Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007) - 25 questions

Question: Why does this movie have so many differences than the book? Why don't they want to follow the actual story line according to the book?

Answer: Any book-to-film adaptation will require changes, because what works on the page will not always work cinematically, for any number of reasons. Given the length of some books (the Order of the Phoenix clocks in at well over 700 pages), there's no realistic way that everything could possibly be fitted into the length of a movie, and thus it regularly becomes necessary to eject certain subplots entirely, condense certain events, combine characters or whatever else might be necessary to tell the basic story successfully within a two hour timeframe. As a result, many cinematic adaptations can contain significant deviations from the original book, but ultimately tell what amounts to the same core story. This happens with most of the Potter films, particularly those based on the longer books, but ultimately the main storyline remains intact, even if they take a slightly different route along the way.

Question: Harry sees a dream of attacking Mr. Weasley as a snake, this was real. Harry sees a dream about Voldemort hurting Sirius, this is not real. Can anyone explain this to me?

Answer: Harry was able to tap into Voldemort's mind and see what he was seeing. When Voldemort learns that Harry can do this, he plants a false vision in Harry's mind that Sirius is being tortured so that Harry will be lured into a trap at the Ministry.

Question: Is it ever stated in the movie what happened to the dementors after they attacked Harry and Dudley?

Answer: No. Harry fought them off using the Patronus charm and they retreated. Where they went after that is unrevealed.

Question: I heard that only one of all the prophecies is the correct one am I right? How is it they find it so fast?

Answer: Yes, only one is the correct one, but they're all organized and marked (by subject, I believe) so it was relatively simple to track the proper one down.

Question: At the start of the movie, does the sky change because Harry gets angry or because the dementors were coming?

Answer: The latter - the Dementors are on their way and they have that sort of effect on the environment around them.

Question: In this movie and HP7 part one, the Weasley family are called "blood traitors." What is that? This also occurs in the books too. Can someone tell me what that remark refers to?

Answer: Blood traitors are pure-blood families who consort with half-bloods and Muggles.

Question: What is the name of the song playing while the Order are transporting Harry to headquarters?

Answer: The song is titled "Flight of the Order of the Phoenix" on the soundtrack.

Question: When and how does Voldemort become aware of the prophecy and how does he know it is about Harry? Does he know that he caused it to become true by giving Harry is scar?

Answer: Spoiler Alert! Voldemort learned about the prophecy from Severus Snape when he was still a Death Eater. Dumbledore reveals to Harry that shortly before Harry's birth, he interviewed Sybill Trelawney for the Divination teaching position at an inn in Hogsmeade village. Dumbledore felt that Trelawney lacked significant talent and had decided not to offer her the position when she suddenly fell into a trance and related the prophecy to him, although she had no memory of it. Snape was spying on them and overheard the prophecy's first half, although he was discovered and thrown out before hearing its entirety. According to Dumbledore, Voldemort deduced that Harry was "the chosen one" based on clues in the prophecy. It could also have been Neville Longbottom who fit the prophecy, but Harry being a half-blood like himself is probably why Voldemort chose to kill him, thus marking Harry (both literally and figuratively) as his equal when his killing curse failed. Dumbledore believed the prophecy was ultimately unimportant, but because Voldemort thought it was, he determined his and Harry’s fate the night he murdered the Potters and gave Harry his scar.

Question: Does anyone know how far Harry and Cho went when alone in the Room of Requirement? The book hints that they got further than mere kissing (half an hour passed and "Harry would take the secret of what happened in his grave").

Answer: They only snogged (made out). The snogging didn't take that long. Harry was in shock and had think for a long period of time about what happened before he was out of shock enough to go back to the common room. That's actually not what the book says, it says "Half of him wanted to tell them what had happened and the other half wanted to take the secret to his grave." The secret was that he snogged Cho which he ended up telling them because Hermione managed to guess it without him saying anything.

Question: Since Umbridge ordered the dementors to attack Harry in the opening of Order of the Phoenix, why isn't she punished or otherwise held accountable after it's revealed that she is responsible for the attack?

Answer: It was never actually proved that Umbridge ordered the attack, and it is basically her word against Harry and the other students. Also, the Slytherin students would back up Umbridge's claims. The Ministry does not believe anything Harry or Dumbledore says anyway, discounting their claims that Voldemort has returned, that Sirius Black was innocent, that Peter Pettigrew (Wormtail) is still alive, etc, so it's unlikely they'll believe that Umbridge was involved in dementor attack.

Question: Why doesn't Voldemort, Serious, or anybody else just apparate into the Department of Mysteries, take the prophecy, and apparate out?

Answer: Whether or not one can apparate into the Department of Mysteries is irrelevant in the film, because even if Voldemort were to come face to face with the Prophecy Orb, he still would be unable to summon its Prophecy, for only the subject of the Prophecy is able to acquire it, which in this case is Harry. That is why tricking Harry is so critical to Voldemort's plan.

Question: Can someone please tell me how to get to the "Half Blood Prince" sneak peek on the "Order of the Phoenix" DVD, because I've tried everything and cannot find it! Thanks.

Answer: Note: The following instructions apply to the Region 4 DVD. They may or may not apply to DVDs of other regions. Insert Disc 2 into a PC. Use InterActual DVD player if you have it, because the following instructions may or may not be relevant to other DVD players. After it has loaded, you will see the same menu you see on a normal non-computer DVD player. Beneath the screen, you should see some options: 'Extra Credit', 'Daily Prophet', 'Newsletter' etc. Click on 'Extra Credit', and a different menu will be shown on the screen. This menu has options 'Hogwarts Timeline', 'Magical Trading Cards', 'harrypotter.com' and 'Harry Potter Sneak Peek'. Choose 'Harry Potter Sneak Peek' and you will be shown another menu, where you are able to watch five videos. The first two videos are the HBP sneak peeks.

Question: Is the sneak peek of "Half-Blood Prince" accessible only with a DVD-ROM drive?

Answer: Yes.

Question: In the scene just before Sirius Black is killed he says "Good job, James." Is there someone else named James or is he mistakenly calling Harry by his father's name?

Answer: Sirius is mistakenly referring to Harry as his father, James Potter. After everything Sirius has been through, he is rather emotionally unstable and immature. He has tended to see Harry as a peer and replacement for his dead friend James, rather than acting like Harry's godfather.

Question: Has JK Rowling ever stated what would have happened if Harry had joined Slytherin and/or become a Dark Wizard? Would Voldemort have sought to slay or recruit him? The scene where he's provoking Harry into using the Unforgiveable Curse on Bellatrix got me thinking.

Answer: She's never said, but I should think Voldemort would see Harry as an even larger threat if he'd joined Slytherin/become a Dark Wizard. Voldemort would assume that Harry would still be trying to kill him, but to take over his rule instead of ridding the world of it.

Question: Is it just me or do both of the Patil twins appear to be wearing Griffindor uniforms? one of them (Padma) should be wearing Ravenclaw colours.

Answer: In the books, the Patil sisters are identical twins, but they were sorted into different Hogwarts' Houses (Gryffindor and Ravenclaw). In the movies, they are fraternal twins, and both are in Gryffindor.

Question: This applies to all the movies and books. Why is Dumbledore the only one Voldemort ever feared?

Answer: Because Dumbledore is extremely powerful and utterly unintimidated by Voldemort. Voldemort, while extremely powerful himself, relies on fear to weaken any opposition to him - through fear, he gains a measure of control. Dumbledore, who has no fear of his ex-student, stands as a strong opponent who cannot be weakened through psychological tactic - as such, Voldemort fears him.

Question: Is Evana Lynch British? I know that all the people in the films are supposed to be British, but I don't hear much of an accent at all on Luna.

Answer: She's Irish.

Question: Can someone please explain the prophecy?

Answer: Sure. The whole prophecy, taken from the books, reads as follows: "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...". Thus stating that the person who will be able to defeat Voldemort will be born at the end of July, to parents who have escaped Voldemort on three occasions - this applies to Harry, born on July 31st, and also to Neville Longbottom, born the previous day. It states that Voldemort will mark his enemy, which occurs when Harry was a year old, when Voldemort failed to kill him, leaving him with his scar - the deciding event that determined that Harry was the subject of the prophecy. The power "that the Dark Lord has not" is believed to refer to Harry's capacity for love, which Voldemort lacks entirely. Finally, the "neither can live while the other survives" section is fairly straight-forward; only one of the pair will live, the other must die - the interpretation being that one must kill the other.

Question: Why can Harry only see the thestrals in his fifth year? He saw his parents die when he was a baby - I know there is an explanation I just can't remember it.

Answer: Harry never saw his father die. James Potter was in another part of the house when Voldemort murdered him. It's also unknown if Harry actually witnessed his mother's death. He was in his crib, and his view may have been obstructed. He only remembers seeing a green flash and hearing Lily scream. Also, because he was an infant, he could not interpret what he actually was viewing. One has to be consciously aware when seeing death. However, Harry should have been able to see the thestrals by his third year, after he witnessed Professor Quirrel's death in Chamber of Secrets, although that did not happen in the book.