The Order of the Phoenix Re-Read: Chapter 3

[slowfox]

Chapter 3: The Advance Guard

Well, it seems a bit odd to go to the trouble of breaking into (and just plain breaking, Tonks) the Dursleys' house, to then unlock Harry's door from distance before announcing one's presence. I would've thought that Lupin might've come up with a better security question than asking what form his Patronus took, though: isn't that a bit public? Especially when you consider that someone set the Dementors after Harry, and it's not beyond the bounds of possibility that said person was on hand, somewhere, to ensure they did what they were supposed to...

"I'm a Metamorphmagus," she said, looking back at her reflection and turning her head so that she could seeher hair from all directions. "It means I can chage my appearance at will."

Why oh why did JKR introduce the concept of a Metamorphmagus to then singularly fail to do anything with it? Tonks' introduction mainly reminded me of Harry's introduction waaaaaaaaay back in PS/SS, where we're told about that time his Aunt cut his hair and it all grew back. I assumed that that would prove to be foreshadowing of Harry's own Metamorphmagic abilities, but as we know, not to be. Which then leads us to wonder why Tonks needed to be a Metamorphmagus at all.

"...If they take out all of us and you survive, Harry, the rear guard are standing by to take over; keep flying east and they'll join you."

"Stop being so cheerful, Mad-Eye, he'll think we're not taking this seriously," said Tonks...

Moody does seem to be taking things awfully seriously :-)

Nice to see the Put-Outer get another outing, although I can't help thinking that had any Muggles been looking out, they'd have noticed a gaggle of wizards arriving by broomstick before they turned out the streetlights.

And finally, despite all the directions that we're quoted in the text being south, southeast and southwest, we land in London (Little Whinging is in Surrey, a county that lies to the southwest of this green and pleasant land's fair capital).

I know that the text says that the Floo's being watched, that they can't make an illegal Portkey (although Wormtail managed, didn't he?) and Harry's too young to Apparate, but we know that it's possible to Apparate under someone else's power, as it were, and surely Kingsley would've been able to do that, even if it was beyond Tonks or Moody or Lupin? Broomsticks made... well, a journey, I guess, out of what could've been a hop, but it seemed awfully involved, and rather risky.

Comments

[slowfox]

a way of introducing a lot of minor characters/members of the Order in a very short space of time. Quite a few of these people end up being mentioned as dead/disappeared, etc in later books (Sturgis Podmore and Emmeline Vance, for example), and by introducing them now, albeit briefly, it makes the mention of them later on more real or poignant and therefore more effective.

Ah, excellent point - I'm not sure that we saw quite enough of them to feel emotionally invested in them, but yes, it does raise the stakes a little from a completely random name-drop later on in the tale.