they sent an anonymous potted cutting of Devil's Snare to Bode, to prevent the plot from being revealed, and it strangled him to death in his hospital bed. Earlier, Sturgis Podmore had also been placed under the Imperius Curse by Corban Yaxley to attempt the same, but was arrested trying to break into the Department of Mysteries. Voldemort also sent his pet snake, Nagini, to the Department of Mysteries after working hours, in order to scout any Order of the Phoenix defences possibly surrounding the prophecy. This resulted in the snake attacking and wounding Arthur Weasley who was secretly guarding the prophecy that night on orders from Albus Dumbledore.
Harry's false vision of Sirius being tortured
Thus, Voldemort tried a different tactic. Utilising his mental connection to Harry Potter, the only person other than Voldemort himself, who could access the prophecy. Harry had failed to learn Occlumency from Professor Snape in their private lessons at Hogwarts, due to both his inability to master his feelings and Snape's personal animosity towards him. Voldemort then planted a false vision in Harry's mind while he was taking his O.W.L. exams at school; that suggested his godfather (Sirius Black) was being personally tortured by Lord Voldemort in the Hall of Prophecies at the Department of Mysteries. Voldemort predicted that Harry would immediately race to the Ministry to save him, as he knew all about Harry's hero conflict.[5]
Dumbledore’s Army
- Hermione Granger: "Voldemort knows you, Harry! He took Ginny down into the Chamber of Secrets to lure you there, it’s the kind of thing he does, he knows you’re the — the sort of person who’d go to Sirius’s aid! What if he’s just trying to get you into the Department of Myst —?"
- Harry Potter: "Hermione, it doesn’t matter if he’s done it to get me there or not — they’ve taken McGonagall to St Mungo's, there isn’t anyone from the Order left at Hogwarts who we can tell, and if we don’t go, Sirius is dead!"
- — After Harry has a vision of Sirius being tortured[src]
Harry then told his friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger of his vision, intending to indeed immediately leave Hogwarts School to save Sirius. Hermione, suspecting foul play by Voldemort, managed to convince him into first trying to see if Sirius was at 12 Grimmauld Place in London, England; which was also Sirius's home. With the help of Ginny Weasley and Luna Lovegood, they sneaked into the office of Headmistress Dolores Umbridge so that Harry could contact Sirius by Floo Powder. Just after Kreacher informed Harry that Sirius was not there — having been prompted to secretly mislead Harry by Narcissa Malfoy, who was a Black relative by birth and treated the attention-starved house-elf much more kindly than Sirius ever did — Professor Umbridge arrived with her Inquisitorial Squad.
A centaur bound the ropes Umbridge conjured to bind him
Umbridge, believing Harry to have been communicating with Albus Dumbledore, attempted to forcibly interrogate Harry, demanding that Professor Snape provide her with samples of the Veritaserum Potion.However, 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," Snape secretly went to check that Sirius was still at the Order Headquarters. When Snape saw that Sirius was in fact there, he had Sirius alert members of the Order to the situation. 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 secret weapon to use against the Ministry and successfully tricking Umbridge into going into the Forbidden Forest with her and Harry.[6] They were then confronted by a horde of Centaurs, and Umbridge insulted and attacked them, using Incarcerous.
The D.A. members that accompany Harry to the Ministry
With some assistance from Grawp, Umbridge was captured by the Centaurs, and Harry and Hermione escaped the forest and headed back to the castle. In the meantime, Ron, Ginny, Luna, and Neville Longbottom had escaped and incapacitated the Inquisitorial Squad.[7] They had used a combination of Stunning Spells, Disarming Charms, and a Bat-Bogey Hex, curtesy of Ginny. Hermione and Harry were also covered in blood after the fracas in the Forbidden Forest, which lured Thestrals. Luna then suggested that the six D.A. members ride them to the Ministry of Magic, which was located underneath London to try to rescue Sirius Black.[8]
The Battle
The Department of Mysteries
- Lucius Malfoy: "Oh, you don’t know Potter as I do, Bellatrix. He has a great weakness for heroics; the Dark Lord understands this about him. Now give me the prophecy, Potter."
- Harry Potter: "I know Sirius is here. I know you’ve got him!"
- Lucius Malfoy: "It’s time you learned the difference between life and dreams, Potter. Now give me the prophecy, or we start using wands."
- — Death Eaters confront the six D.A. members[src]
The six D.A. members fly on Thestrals to the Ministry of Magic
The group then flew to the Ministry, where they then descended to Level 9 and down the corridor to the Department of Mysteries, also finding the entire Ministry empty, as it is well after working hours. They next found themselves in the Entrance Room, with 12 identical black, handle-less doors. When each door behind them closed, the walls spun, and the doors returned to different places.
The 6 D.A. members went through one, which turned out to be the Brain Room and went back to the Entrance Room to try another, which turned out to be the Death Chamber. The next door they tried wouldn't open by any means of enchantment, but the next room, the Time Chamber, contained the glittering lights from some Harry's past dreams. Once in this room, they took another door to the Hall of Prophecies, but upon reaching the empty and quiet-dark back wall, Sirius was nowhere to be found.
Harry holding the prophecy about himself
In the row where Sirius was supposed to be, Harry spotts an orb with his and the Dark Lord’s names inscribed on it. Against Hermione's advice not to touch it, he picks it up; and this immediately prompts twelve Death Eaters — Rodolphus Lestrange, Rabastan Lestrange, Bellatrix Lestrange, Antonin Dolohov, Anthony Avery, Walden Macnair, Vincent Crabbe Snr., Norman Nott, Augustus Rookwood, Jonathan Jugson, Morgan Mulciber, and group leader Lucius Malfoy — to instantly apparate into the Hall and emerge from the shadows; and Lucius then demands that Harry give him the prophecy.[8]
In the Hall of Prophecy
- "Did you know he's a half-blood too?... Voldemort? Yeah, his mother was a witch but his dad was a muggle — or has he been telling you lot he's pureblood?"
- — Harry Potter mocking Voldemort in front of his Death Eaters[src]
Harry then attempts to buy time by fully mocking Voldemort in front of his Death Eaters, which infuriates Bellatrix, yet Lucius stops her from hurting Potter, not through defence, but so that they can protect the prophecy. In their argument, Lucius and Bellatrix accidentally break two prophecies, which turn into wraiths and recite the prophecies which forever remain unheard. Harry still refuses to hand over the prophecy, so Lucius then begins to tease him that the prophecy holds the answer to his scar, why Voldemort wishes to kill him, and the cause of the Second Wizarding War.
D.A. members battling Death Eaters for possession of the prophecy
Just then, on Harry’s signal, the six D.A. members all use 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. The six members were than separated. Harry, Hermione, and Neville fled into the Time Chamber pursued by Crabbe Snr and Rabastan and sealed the door behind them, but then realised they have been separated from the other three.[9] Ron, Ginny, and Luna had taken another path and Harry, Hermione, and Neville did not know where they were.
Pursuit in the Time, Brain, and Space chambers
- "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 giving orders to his fellow Death Eaters[src]
In the Time Chamber, Harry, Neville, and Hermione hid just as Crabbe Snr and Rabastan forced their way in. As they started to search for the three, Harry stunned Crabbe Snr and rendered him unconscious. Harry, then tackled Rabastan when he attempted to use the Killing Curse on Hermione. Neville accidentally disarmed both Rabastan and Harry, but before Rabastan 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 ageing and de-ageing.
The three then ran into an office off the Time Chamber, where they were instantly struck with Impediment Jinxes by 2 Death Eaters, eventually identified as Antonin Dolohov and Jonathan Jugson. Hermione then used a silencing charm on Dolohov to prevent him from alerting the other Death Eaters to their location, and Harry placed Jugson in a Body-Bind Curse. Dolohov then struck Hermione with an unnamed curse that released a purple flame-like whip, which incapacitated her for the rest of the battle. He also broke Neville’s wand, kicked him in the nose, and wordlessly threatened Harry, but was distracted by baby-headed Rabastan, giving Harry the chance to use Petrificus Totalus on him too.
Neville then took Hermione’s wand and carried her as he and Harry met up with Ron, Ginny, and Luna in the Brain Room. Ron had been hit by a curse that made him highly confused — possibly the Confundus Charm — and Ginny’s ankle was sprained, 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 a model of the Planet Pluto in the Space Chamber to separate their pursuers. While the students regrouped, the Death Eaters did as well, bringing many of their number out of incapacitating spells.
Bellatrix Lestrange threatens Neville with the Cruciatus Curse
The group was then discovered by some of the Death Eaters, including Bellatrix Lestrange, in the circular Entrance Room with the many doors. They burst back into the Brain Room and Harry, Neville, and Luna attempted to seal the doors but the Death Eaters still managed to get in when Bellatrix hit one of the doors with a Blasting Curse. Luna was then blasted with a Stunning Spell from Avery, sending her into the air; and Ron, in his confused state, summoned a brain from the tank and was injured by it as it attempted to strangle him. Harry then used a Severing Charm to try and free Ron from the attacking brains, and at the same moment Ginny took a Stunning Spell to the face from Mulciber. In a desperate attempt to draw the Death Eaters away from his injured friends, Harry sprinted deep into the Death Chamber, where he was cornered by the rest of the Death Eaters. When Neville arrived to help, Bellatrix briefly and easily used the Cruciatus Curse on him in an attempt to coerce Harry into handing over the prophecy, warning Potter that Longbottom would die for good if he refused them any longer.[9]
The Death Chamber Standoff
- Bellatrix Lestrange: "Come out, come out, little Harry! What did you come after me for, then? I thought you were here to avenge my dear cousin!"
- Harry Potter: "I am!"
- Bellatrix Lestrange: "Aaaaaah... did you love him, little baby Potter?"
- — Bellatrix taunts Harry about her murder of Sirius[src]
Just as Harry was about to hand the prophecy to Lucius Malfoy, a door opposite to the Death Eaters flew open and Sirius Black, Nymphadora Tonks, Remus Lupin, Kingsley Shacklebolt and Alastor Moody of the Order of the Phoenix arrived, and the battle resumed.
The Order of the Phoenix and Death Eaters duel in the Death Chamber
Tonks fired a Stunning Spell at Lucius Malfoy, giving Harry and Neville enough time to escape unseen, but Harry was then grabbed from behind by Walden Macnair. Neville then jabbed Hermione's wand hard into the eyehole of the Death Eater's mask, making him release Harry with a "howl of pain". Harry then stunned him, only to be cornered by Dolohov, who had managed to hit Moody with an Impediment Jinx. Dolohov then hit Neville with the Dancing Feet Spell and used the same whip-like curse he previously used on Hermione on Harry, though most of the harm was blocked by Harry’s Shield Charm. Before Dolohov could attack again, Sirius slammed into him and the two began to duel. Harry then hit Dolohov with a Body-Bind Curse and Sirius ran off to duel Bellatrix, who had just blasted Tonks aside with an Impediment Jinx. In the meantime, Kingsley was duelling both Rookwood and Rodolphus.
Once again, Harry and Neville tried to escape, but were stopped by Malfoy. Harry passed Neville the prophecy and then used a powerful Impediment Jinx to knock Malfoy aside. Before Lucius could attack again, Lupin 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 shattered.
Sirius Black falling through the Veil and therefore to his death
At that same exact moment, Albus Dumbledore arrived through the same door the Order members had come through, and most of the fighting instantly stopped and the Death Eaters that saw him arrive attempted to flee in utter fear of duelling him. Dumbledore quickly and with no effort at all, used the same powerful unknown spell that he had previously used to outsmart Cornelius Fudge and Dolores Umbridge at Hogwarts; which emanated a shining silver light on all the Death Eaters and instantly incapacitated them all, except Bellatrix; who was still duelling her cousin Sirius down next to the archway of the Chamber.
Sirius and Bellatrix were totally oblivious to Dumbledore's arrival, and Bellatrix grew furious at how Sirius easily deflected her spells with his wand. He then mocked and gloated her, but at that precise moment, just as Dumbledore casted an Anti-Disapparation Spell on the other Death Eaters to prevent them from escaping, Bellatrix fired a curse at Sirius, which hit near him and caused him to fall into the Veil that separates the world of living from that of the dead, killing him. Lupin then prevented Harry from jumping after Sirius by grabbing him, telling him that his godfather was dead and that nothing could be done.[9]
Bellatrix's satisfied expression after murdering Sirius
Bellatrix then began running up the Chamber steps and Dumbledore turned around and fired a Stunning Spell at her, but she deflected it with a flick of her wand. Harry, infuriated and saddened by his godfather's death, pursued Bellatrix out of the Department of Mysteries and up to the Ministry's Main Atrium; and then attempted to use the Cruciatus Curse on her in retaliation for her murder of Sirius. Though the curse knocked her off balance, 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 then confirmed that to rightly perform the Unforgivable Curses, one needs to mean them: to really want to cause pain and suffering, not act only on anger. She then claimed she would teach Harry, and attempted to use the same curse on him, but they were interrupted by the sudden arrival of Lord Voldemort himself.[10]
Duel in the Ministry Atrium
- Albus Dumbledore: "It was foolish to come here tonight, Tom. The Aurors are on their way."
- Lord Voldemort: "By which time I shall be gone, and you will be dead!"
- — Dumbledore and Voldemort face off[src]
Voldemort and Dumbledore duelling in the atrium
Furious at the destruction of the prophecy, Voldemort attempted to hit Harry with the Killing Curse, but the blow was prevented; Dumbledore had apparated into the Main Atrium and secretly animated a golden statue to cover Harry and shield him from the curse. He next animated the other statues from the Fountain of Magical Brethren to immobilise Bellatrix and warn Ministry officials, via the Floo Network nearby. Voldemort and Dumbledore then duelled; and much to Voldemort's intense fury, Albus skillfully and calmly deflected all the attacks that Voldemort threw at him. Fawkes, Dumbledore's pet phoenix, also appeared and took a Killing Curse for Dumbledore at one point; but as a phoenix, the curse merely caused him to burst into flames and instantly be reborn.
Throughout the battle, it was obvious that Dumbledore was the more powerful and skilled out of them, as he clearly slightly dominated the duel despite outlining his peaceful intentions while Voldemort, in a heated rage, was unable to penetrate Dumbledore's defences all the while struggling to defend from Albus's own stream of assaults, mainly when Dumbledore flicked his wand and sent a formidable Stunning Spell at the Dark Lord, who barely managed to deflect it using a magical shield.
Voldemort then 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 for not only Sirius, but for Dumbledore and all his friends caused Voldemort serious pain, forcing him to release Harry. Voldemort then grabbed Bellatrix and disapparated, but only after he was visibly seen by a horde of Ministry officials that had just arrived, including Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge.[10]
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[src]
Daily Prophet confirms Voldemort's return
Of the twelve Death Eaters who broke into the Department of Mysteries, all of them but Bellatrix Lestrange were captured and re-sent to Azkaban. They failed in their aim to seize the prophecy made about Harry Potter and Voldemort, but Dumbledore would subsequently tell Harry of its content and importance shortly after the battle, during which Dumbledore also made sure that Harry and his friends safely returned to Hogwarts.[4]
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 sprained ankle and Neville Longbottom’s broken nose were quickly repaired by Hogwarts nurse Poppy Pomfrey, and Neville eventually got a new wand, curtosey of his grandmother Augusta Longbottom. 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 actually speak it aloud, but made a full recovery nonetheless.
Harry felt great grief and guilt over the death of his godfather, blaming himself, but Ron and Hermione were there when he needed them to help him come to terms with Sirius's death. It was mentioned that Ron was there to comfort him in his period of mourning more than anyone else. 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 suspended and removed from Hogwarts and Dumbledore was reinstated as Headmaster, as well as in all his other previous positions. The ineffectual Cornelius Fudge was soon forced to resign as Minister of Magic, and was quickly replaced by the more proactive Rufus Scrimgeour.
This battle also marked the beginning of open warfare in the Wizarding World.[11]
Voldemort was enraged by the loss of the prophecy, and focused much of his wrath on Lucius Malfoy and his entire family. As punishment, Voldemort selected Lucius's son Draco as his newest Death Eater and tasked him with assassinating Dumbledore during his sixth year at Hogwarts. Draco's mother Narcissa was despondent, knowing full well that Voldemort expected Draco to fail, and be killed in punishment for his failure.
Although Lucius was broken out of Azkaban, he became a prisoner in his own home, which Voldemort took for use as his headquarters, and further humiliated Lucius by "borrowing" his wand, which was later destroyed in another failed attempt to kill Harry, and never replaced.
Media
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Behind the scenes
Lucius accidentally smashes the prophecy
- Although not specifically identified it is likely that the two Death Eaters that chased Harry, Hermione and Neville in the Time Chamber were Crabbe and Rabastan Lestrange. This assumption is made through process of elimination. It seems safe to assume they aren't any other pair we know for a fact the D.A encountered later in the Chase. That rules out Bellatrix & Rodolphus and Jugson & Dolohov. The only other clue is the fact that Harry never recognises them, not even when one of them takes off his mask. That definitely rules out Mulciber & Malfoy, and probably Macnair & Avery. Harry's never met Mulciber, but he knows Malfoy all too well. Indeed, he had no trouble recognising Malfoy in the Hall of Prophecy even though Malfoy was masked the entire time. It is hard to believe Rowling would intend Malfoy to be among this pair without ever identifying him. Harry also knows Macnair & Avery - not as well as he knows Malfoy, but he does know them, Macnair in particular, whom he's seen and overheard in conversation. (Harry probably knows Macnair better than Macnair knows Harry). Although this is less certain, it is hard to believe Rowling would intend Macnair to be among this pair and not identify him.
- The film version of the Battle of the Department of Mysteries differs significantly from the novel. 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 a verbally-incanted version of Levicorpus against a Death Eater.
- Ginny Weasley's ankle is not broken.
- Neville Longbottom's nose and wand are not broken.
- Ron Weasley is not cursed to be disoriented or injured by brains.
- Luna Lovegood is not stunned.
- In the Death Chamber, all the D.A. members but Harry Potter are captured and held at wand-point by Death Eaters.
- Death Eater Travers is added to the battle holding Ginny Weasley hostage.
- Although all credited only as a Death Eater, Richard Trinder played Augustus Rookwood, while actors for Rabastan Lestrange, Rodolphus Lestrange, Avery, and Nott are unidentified.
- 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 knows the prophecy is smashed rather than not knowing when she plays with Harry in the Atrium saying he has it before Voldemort tells her the truth after appearing.
- Harry duels alongside Sirius against Lucius Malfoy and Antonin Dolohov non-verbally, but he is not taught to do non-verbal incantations before sixth year.
- Tonks and Kingsley's duel partners in the battle are switched in the movie. Tonks is seen duelling two Death Eaters at once and Kingsley is the one trailing Bellatrix in the air.
- Sirius calls Harry "James", a slip of the tongue, referring to his friendship with Harry's father.
- Bellatrix abruptly kills Sirius with the Killing Curse, which then pushes him into the Veil, rather than with an unknown curse during a duel.
- Albus Dumbledore appears in the Ministry Atrium after Sirius's death rather than in the Death Chamber before Sirius dies.
- Bellatrix escapes by using the Floo Network as soon as Dumbledore arrives, instead of Disapparating with Voldemort after his duel with Dumbledore.
- It is Harry's love for his friends and godfather, rather than his grief over the latter's death, that frees him from Voldemort's possession.
- Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville and Luna are in the Atrium when Voldemort flees the Ministry.
- While filming this scene, Helena Bonham Carter accidentally ruptured Matthew Lewis's eardrum by sticking her wand in his ear.
Appearances
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film)
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (video game)
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Mentioned only)
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film) (Appears in flashback(s))
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Mentioned only)
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (Appears in flashback(s))
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (Appears in flashback(s))
- Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Mentioned only)
- Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (play) (Mentioned only)
- LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7
- Harry Potter: The Character Vault (Mentioned only)
Notes and references
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 34 (The Department of Mysteries) The battle happens on the day of Sirius Black's death which was the 18th of June, according to Pottermore
- ↑ In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Kingsley Shacklebolt said Travers should be in Azkaban, and Travers escaped in the mass break-out in 1996 so it's possible he fought in this battle.
- ↑ All about... Bellatrix Lestrange at Pottermore
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 37 (The Lost Prophecy)
- ↑ Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 31 (O.W.L.s)
- ↑ Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 32 (Out of the Fire)
- ↑ Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 33 (Fight and Flight)
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 34 (The Department of Mysteries)
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 35 (Beyond the Veil)
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 36 (The Only One He Ever Feared)
- ↑ Order of the Phoenix, Ch. 38