BACKGROUND
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix signals a turning point for the series, as we move away from the magical excitement of the Wizarding World and delve deeper into its villainy.
This is the first movie where all of the Wizarding World knows that Lord Voldemort has made his grand return, seeking to finally succeed in his plans for world domination after failing the first time round. However, this story proves that it won’t just be a simple battle of good vs. evil, because, although Voldemort has his faction, the Death Eaters, and Harry has both the loyal support of the secret society of the Order of the Phoenix, formed by Dumbledore when Voldemort first rose to power, as well as his own student organisation that he begins at Hogwarts, titled Dumbledore’s Army, there are plenty refusing to commit to one side because the Ministry of Magic is not believing that the Dark Lord is in fact back.
That means there is a lot of conflict, a lot of doubting, and a lot of anger in this film. Harry is basically being told he is a liar, all the while finding his mind is directly connected to Voldemort’s, making it susceptible to being tricked and controlled. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is the darkest in the Harry Potter film series up to this point, and gives audiences plenty of information to get them ready for what is to come.
Although I accept that Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is a necessary addition to the franchise, due to its introductions of villains and heroes who will be constant presences in these films from now on, I have never liked this fifth film. I can’t pinpoint anything specific that I don’t like about it either, I just don’t find the story particularly interesting. It generally swaps positions with Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) every year or so to be my least favourite of the franchise!
And yet I can credit Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix for reigniting my interest in the film series. The specific reason of why is a story for another time, but as I’ve said before, after watching Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002) at the cinema with my family, the next three films we only watched on DVD months after they had been released. In the case of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, it was actually about two years after and I know this because after watching this film, I saw that Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009) would be released a few days later.
For me, every time I rewatch the series, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is just one to get through before things get really interesting.
PLOT
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix begins during a sweltering heatwave in the UK. Harry is back in Surrey with the Dursleys for the summer holidays.
On this summer’s evening, Harry is sitting in the park, minding his own business, when his cousin Dudley comes over with his gang. Dudley starts mocking Harry for his apparent night terrors that have begun since he witnessed the sudden death of Cedric Diggory and the return of Lord Voldemort at the end of the last school year. Harry threatens Dudley with his wand to stop him laughing at him.
Suddenly, storm clouds roll in but Harry doesn’t think this feels like a normal summer storm. He and Dudley run trying to find shelter, as the rain starts hammering down. They make it to an underpass, however, two Dementors have followed the boys and attack them. Harry manages to use the Patronus Charm to get the Dementors away from them. At that exact moment, Harry’s neighbour Mrs. Figg walks past the underpass, and walks back home with Harry and a clearly disturbed and traumatised Dudley. Mrs. Figg says Dumbledore sent her to watch over Harry, showing she knows all about the events going on right now.
Back at the Dursleys, Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia are horrified to see their son Dudley in such a state. As they wonder what to do, a letter arrives for Harry – from Mafalda Hopkirk at the Ministry of Magic. It says that Harry has been expelled from Hogwarts for performing the Patronus Charm in front of a Muggle and whilst underage. The Dursleys welcome this news, before surreptitiously taking their son to hospital.
Harry is angry at being expelled, especially since it wasn’t his fault the Dementors attacked him. What should he have done, just let them kill him and Dudley? Eventually Harry falls asleep but he continues to dream of Cedric’s death. After hearing a noise in the house, he wakes with a start, to find someone trying to get into his bedroom. The door opens and he is greeted by a group of wizards, here to rescue him. They include Mad-Eye Moody, the former Hogwarts Professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts, who spent the year trapped in a box; young witch Nymphadora Tonks; and Kingsley Shacklebolt. They tell Harry that he hasn’t yet been expelled from Hogwarts yet, as the Ministry have sent up a sentencing hearing for Harry, and that the group are taking him to “Headquarters”, and will explain when they arrive. They all fly to London.
Arriving at a random street of terraced house, Harry watches as a small house appears from within the row of houses. This must be Headquarters. Harry is welcomed by Mrs. Weasley, who tells Harry to go upstairs as there is a meeting going on right now. Upstairs, Harry sees that his friends Ron and Hermione are already there, along with Ron’s other siblings. He learns that this house at 12 Grimmauld Place is the Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix, a secret society set up by Dumbledore when Voldemort first rose to power all those years ago, and that in light of the Dark Lord’s return, its activities are resuming. George and Fred Weasley want to eavesdrop on the meeting, and because they are now old enough to use magic outside of Hogwarts, they use a magical ear and dangle it outside the meeting room. They learn that Professor Snape is in the Order, but little else, as Hermione’s cat Crookshanks steals the ear to play with it!
Finally, the meeting is over and Harry is reunited with his godfather Sirius Black, and Lupin, having not seen them in person since that incident at Hogwarts with the Dementors a couple of years before. During dinner, Harry learns that the Ministry of Magic has started a smear campaign against him and Dumbledore, as they continue to live in denial, refusing to say that the Dark Lord has returned. But some in the magical world do believe Harry, including those in the Order of the Phoenix, and they are trying to recruit more members in order to counteract the recruiting they believe Voldemort is also doing. Sirius lets slip that Voldemort is looking for something, something he didn’t have last time, but he is warned from saying much more to Harry, at risk of putting Harry in more danger. Harry thinks that is ridiculous and should be told more because he already wants to fight with the others.
The next day, Harry is taken to the Ministry of Magic by Mr. Weasley for his hearing, with Harry helping Mr. Weasley navigate the London Underground, given that Mr. Weasley has never had to use the Visitors’ Entrance to the Ministry before. They enter a phone box and arrive in the grand Ministry of Magic. Mr. Weasley and Harry go into a lift, where they are told that Harry’s hearing has been moved up by hours, and is due to start in the next five minutes. They go straight there, passing Lucius Malfoy talking to Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic, in a strange corridor. Harry is instantly suspicious.
At the hearing, Harry is questioned about the events that took place the night he used the Patronus Charm. Suddenly, Dumbledore arrives, as a witness. The Minister is surprised to see Dumbledore here, having hoped that the late change in time would mean he would not be here, however, Dumbledore luckily arrived at the Ministry three hours early! Harry tries to defend himself, by saying he only used the Patronus Charm because of the Dementors. This shocks those in the Ministry who can’t understand why the Dementors would be in Surrey for no reason. Dumbledore brings Mrs. Figg in to the room to testify that she also saw the Dementors that night, as Fudge thinks Harry is lying. Dumbledore suggests they launch an inquiry into why the Dementors ended up near Harry that night. He tries to tell Fudge that Voldemort could’ve been behind it, but Fudge hisses that he is not back. Those at the hearing take a vote on whether to clear Harry of the charges or expel him from Hogwarts. The overall majority agree Harry should be cleared of all charges; he’s free to go. Harry attempts to talk to Dumbledore after the hearing, but Dumbledore walks away.
Soon, it is time to return to Hogwarts, and Harry goes to King’s Cross to board the Hogwarts Express. Sirius appears, in his Animagus dog form, and gets Harry to follow him to a waiting room. There, Sirius talks to Harry, showing him an old photo of the original Order of the Phoenix, with Harry’s parents being front and centre of that photo. Sirius says it feels the same as it did last time, and is clearly anxious about what will happen next. Well, that’ll give Harry all the confidence he needs to go back to school – because Hogwarts is such a safe place to be! On the train, Harry dreams about seeing Voldemort on the train platform, before waking with a start as Ron and Hermione sit down next to him.
Arriving at Hogsmeade, Harry is taunted by Draco, and Harry reacts very angrily towards him. Ron and Hermione tell him to calm down, concerned for their friend’s mental state. They go to take a carriage to Hogwarts, along with fellow Gryffindor student Neville, but Harry is shocked to see a strange, horse-like creature pulling the carriage. Hermione and the others don’t know what he’s talking about, as they can’t see anything, and have always known the carriages to pull themselves. A girl already in the carriage says Harry isn’t crazy as she can see them too. This girl is Ravenclaw student Luna Lovegood, who Hermione accidentally introduces as “Loony Lovegood”, due to her quirky nature and eccentric beliefs.
During assembly, the students are told by Dumbledore that Hagrid is currently on leave and that Dolores Umbridge will be their next professor for Defence Against the Dark Arts class. Umbridge gives a speech to the students about her plans for the school, which annoys Hermione, stating that this is evidence that the Ministry is interfering at Hogwarts. To make things even worse, Harry finds that many of his fellow Gryffindors don’t believe him about Voldemort’s return either, including his friend Seamus, whose parents think Harry and Dumbledore are spouting nonsense. Ron sticks up for Harry in front of Seamus, telling Harry to ignore him. Harry snaps back that he’s fine. Yeah, you keep telling yourself that…That night, Harry dreams of the Ministry, a door, and an orb. You sure you’re still fine, Harry?
The next day, Harry and his year have their first Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson with Umbridge, who states they will not be using magic in class and will simply be studying for the O.W.L. exams with textbooks. Harry argues against this idea with Umbridge, saying they’ll need to be able to defend themselves against bad characters, like Voldemort. Umbridge gives Harry detention for his defiance. Harry goes to Umbridge’s office later where he is told to write the line “I must not tell lies” with a special quill. As Harry starts writing, he feels pain in his hand, only to see that same line being scratched into it. Ouch.
As Harry tries to calm down in the Gryffindor Common Room, whilst Fred and George tout their special magical products to make students ill and get them out of class, Hermione and Ron sit down next to him. Hermione sees Harry’s hand and says he has to report this to someone. Harry refuses, not wanting to bother Dumbledore with something so trivial as this when he has more important things to deal with.
Harry later writes to Sirius, saying he has never felt so alone at school before. He then sees a horse flying in the sky and follows it to the forest, where he sees Luna is there too – without any shoes on because someone has stolen all of them… Luna explains that these horses, the ones pulling the carriages, are Thestrals, that look like black, skeletal horses. She says only those who have witnessed death can see them, so Harry can after seeing Cedric’s death, and Luna after seeing her mother’s death due to a magical experiment going wrong. They bond over their shared tragedies.
Back at school, Harry and his friends hear Professor McGonagall and Umbridge arguing. McGonagall tells Umbridge that she needs to adhere to standard teaching practices, hinting that she knows all about that “special quill”. Umbridge says she has seen what a bad state Hogwarts is in, and is going to advise on a full review into the school. Fudge appoints Umbridge as Hogwarts High Inquisitor, giving her the right to interview and observe teachers, whilst also enforcing new controversial rules into the school. Professor Trelawny, the teacher for Divination, is the first casualty of Umbridge’s new powerful rule, as she is both fired from her position and ordered to leave the grounds. Trelawny says she has nowhere else to go and begins to cry. McGonagall comes over to comfort her, but can do no more for Trelawny. Dumbledore then arrives and tells McGonagall to take Trelawny back inside, as Umbridge may have the power to sack teachers but cannot banish them from the grounds. Umbridge says that may well be the case, for now.
Harry, Hermione, and Ron later hear the Minister of Magic blaming “mass murderer” Sirius Black for a number of disappearances being reported. Sirius then appears in the fireplace to talk to Harry, telling him that Fudge fears that Dumbledore is building an army to go up against the Ministry, and that is likely why Umbridge is not allowing them to do magic, so they cannot be trained in combat. Sirius is concerned about what is happening, as Voldemort must be the one behind these disappearances. Sirius says he must go and they are on their own, for the time being. Hermione decides they’ll have to take matters into their own hands, needing someone to help teach them how to defend themselves.
She organises a meeting at the Hog’s Head Tavern in Hogsmeade, in order to recruit students for training classes. Hermione starts the meeting by telling those who arrived that Harry would be the best teacher for them, as he has fought against dark wizardry before. Some start asking about Cedric’s death, with Harry refusing to answer questions on this, wanting to leave, thinking this was all a bad idea. Luna then asks if it is true that Harry can produce the Patronus Charm. Hermione confirms she has seen him do it. This moves into a conversation about all of Harry’s heroics throughout his time at Hogwarts. Harry says it was a combination of fear, luck, and help that got him through those things, but Hermione encourages him, saying they need his help. The other students start to realise Voldemort really is back, and they sign up to “Dumbledore’s Army”. This leads them to discuss finding a secret meeting location. Hermione says they’ll keep thinking of one, and teases Harry that one good thing to come from the meeting was that Cho couldn’t keep her eyes off him.
Umbridge starts to become suspicious of what Harry and his friends are doing and implements a new rule banning student organisations. But Dumbledore’s Army has no intention of stopping, and Neville comes across the Room of Requirement one day, a room that only reveals itself to someone in need, and comes equipped with whatever that person needs. In this case, it has been set up with dummies to use spells on. Harry’s lessons then begin, by teaching spells, and setting up duels. However, caretaker Filch soon realises that Harry and his friends are meeting in the area, and try to catch them leaving or entering the room, since the room seals itself when the students are inside it. Despite watching the walls for hours on end, he has no definitive proof, much to Umbridge’s annoyance. Umbridge implements a new rule saying that students will be subject to questioning by her around illicit activities. When this doesn’t yield any results, and Dumbledore’s Army continue to train and improve, including Neville, who begins as one of the least competent, Umbridge starts to sign up students to be part of her Inquisitorial Squad. This includes Draco Malfoy and his gang. They try to work with Filch to enter the Room of Requirement, but they are unable to. Harry does one final lesson before the Christmas Break, and says they’ll resume after the holidays. Harry goes to speak to Cho, who talks to him about Cedric, wondering if he knew all these spells. Harry says he did. Some mistletoe magically appears above them and they kiss. Harry’s friends find out about the kiss and want to know more. He simply describes it as being “wet” as Cho was crying at the time. Hermione says Cho is feeling stressed out about everything going on in her life, including worrying that Umbridge is going to have her mother, who works at the Ministry of Magic, fired.
That night, Harry has another dream, still about the door and the orbs, but this time, he sees Mr. Weasley being attacked by a snake. A worried Professor McGonagall takes him straight to Dumbledore, where Dumbledore believes this incident really happened, and assembles resources to save Mr. Weasley, sending the Weasley children to see him. Harry suddenly becomes enraged and shouts at Dumbledore to look at him, fearing what is happening to him. He is sent away with Professor Snape, who informs Harry that the teachers believe Harry’s mind is connected to Voldemort’s and that he will need to learn how to control this connection, to stop him being manipulated by the Dark Lord. The spell that Snape uses allows him to see into Harry’s memories. Harry is told to concentrate and resist.
It is then Christmastime, and Harry is back at the Order’s Headquarters, actually the Black family’s ancestral home, with the Weasleys, Hermione, and Sirius. Mr. Weasley was badly injured but survived the attack on him, by Nagini, Voldemort’s pet snake. Mr. Weasley thanks Harry for saving his life. Later, after being insulted by Sirius’ House-elf Kreacher, Harry speaks with Sirius Black, about his family tree tapestry. Sirius shows the place where his face should’ve been on this tapestry has been blacked out after he ran away from home. He also points out Bellatrix Lestrange, his deranged cousin. Harry then asks if his mind is connected to Voldemort because he is becoming evil like him. Sirius tells him that Harry is a good person and that it is the choices we make that determine who we are.
On their return to school, Harry and his friends learn Hagrid is back. They see that he has a black eye, and that Umbridge is threatening to fire him, for not detailing where he was. Once she has left, Hagrid tells the three that he was attempting to recruit the giants to be on their side, something that Dumbledore asked him to do, but that Voldemort was doing the same. Hagrid tells them a storm is coming, and they’d best be ready when she does…
The next day, the Daily Prophet newspaper details a mass breakout at Azkaban prison, where some of the most notorious Death Eaters have been released, so they can be reunited with Voldemort. One of these was Bellatrix Lestrange, so naturally, Fudge blames this on Sirius Black once again, since they are cousins and Black escaped Azkaban himself. Some of the other students have now started to believe that Voldemort has really returned, including Seamus, who apologises to Harry and joins Dumbledore’s Army.
Harry resumes his training classes, where he learns from Neville that his parents were tortured by Bellatrix Lestrange. Harry then teaches everyone how to perform the Patronus Charm. Suddenly, the room starts shaking and a hole opens up. Through that hole, Harry sees Umbridge stood there and she blasts open the wall. It is revealed that Cho was the one to tell Umbridge about the lessons. Some of the students are taken to Dumbledore’s office, including Harry, where Umbridge and Fudge say that this is evidence of Dumbledore planning a coup against the Ministry. Dumbledore doesn’t deny it, and despite Harry’s attempts to say he started it all without Dumbledore’s permission, Dumbledore lets them blame him, however, he refuses to go with them and vanishes in a flash of phoenix fire. The students are later given detention, writing lines with that infamous quill. Cho waits outside, hoping to explain what happened to Harry, but he won’t hear it and ignores her.
That night, Hagrid takes Harry, Ron, and Hermione into the forest as he fears he will be getting fired soon, and wants someone to look after his giant half-brother Grawp. The three are quite scared of Grawp who towers over them, especially when Grawp grabs Hermione and lifts her into the air. Ron tries to save her, but it is Hermione’s assertive tone that gets him to put her down. Hermione learns that Grawp is just like a child really, wanting to play. Hagrid says he just needs company. They agree to help.
Meanwhile, Harry is continuing to have lessons with Snape about protecting his mind from Voldemort, but he is quickly becoming tired and frustrated that it isn’t working. In a moment of anger, Harry uses the same spell on Snape to look into his mind instead, and sees that Snape was bullied by Harry’s father and his friends whilst at school. Snape, humiliated, tells Harry that these lessons are officially over and to get out of his classroom.
Soon, it is time for Harry and his friends to take their O.W.L. exams, but their exam is interrupted by a massive prank courtesy of Fred and George Weasley who have become annoyed at Umbridge’s treatment of people and disillusioned with school. They set off hundreds of fireworks, even a huge dragon one that chases Umbridge, that causes devastation to the entire room, and leads to all of Umbridge’s glass-cased rules being destroyed. As the students all celebrate the prank, Harry collapses, having had a vision of Sirius being tortured in that room with all the orbs by Voldemort. Voldemort says he wants the prophecy. Harry heads to Umbridge’s office, wanting to use the Floo network in there to get to the Ministry to save Sirius, however, he, Ron, and Hermione are caught. Umbridge questions Harry, ordering Snape to give her more Veritaserum, a truth potion. Snape reveals she used the last of his supplies on Cho Chang, showing that Cho did not reveal details about Dumbledore’s Army willingly. As Snape walks away, Harry uses code to tell Snape what he saw about Sirius and Voldemort. He claims not to know what it means.
Umbridge then decides she’ll have to resort to using the Cruciatus Curse to get Harry talking. Not wanting to see that, Hermione makes up a story about Dumbledore’s secret weapon. Her, Harry, and Umbridge go into the forest so Umbridge can see it. Except, there is no secret weapon – and they see that Grawp has disappeared. Umbridge is about to curse Harry and Hermione for tricking her, when the centaurs arrive. Umbridge attacks one of them, with Hermione pleading for her to stop. She refuses, until she is picked up by Grawp. Grawp is then attacked by the centaurs, leading to him putting Umbridge down. She is carried off by the centaurs. Hermione thanks Grawp for his help.
The two return to school where they see that the others have escaped from Umbridge’s office after using some of Fred and George’s magical sweets on the Inquisitorial Squad. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville, and Luna fly to the Ministry on Thestrals. On their arrival, they head to the Hall of Prophecy in the Department of Ministries and start searching the shelves. They eventually find an orb with Harry’s name on it. The prophecy states that neither can live while the other survives, referring to Harry and Voldemort. They are then surrounded by Death Eaters, led by Lucius Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange, who order Harry to hand over the prophecy. He refuses, so a fight begins. Ginny casts a spell that causes all the shelves in the room to tumble and break apart. The group run out of there, ended up in a dark room with only a rock and an archway in it. Luna and Harry hear voices coming from the arch – called the Veil – but no-one else does. They are then attacked again, with all but Harry being captured by a Death Eater. Lucius approaches Harry and demands the prophecy again, or else his friends will die. Harry hands it over.
However, Sirius and the Order then arrive to help the group. Lucius drops the prophecy and it smashes on the floor. A great battle ensues, with Sirius telling Harry to leave the Ministry with everyone else. Harry refuses and fights alongside Sirius. Just as everything looks to be going their way and Lucius is defeated, Bellatrix uses the Killing Curse on Sirius and he dies, falling through the Veil. Lupin attempts to hold Harry back, but he breaks free and chases after Bellatrix, ending up in the atrium of the Ministry of Magic. He comes face-to-face with Bellatrix, and then hears Voldemort’s voice, telling him to kill Bellatrix as revenge for murdering Sirius. He turns around and Voldemort disarms Harry.
Dumbledore then appears, and this starts an epic duel between him and Voldemort. Harry is kept on the sidelines, as the Ministry breaks apart around him, with tiles coming off the walls, fireballs being cast, Dumbledore putting Voldemort in an orb of water, and windows shattering. Dumbledore manages to protect them both from Voldemort’s final spell of aiming the shards of glass from the windows at them, by conjuring a shield that turns them to dust. Voldemort then begins to attack Harry’s mind, possessing him, and tormenting him with bad memories from his past. Voldemort tells Harry he is weak, as Dumbledore tries to remind Harry that he and Voldemort are more different than they are alike. The rest of his friends arrive to see Harry and Dumbledore on the floor. Harry then uses good memories with his friends to counteract Voldemort’s tricks, telling Voldemort he is weak because he’ll never know love or friendship. Voldemort tries one last time, but sees he cannot get through to Harry. He reappears next to Harry, telling Harry he is a fool and will lose everything. At that moment, members of the Ministry, including Fudge, arrive and see Voldemort stood there before he disappears. Fudge has to admit Voldemort is back, and is forced to resign.
Back at school, Harry packs to return home at the end of the year, and speaks to Dumbledore. He says that he was distancing himself from Harry to protect him, but obviously that didn’t work out so well. Harry discusses the prophecy with Dumbledore, now knowing one of Harry and Voldemort will have to kill the other. Dumbledore knew but didn’t want to tell Harry, so as not to cause him more pain and worry. Harry then sees Luna, who is looking for her belongings, after learning that other students have been hiding them. Luna says she doesn’t need help looking, and sympathises with Harry about Sirius’ death.
Harry and the others walk to the train to head home. He says that even though they have a fight to come, at least they have something worth fighting for.
CHARACTERS & CAST
As with all the Harry Potter films, much of the main cast continue to be involved in all the stories, with characters being added in every time a new story rolls around. Since a new Wizarding War is bubbling away in the background, this gives an opportunity for new villains and new heroes to emerge, to fight for the bad side or the good side.
One of the new villains to be added to the mix is Bellatrix Lestrange, cousin of Sirius Black and a loyal follower of Voldemort. Bellatrix is a classic villain, in that she is menacing, sadistic, and eccentric, all the while enjoying how much pain and suffering she can inflict on people. Bellatrix is one of many Death Eaters to be broken out of Azkaban prison, where she has resided since Voldemort’s fall all those years ago. Her time in prison has no doubt made her even more deranged now than she was when she was first imprisoned there! She immediately throws herself into the action by involving herself in the confrontation at the Ministry. She wastes no time in taunting Harry and his friends, even revelling in reminding Neville of her torturing of his parents and ends up killing Sirius in cold blood, right in front of Harry. Harry almost seems to want to kill Bellatrix for doing that, but she is “saved” by the arrival of Voldemort at the Ministry and disappears. But Bellatrix is a devoted follower – not to mention a fan-favourite Harry Potter villain – so she will most definitely be back.
Bellatrix Lestrange was played by Helena Bonham Carter. Prior to working on Harry Potter, Helena Bonham Carter had been cast as Helen Schlegel in Howard’s End (1992), alongside Sir Anthony Hopkins and Dame Emma Thompson; played Marla Singer in Fight Club (1999) with Brad Pitt; and played Mrs. Bucket in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), where Johnny Depp played Willy Wonka. She also voiced characters for animated films around this time, with her roles as Lady Tottington in Aardman’s Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005) and Emily in Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride (2005). After Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, she starred in a variety of films, including the musicals Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007), as Nellie Lovett, and Les Misérables (2012) as Madame Thénadier; the Disney live-actions films Alice in Wonderland (2010) and its 2016 sequel, playing the Red Queen, and Cinderella (2015) being cast as the Fairy Godmother; and the remake of Great Expectations (2012), where she played Miss Havisham. Her more recent roles include playing Rose Weil alongside an all-star cast in Ocean’s 8 (2018); her role as Eudoria Holmes in the Enola Holmes film series on Netflix; and Lady Caterham in the miniseries Agatha Christie’s Seven Dials (2026), also for Netflix. Bonham Carter also received critical acclaim for her portrayals as Queen Elizabeth in The King’s Speech (2010) opposite Colin Firth, and Princess Margaret in Seasons 3 and 4 of The Crown (2016-23), receiving numerous award nominations for them. For The King’s Speech, Bonham Carter was nominated at the Academy Awards and Golden Globes for Best Supporting Actress, winning the award in the same category at the SAG Awards and the BAFTAs. For The Crown, Bonham Carter was nominated at the Golden Globes, SAG Awards, BAFTAs and the Emmys for her performance.
Actress Helen McCrory was initially cast as Bellatrix Lestrange, however, dropped had to drop out of the film due to pregnancy. Helena Bonham Carter was then approached to play the character. McCrory would later be cast as Narcissa Malfoy in the following movie, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, so it worked out for everyone in the end[1]. I personally can’t imagine anyone but Helena Bonham Carter playing Bellatrix, because she just fit the role so well and was so energetic in her performance.
Unlike Bellatrix, Dolores Umbridge is not a classic villain. She begins the film as Senior Undersecretary to the Minister for Magic, backing the Ministry and Minister’s position that Voldemort has not returned, despite claims from Harry Potter and Dumbledore. She is then employed as the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, likely an enforced hiring by the Ministry, in order to ensure the students are not being trained to use spells, something that the Minister is concerned about. Umbridge later becomes the High Inquisitor for Hogwarts, wielding powers to sack teachers and implement an ever-growing number of rules for the students to follow. She is suspicious of Harry Potter and is friends, using cruel punishments and intense interrogations to find out just what they are doing and whether they are a threat to the Ministry of Magic and its stance. With her love of all things pink and a disarming charm, Umbridge comes across as a friendly teacher, but she is anything but that, as her appearance hides her controlling, abusive nature. She gets her comeuppance in the end, as the centaurs take her away into the Forbidden Forest, although that is not to be the last we see of her. Umbridge is regarded as one of the most hated villains in Harry Potter.
Imelda Staunton was given the unenviable task of portraying this horrendous character. Before entering the world of Harry Potter, Staunton had been cast as Charlotte Palmer in Emma Thompson’s adaptation of Sense and Sensibility (1995), and as Nurse in Shakespeare in Love (1998). She later appeared as Mrs. Blatherwick in Nanny McPhee (2005). In voice acting, Staunton has lent her voice to various characters, for example, Bunty in Chicken Run (2000) and its 2023 sequel; Queen Victoria in The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists (2012); and Aunt Lucy in the Paddington films. She has also had roles in other film series, including as Knotgrass in Maleficent (2014) and its 2019 sequel, and as Lady Maud Bagshaw in the 2019 Downton Abbey movie and its 2022 sequel. More recently, Staunton portrayed Queen Elizabeth II in Seasons 5 and 6 of Netflix’s The Crown. She received various award nominations for this role, including at the BAFTAs, Emmys, and the Golden Globes. She was also nominated for Best Actress at the Academy Awards for playing the title role in Vera Drake (2004) and was nominated at the Emmys and the BAFTAs for her role as Alma Reville in the BBC and HBO television film The Girl (2012), alongside Toby Jones and Sienna Miller. On stage, she has won numerous Olivier Awards, including for her performances as Mrs. Lovett in the 2012 West End revival of Sweeney Todd, as Rose in the 2015 West End revival of Gypsy, and as Dolly in the 2024 West End revival of Hello, Dolly!
Then we have a Hogwarts student first introduced to us in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. This is Ravenclaw student Luna Lovegood, who Hermione seems to know, as she introduces her as “Loony” Lovegood accidentally to Ron, Harry, and Neville. It’s unfair to call Luna “loony” as she is not crazy, just a bit quirky and has her own beliefs that perhaps are not shared by the majority of witches and wizards. She is comfortable in her own skin, but has to deal with the fact that many people think she is odd and don’t want to be her friend. It turns out she was actually being bullied by other students, who took her shoes and hid them throughout the school. She tells Harry about this at the end of the film, but doesn’t seem overly fazed by it, just wanting her stuff back before she goes home. Luna bonds with Harry during the events of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, as Harry comes to terms with Cedric’s death because Luna knows how he feels, having seen her mother die. She is a talented witch and a committed member of Dumbledore’s Army, participating in the training sessions and helping at the Ministry of Magic. Luna Lovegood is someone to be admired, for being happy with how she is, and not wanting to change for anyone.
Evanna Lynch was cast as Luna Lovegood, and her route to being cast was not simple. Initially just a super fan of the book series, Lynch had written to J.K. Rowling to thank her for writing these books that had helped her so much and stated she had an affinity with the character of Luna. They became pen pals of sorts, but at the same time, Lynch was going through a difficult time with an eating disorder. After a long journey to recovery, Lynch told Rowling that she had since come to love acting, with Rowling encouraging her to write to the Harry Potter casting director. Lynch received a brief but polite response. She started to let her dream role go, even more so after hearing producer David Heyman say at the premiere of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire that they had whittled it down to about five girls for the part, with filming due to start just a few months later in February 2006. However, by the start of January 2006, Lynch saw an open casting call had been announced for the role of Luna, with no experience needed. Lynch convinced her father to travel from Ireland to London for it, and did well enough in this first round to be called to do a screen test with Daniel Radcliffe on a separate day. As she was leaving Leavesden studio though, she received a gift of the book of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix with a short inscription from director David Yates, which she believed basically was a rejection, however, a few days later, she got the call to say she was being cast as Luna, and everything changed after that[2]. Evanna Lynch had beaten out thousands of girls – even, it would appear, Saoirse Ronan[3] – to be cast as Luna Lovegood. Who said dreams don’t come true?
Since appearing in the Harry Potter films, Lynch has been cast as McKenzie Pryce in teen comedy film G.B.F. (2013) and starred as Emily Egan in the Irish independent film My Name Is Emily (2015). She was also cast as Bridget Riordan in the BBC television film Danny and the Human Zoo (2015), written by Sir Lenny Henry. Later, Lynch appeared as a contestant on Season 27 of Dancing with the Stars (2005-present) in 2018, finishing in third place. More recently on screen, Lynch appeared with many other cast members on the HBO television special Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts (2022) and made an appearance on the Amazon Prime competition series Harry Potter: Wizards of Baking (2024-present), hosted by James and Oliver Phelps, the twins who played Fred and George Weasley. She also currently voices Ameline in the Disney animated series Dragon Striker (2026-present). Outside of acting, Lynch is an activist, championing causes like animal rights and numerous charities, and co-hosted the podcast Just Beings.
Then there are Seamus Finnigan and Neville Longbottom, friends of Harry’s and fellow Gryffindor students. Both had appeared in all the Harry Potter films that came before it, but in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, they have slightly bigger storylines.
Seamus Finnigan was initially seen to be a less capable student, miscasting spells in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone for example. He has always been around Harry and Ron in the films, as part of their wider friendship group, but didn’t have much to do with the story. In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, however, Seamus has more of a role here, as he voices his annoyance at Harry and Dumbledore for spreading lies about Voldemort’s return. He and his family don’t believe it, having chosen to believe the narrative that the Ministry of Magic has been peddling as part of their smear campaign against Harry and Dumbledore. Seamus later comes to his senses and apologises for making such a big mistake and for calling Harry a liar when that was not the case. Seamus proves himself by joining the right side in the end, later joining Dumbledore’s Army and Harry’s lessons.
Devon Murray was cast as Seamus Finnigan, appearing in all the Harry Potter films. He was not part of the Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts special but has made appearances on Harry Potter: Wizards of Baking.
Neville Longbottom was seen to be a weak, pathetic member of Gryffindor, showing his fear at various magical creatures in the earlier stories. He later shows an aptitude for Herbology and is able to show his intelligence that way. However, in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Neville comes into his own by joining Dumbledore’s Army and arguably being the most improved student there, by mastering a variety of spells with Harry as his teacher. Neville wants nothing more than to make his parents proud, as they were both members of the original Order of the Phoenix, but were tortured so badly by Bellatrix Lestrange that they have remained in hospital ever since and Neville has never had a relationship with them, being raised by his grandmother instead. He is a committed member of Dumbledore’s Army and is with Harry and the others during the confrontation at the Ministry, even standing up to Bellatrix and vowing to avenge his parents for what she did to them. There was also a scene that was cut from the final edit of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix which sees Neville sticking up for Harry after Seamus argues with him about Voldemort’s return and whether it is all lies or not. Neville says what the Daily Prophet has been writing is wrong and that his grandmother cancelled their subscription[4]. This shows how Neville has his own mind and isn’t afraid to stand up for his beliefs.
Neville Longbottom was played by Matthew Lewis throughout the film series. After Harry Potter ended, Lewis went on to be cast as Jamie Bradley in Season 1 of the BBC series The Syndicate (2012-21), alongside other names like Joanna Page and Timothy Spall, and later appeared as Patrick in the romantic drama Me Before You (2016). He also played Sean Balmforth in Series 2 of the crime drama series Happy Valley (2014-23). More recently, he appeared in the recurring role of Hugh Hulton in Series 1 and 2 of the Channel 5 drama All Creatures Great and Small (2020-present) and starred as Jimmy Brent in the Channel 5 miniseries The Fortune (2026) opposite Eleanor Tomlinson.
Moving on with have members of the Order of the Phoenix. This saw a return of many characters we had already met before, including Lupin and Mad-Eye Moody, former Defence Against the Dark Arts teachers, and Sirius Black, Harry’s godfather. But there were also some new members of the organisation introduced here too, who would go on to play larger roles in the later Harry Potter stories.
One of these is Nymphadora Tonks, but she’d rather you just called her Tonks! She is one of the younger members of the Order, although is still a talented witch. She doesn’t take herself too seriously though, for example, she starts changing her face into different animals, like a duck’s bill and a pig’s snout, just to make Ginny laugh. She also has a bit of a temper, as can be seen when her hair changes colour after Mad-Eye calls her Nymphadora. Tonks is part of the rescue team who takes Harry over to the Order’s Headquarters. Tonks is no doubt someone the younger Hogwarts students look up to and aspire to be like.
Natalia Tena was cast as Tonks. Before being cast in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Tena had appeared as Peggy in Mrs Henderson Presents (2005) which starred Judi Dench and Bob Hoskins. She later appeared as Rachel in the drama Bel Ami (2012), and played the recurring role of Osha in the earlier seasons of Game of Thrones (2011-19). More recently, Tena was cast as Katia Javanavič in John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023) and starred as Martín in the Spanish thriller film El mal (2025). She also portrayed Rebekah Vardy in the Channel 4 two-part series Vardy v Rooney: A Courtroom Drama (2022).
Kingsley Shacklebolt is another one who comes to rescue Harry on that night, however, Kingsley is actually a double agent, as he works at the Ministry of Magic. He works as a spy for the Order of the Phoenix, and this explains why Kingsley is present when Umbridge and Fudge order the arrest of Dumbledore after discovering Harry and the other members of Dumbledore’s Army, believing Dumbledore is planning an uprising against Fudge and the Ministry of Magic. Kingsley’s presence in the Harry Potter films is fairly minimal and it would seem that more information about the character is provided in the book series, so I wasn’t actually aware of this backstory from the film, but I was always confused about why Kingsley was in the room when Dumbledore was being threatened with arrest since I’d only seen him as a background character within the Order of the Phoenix…Kingsley is still cool though and has that great line here: “You can’t deny, Dumbledore’s got style.” after Dumbledore disappears thanks to Fawkes the phoenix.
Kingsley Shacklebolt was played by George Harris. Harris had previously appeared as Prince Thun in Flash Gordon (1980) and as Simon Katanga in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). He later portrayed Osman Atto in the war film Black Hawk Down (2001) and played Morty in the crime thriller Layer Cake (2004), which starred Daniel Craig. He was also cast as Errol Hill in the series 55 Degrees North (2004-05) prior to his role in Harry Potter. On stage, he played M. Frankenstein in the 2011 production of Frankenstein, with Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller. Harris retired from acting in 2013.
One other more minor character to mention is Mrs. Figg, the quiet, unassuming neighbour who stumbles upon Harry and Dudley after they are attacked by Dementors. She walks the two of them back home, where she reveals that she was asked by Dumbledore to keep an eye on Harry over the summer. It’s a good thing she was too, because he really did need Mrs. Figg’s witness testimony to have his Hogwarts expulsion reversed, as it proved the Dementors were in Surrey that night. Initially, Harry believes Mrs. Figg is an ordinary Muggle, but she proves not to be. In the book, further details are revealed stating that Mrs. Figg is a Squib, a person with magical parents but no magical ability, like Filch, the caretaker at Hogwarts, however, this is not stated in the film.
Mrs. Figg was played by Kathryn Hunter. In recent years, Hunter was cast as Madame Swiney in Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things (2023) and as Teresa Cicero in Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis (2024). In television, Hunter may be recognisable for her recurring role as Eedy Karn in the Disney+ series Andor (2022-25), and her role as Lenny Lines in the Netflix spy thriller series Black Doves (2024-present). In 2026, Hunter played Glenda Cartwright in the Netflix comedy film Ladies First (2026), featuring Sacha Baron Cohen and Rosamund Pike, and is set to voice a character in the upcoming Skydance Animation film Ray Gunn. She also played Eileen in the BBC sitcom Ann Droid (2026-present), alongside Diane Morgan and Sue Johnston.
MUSIC
A new composer was sought out to work on the instrumental score for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix after Patrick Doyle had composed for the previous film.
This time, Nicholas Hooper was hired for the position, having previously worked with director David Yates on some projects, including The Tichborne Claimant (1998) and The Girl in the Café (2005). Hooper has also worked on the music for television, such as the television film My Family and Other Animals (2005), which starred Imelda Staunton; the BBC two-part drama Birdsong (2012); and the BBC miniseries The Escape Artist (2013). He also wrote the music for Disney’s nature documentary film Chimpanzee (2012). Hooper returned to compose the score for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
Each Harry Potter film uses the iconic piece of music “Hedwig’s Theme”, composed by John Williams for the first film, in some way, usually in the opening track. In this case, that music is titled “Another Story”, although the theme is incorporated into other tracks too. It’s not the best introductory track in the Harry Potter series for me, but there are plenty of other instrumentals in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix’s soundtrack that I do like.
One of those is “Flight of the Order of the Phoenix”, which is used for the sequence of Harry flying to London with the other members of the Order. It feels like a piece of music fitting for a rescue, which is basically what Harry needs, to be rescued from Privet Drive and have this whole expulsion from Hogwarts mess sorted out. I also like the mystical nature of the track “The Ministry of Magic”, evoking the feelings of wonder that Harry is feeling at seeing this place he’s never visited before, even if the circumstances for his visit aren’t great.
Despite not liking her character, I do like the track “Professor Umbridge”, accompanying the montage of scenes of Umbridge interviewing, monitoring and generally harassing the Hogwarts teachers, trying to find things wrong with how Hogwarts is run. The upbeat tone of the music is completely at odds with what is going on, but that matches Umbridge as a character, who looks unthreatening but is actually devious.
The best track in this soundtrack though is “Fireworks”, used for the sequence of Fred and George pranking Umbridge with their fireworks display, interrupting the O.W.L. exam that Harry and his friends are taking. It is such a good piece of music, one of the most memorable from this specific Harry Potter film, but maybe even from the whole film series.
Outside of the score, you may also hear the song “Boys Will Be Boys”, performed by The Ordinary Boys, playing in the Gryffindor Common Room, during the scene of Seamus having a go at Harry, calling him a liar for saying Voldemort has returned. It’s quite a random music track to hear in a Harry Potter film, but I guess it shows that these are just teenagers relaxing in their downtime away from lessons. Another piece of contemporary music heard in this film is “Coming for You”, performed by indie rock band Reactor. It plays as Fred and George unveil their Skiving Snackbox products to their fellow students to purchase.
The soundtrack for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix apparently debuted at No. 43 on the US Billboard 200 chart after its release date of 10th July 2007, and was nominated for a few awards, but sadly, did not win. It was nominated at the Saturn Awards for Best Music, for example, however, it lost out to Alan Menken’s music in Disney’s live-action film Enchanted (2007). The soundtrack was also nominated at the Empire Awards, but lost to the music from biopic Control (2007). Nicholas Hooper was also nominated at the World Soundtrack Awards, in the Discovery of the Year category, but did not win.
PRODUCTION
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was the fifth Harry Potter film to go in production, so by this point, the cast and the crew were likely pretty comfortable making each film.
However, having a regular director to direct all of the Harry Potter films was difficult. Christopher Columbus had stopped after the first two, citing exhaustion, and Alfonso Cuarón and Mike Newell then each had the opportunity to direct the third and the fourth outings respectively. But Newell was not returning for the fifth, so a new director was required.
David Yates was hired to direct Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, apparently wanting to grow the series, and age it up, in a way, by making the series darker and more mature. The second half of the Harry Potter series is quite a way away from the enchanting, magic of the first two, for example. Luckily, by this fifth film, the series had found a regular director, with Yates completing the remainder of the series.
Earlier in his career, Yates had directed a few episodes of long-running police drama The Bill (1983-2010) in 1994 and 1995, before going on to direct the feature film The Tichborne Claimant, starring Roger Pugh and Stephen Fry. Yates later directed the miniseries The Way We Live Now (2001) and State of Play (2003), both for BBC One, as well as the television film The Girl in the Café, written by Richard Curtis, and starring Bill Nighy and Kelly Macdonald. After finishing up on the Harry Potter films, Yates went on to direct all three of its prequel films in the Fantastic Beasts series; The Legend of Tarzan (2016); and the Netflix film Pain Hustlers (2023), featuring Emily Blunt and Chris Evans.
Yates’ first task on Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix though had little to do with actually making the film itself; he was tasked with trying to figure out how to keep Emma Watson involved in the films, as she expressed a desire to exit the franchise after making the first four films. Watson felt lonely and was struggling with the pressures of fame[5]. This was not something only she was not coping well with, as Rupert Grint also said that he had considered how this role was affecting his life, but that they were all too young to talk about it together, and it was just one of those things they had to come to terms with on their own. Watson later came to the decision to stay in her role as Hermione Granger, as she felt supported and able to continue[6]. How strange would that have been if they’d had to recast Hermione halfway through the series. It just goes to show how much of their childhood these actors sacrificed just to give us these movies.
The next challenge was not something that was unique to Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, but existed on all the films, and that was figuring out how to adapt Rowling’s – in this case, lengthy – novel to fit the desired runtime for a feature film. Like Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix required omissions in order to keep the story steady and pacy, cutting out unnecessary side plots and characters.
Some of these included Quidditch being completely omitted from this film, despite the book detailing Ron becoming the Keeper for Gryffindor’s team, as well as Ginny joining the team, and Gryffindor winning the Quidditch Cup, without Harry because he had been banned from playing by Umbridge. Instead, we see Ron joining the Quidditch team in the sixth film, with Ginny already a member. The character Mundungus Fletcher was also meant to be first introduced here, as a member of the Order of the Phoenix and the one meant to be watching Harry in Surrey over the summer, although he left the area to deal stolen goods, allowing for the Dementor attack. This character is not introduced in the film series until the seventh film.
Another omitted character was Cho Chang’s friend Marietta Edgecombe, who was the one to betray Dumbledore’s Army in the book, leaking information to Umbridge about the secret society in order to keep her mother’s job at the Ministry of Magic safe. In the film, this traitor role was handed to Cho Chang, perhaps unfairly, creating tension between her and Harry and the others, and leaving her an outcast with the group. Dobby the former House-elf was also once again cut from a story that he was meant to be a part of, after being left out of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Here, Dobby was supposed to be the one to find the Room of Requirement and tell Harry about it, having discovered it after needing it to hide his drunken friend Winky, with Winky being a character completely removed from the film series.
Speaking of House-elves, Sirius Black’s elf Kreacher was only used in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix to mutter insults at people and generally be moody and grumpy. In the novel, Kreacher actually had a much more important role. When Harry sees the vision of Sirius being tortured by Voldemort, to try and work out if it was a trick, Harry goes to Grimmauld Place to check if Sirius is there, and not at the Ministry as his vision suggests. Despite Sirius being at home, Kreacher lies and tells Harry he isn’t there, leading Harry to believe the torture vision was real.
A whole location was also removed for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, this being St. Mungo’s hospital. This was where Mr. Weasley was sent after being attacked by Nagini the snake at the Ministry, and was also home to Gilderoy Lockhart, still struggling with his messed-up memory, as well as Neville Longbottom’s parents who had been hospitalised there ever since they were tortured by Bellatrix Lestrange when Voldemort first rose to power. Harry and the Weasleys visit Mr. Weasley, and in so doing see Lockhart and Neville and his grandmother there, leading to these revelations. To be honest, I think this scene would’ve been very useful to have kept in the films, because it adds so much to Neville’s backstory. Just from watching the films, I’d believed his parents had died when he was too young to remember, a bit like Harry, which is sad, but not as heart-breaking as finding out that they’ve been kept in hospital ever since, with Neville aware of their condition.
The novel also had more information about the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry. Instead of just having the Hall of Prophecy and the room with the Veil, as we see in the film, there were also other rooms detailed in the novel, including a room filled with brains, and another full of Time Turners. In regards to the prophecy, Dumbledore sheds further light on the details of it, more than what we hear from the orb. Dumbledore says he first heard the prophecy from Professor Trelawny, showing she does have some powers after all, and that it could actually have referred to Neville Longbottom, but Harry was the one attacked by Voldemort as a baby, so it now specifically relates to Harry.
Other minor omissions include Madame Maxime, the Headmistress of Beauxbatons, who we met in the previous story, being sent with Hagrid on his mission to recruit the giants for Dumbledore, and centaur Firenze being hired to teach Divination after Professor Trelawny was dismissed by Umbridge. Firenze only appears in the first Harry Potter film[7].
The screenwriter challenged to adapt the Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix book for the big screen was Michael Goldenberg, not Steve Kloves, who had written the screenplays for the previous four films, and would return to write the remaining films. Kloves apparently wanted to take a break from the series to pursue other projects.
Prior to working on Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Goldenberg had written and directed the romantic drama Bed of Roses (1996), featuring Christian Slater and Mary Stuart Masterson in the lead roles, following that up with co-writing the screenplay with James V. Hart for the film Contact (1997), directed by Robert Zemeckis, and starring Jodie Foster and Matthew McConaughey. Goldenberg also co-wrote the screenplay for the 2003 adaptation Peter Pan with its director P.J. Hogan. This Peter Pan film just so happens to have a link to the Harry Potter franchise, as it featured Jason Isaacs as Captain Hook. Goldenberg went on to co-write the screenplay for the less-than-well-received superhero film Green Lantern (2011), with Ryan Reynolds playing the titular character.
Filming for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix took place in a variety of different new locations, with many new sets created for it too. The London Underground station that Harry and Mr. Weasley go through on their way to the Ministry of Magic was said to be Westminster Underground Station. They also used part of the Blenheim Palace estate, to film the flashback sequence and memory of Snape being bullied by Harry’s father. It was by a 300-year-old Cedar of Lebanon tree that resides on the estate by the Great Lake[8].
One other real-life location, used for the exterior of Grimmauld Place, was Claremont Square in Islington, London. The 12 Grimmauld Place set itself was created for the film, and featured high ceilings, with narrow, enclosed corridors, to make it seem like this house really was squeezed into the middle of a row of terraced houses. The walls were covered with grey silk to make the walls appear aged and the set was filled with antiques, to represent an old ancestral home. The overall set is dark, dusty, and gloomy, but the actors loved working on the set, feeling that it perfectly created the right atmosphere to complement their scenes. The family tree tapestry was also a real printed tapestry.
Another impressive set built for this film was the Ministry of Magic atrium. The crew working on Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix were inspired by old Underground systems when designing the set, creating huge arches and tunnels, as well as recreating the tiling that exist in old Underground stations. They also made offices sitting around the atrium, and filled them with typewriters and memos to look realistic. To increase the size of the Ministry for the film, green screen was used in order to digitally extend the set upwards and outwards. It was a favourite set within the cast. The Ministry set took 22 weeks to build and actually only appears in the film for around ten minutes, but it was still the biggest set they had built for Harry Potter at that time. The tiles on the walls are not ceramic, but are MDF wall times, and there are around 30,000 of them in the set. They even built a water feature that actually worked. For the end sequence, where Voldemort and Dumbledore’s duel causes the area to explode and windows to shatter, cast and crew were ordered to keep their mobile phones switched off so the detonation was not accidentally set off!
Connected to the Ministry of Magic in the story, but not in real-life was the Hall of Prophecy set. It became the first solely computer-generated set in a Harry Potter film, and was particularly complex to create on the computer, as it consists of miles of shelves with lots of glass balls and orbs on them. For the actors, the only physical elements they had to interact with were a doorway and some mats on the floor. Other than that, it was a green screen room with a few dots around to help the actors focus on specific markers.
Another location that was computer-generated was Azkaban prison, which we see for the first time in the movies in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. The book detailed Azkaban prison as existing in the middle of the North Sea. An initial idea for the design of the prison in the films was to have it reside on a piece of rock jutting out from the side of a waterfall, but they found it difficult to justify there being a waterfall in the North Sea. They felt they only had a few shots to explain the location, so settled for a triangular prison on a rock out in the North Sea, with huge waves crashing around it. Azkaban Prison was also said to be inspired by the infamous Alcatraz prison off the coast of San Francisco, California.
Two other sets used quite extensively in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix are Umbridge’s office and the Room of Requirement. To match Dolores Umbridge’s signature colour of pink, her office was designed in various shapes of pink, with lots of upholstery, lace doilies, fine china tea sets, and French-style furniture. There are also moving kittens on plates all about the room, who Umbridge uses as spies. These were created by painting green paint onto plates and recordings of kittens being placed over the top of them. Although the kittens were not overly easy to work with, they got the shots they needed and we get to see plenty of shots of cute cats in this film because of it. Her office is also a complete contrast to her classroom, which only consists of desks and a blackboard in the cavernous hall, making the classroom bleak but practical.
The Room of Requirement when used as the Dumbledore’s Army training facility consists of mirrors on the walls with areas to practise duelling and a few dummies to practise spells. Due to the numerous lights, mirrors, and the lit fireplaces, the Room of Requirement set was apparently ridiculously hot to work in, and even caused some metal work on the windows to start melting! Due to all the mirrors, it also took three months for extra reflections to be removed from the film for its final edit. There are a couple of stunt pieces here as well, as both Harry and Ron are hit by a spell which pushes them backwards towards the wall. This was a similar stunt that had the actors on wires being pulled back into a padded wall. The Room of Requirement was also the location of the anticipated kiss between Harry and Cho. Cast members joked that they were going to make sure they were on set to watch it, but it was actually a closed set with only about ten people around. Katie Leung also said that the crew dimmed the lights, and wasn’t sure if that was to make them feel less intimidated or to make the scene more romantic! Daniel Radcliffe said he and Leung spoke to a bereavement councillor prior to filming the scene, and learnt that it is quite normal for someone to become close to someone else that the person they lost was also close to. That is exactly what happens to Cho. Radcliffe and Leung initially found the kiss scene quite daunting to shoot but they got used to it after they’d been made to do multiple retakes of it.
Something else interesting about sets in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was that the crew chose to build their own Privet Drive set, because it was cheaper and easier than having to pay to use the same street as they’d used on the earlier films. So, Privet Drive in this film was a recreation of that street and not the real street[9].
As had become standard in Harry Potter films, a number of special and practical effects were needed to fully realise the story of these movies. Within new CG characters created for this film, there are the Thestrals, black skeletal horse-like creatures. They were made to be graceful and majestic despite their gruesome demeanour. They were obviously based on horses, but with reference material from birds used to see how the Thestrals would fly. The team chose to include a Baby Thestral in the scene where Harry learns about the creatures from Luna, to make it clear that these are living creatures, and not ghostly things. The wings were also inspired by those of bats, having quite a translucent appearance to them. For the sequence of the Thestrals flying Harry and his friends over London to get to the Ministry, the actors were filmed on motion-controlled rigs in front of green screen, with the animation being transferred onto this recording.
The centaurs and Dementors have also made a return to Harry Potter after their initial appearances in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (2001) and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban respectively. The centaurs were made to look less fantastical than they did in the first film and seem angrier and more aggressive in this film due to their mistreatment, taking Umbridge away with them as punishment for hers and the Ministry’s actions. This shot was filmed with Imelda Staunton being attached to a harness in a green screen shot, with this being overlaid onto the animation.
The Dementors in this film are quite different to their first appearance too, as Yates wanted them to feel less spectral and look more real, by exposing more of that skeletal structure and bone underneath their cloth covering. These Dementors are more physical, like the centaurs, as well, as they are able to push Harry up against the wall of the underpass, by using its arm to do so. This scene was achieved by attaching Radcliffe to a rig and pushing the rig up the wall.
Kreacher and Grawp are two other new characters, who were created with help from some live-action reference footage. Kreacher was made to look like a grumpy old man, with sunken eyes and veiny skin. To get an idea of what the character would look like on screen, they made a maquette of Kreacher, and even walked Kreacher’s tunic around the set to get some reference points. Timothy Bateson was filmed recording his lines in order to get reference for the facial features, which were then placed onto Kreacher. Bateson had been cast as Mr. Fezziwig in the 1984 version of A Christmas Carol and played Mr. Thomson the Caretaker in Series 4 and 5 of the long-running children’s series Grange Hill (1978-2008). Bateson also provided voices for the fantasy film Labyrinth (1986), including The Worm and one of The Four Guards and played the Dentist in The Italian Job (1969). Later, he was cast as Mr. Hallett in Ladies in Lavendar (2004). Bateson passed away in 2009, at the age of 83; Kreacher was his final film role.
Grawp was created via motion capture from actor Tony Maudsley. Maudsley is perhaps most-known for his roles as Kenneth Du Beke in the ITV sitcom Benidorm (2007-18) from Series 4, and as George Shuttleworth in the soap Coronation Street (1960-present) since 2020. Maudsley has also had parts in other sitcoms, such as being cast as Graham Pleck in the sitcom The Job Lot (2013-15) for ITV, and as Martin in the BBC sitcom Eyes Down (2003-04), which starred Paul O’Grady. Grawp is a 16-feet tall giant so not an easy character to create, but by using the spirit of Maudsley’s footage, the team were able to build on that and create a giant, who is basically like a small child, curious about the world, but not knowing what boundaries there are. For the live-action filming portions, parts of Grawp were made out of foam rubber to give the actors’ some markers, and there was even a large blue leg built that Rupert Grint had to hit for his scene of Ron trying to save Hermione from him.
Neville’s cactus pet was a real remote-controlled model, that would be controlled on set. They wanted the cactus to be able to recreate all manners of emotions, like cute or aggressive, and even worked out how to make it shake and shrivel as this magical cactus is supposed to explode stinksap onto people. It would seem this may have been used for test footage, but the shot did not make it into the film or any bonus features. The cactus can be seen being held by Neville in the scene of him getting the carriage to Hogwarts with Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Luna towards the start of the film. I had assumed it was CGI.
Outside of that, there are a few other controlled explosions that took place, outside of the Ministry of Magic duel. One of these was the mirrors breaking off the Room of Requirement and the wall blowing up. The mirror pieces were made of laser cut plexiglass that had a pre-determined break pattern and would break off the wall in the correct sequence. Cork was used for the wall, this being material heavy enough to fly through the air but not hard enough to injure anyone, plus it could easily be made to look like stone. All of Umbridge’s rules also explode at one point, after Fred and George’s fireworks display. The fireworks sequence was created by looking at footage of fireworks exploding, even setting up a display at the Leavesden studio. They created a library of fireworks, but added in some more magical elements so they were not constrained by real-life rules to their speed, flight, and length. They used a lightning sequence in the actual set to reflect the fireworks sequence to help actors know how to react and where to look in the scene. They based the fireworks dragon loosely on a Chinese New Year dragon and added a CG roof extension to the Great Hall, making the magical ceiling disappear. There was even a mechanism to shoot all the papers of the desk, for when Fred and George fly past on their brooms. For the exploding decrees, the glass-fronted rules all had to explode and blow out. It was first tested with a small number of them, and then the real shot could begin. Special rigs were set up to make sure that once the controlled explosions had happened, they would all tumble to the ground at the right time, leaving smoke in the air and confetti of burnt paper raining down.
The wizarding duel between Voldemort and Dumbledore is the final climatic sequence in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and it involves the two most powerful wizards in the Wizarding World – so it had to be good. In this case, their duel involved computer-generating a large fireball that transforms into a serpent; a ball of water; and numerous sparks of light, and blasts of magic. For the moment of Voldemort being trapped in the ball of water, Ralph Fiennes had to be attached to a moving pivot in order to get the necessary footage. This sequence took place in the Ministry of Magic atrium set, and involved things blowing up and exploding from the walls too.
Speaking of duelling, after seeing only a couple of duels, mostly just between two wizards, like Harry and Draco in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and Harry and Voldemort in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, it was decided that with these bigger duels involving more wizards, there needed to be some set wand choreography. So, a choreographer was brought in, Paul Harris. Harris had previously worked as a choreographer on The Tichborne Claimant, which David Yates had directed, and has also worked on period dramas such as The Other Boleyn Girl (2008), Far from the Madding Crowd (2015), and the miniseries Mary & George (2024). Randomly, Harris was also an assistant choreographer on the Disney Channel Original Movie The Cheetah Girls 2 (2006). Harris was tasked for creating consistent moves to suit a variety of spells. He created around five offensive movements and five defensive ones, teaching them to the actors, who could then personalise them to their characters. For example, Lucius has more proper, traditional form, whereas Sirius Black has elements of his rebellious nature in his battling[10].
Filming for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix took place throughout 2006, with production allegedly halted for two months from May so that Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson could take their exams, those being Radcliffe’s AS Levels, and Watson’s GCSEs[11].
A few other interesting filming stories are that Alan Rickman got a brand-new BMW during filming on Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. This is interesting because Rupert Grint and Matthew Lewis had spilt a milkshake in Rickman’s car during filming of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and were warned not to go anywhere near his new car when filming started on the fifth film! Also involving Matthew Lewis, Helena Bonham Carter apparently perforated Lewis’ eardrums by improvising a moment after Bellatrix captures Neville in the Ministry of Magic of sticking her wand into his ear like a cotton swab[12]. Yeah, perhaps that wasn’t a great idea!
The Hogwarts Express train was also vandalised once again, having been a victim of graffiti damage back in 2003. This time the incident happened on 10th March 2007, so after production on Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix had been completed, and consisted of vandals causing an estimated £50,000 of damage to the train, smashing multiple windows with hammers. At the time, it was being stored in Carnforth Lancashire[13].
A final odd moment that I could find related to Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix relates to one of the movie’s official posters. It is unclear exactly when this came to people’s attentions, but it has become well-known that in one of the posters, the one with Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville, and Luna in the Ministry of Magic, Bonnie Wright is meant to be featured as Ginny, however, the person in the poster does not look like her[14]. Two main theories have emerged. One is that it was supposedly one of her stunt doubles, as Wright was not available for the photo shoot that day, and someone forgot to Photoshop her actual face onto the body double. The other is that this poster was seriously edited and that it is Bonnie Wright in the poster, but that they made so many adjustments to her that it no longer looks like her. I don’t know what the real answer is. All I can say is that personally, I don’t think anyone looks right it that poster, it’s just a very dodgy poster!
RECEPTION
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was released on 11th July 2007 in a large number countries, following star-studded premieres in numerous capital cities, such as one in London on 3rd July, one in Paris on 4th July, and another in Los Angeles on 8th July.
This was the first summer release in the Harry Potter film series since the release of the third film, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, in 2004. The other three had been released in November, ahead of the festive season. The summer release date seems to have been good for the film, especially as a release date in July coincides with many countries’ school holidays.
The proof of this good timing was that Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix took $44.2 million on its opening day from over 4,000 locations in North America, beating the previous biggest Wednesday opener, with that being Spider-Man 2 (2004) with $40.4 million. Internationally, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix took $29.2 million from 29 countries, being the biggest opening for any Harry Potter film in over twenty countries, including France, Italy, Spain, Australia, and Brazil[15].
After its first weekend, Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix had made a five-day total figure of $140 million at the North American box office. Internationally, it took in $190.3 million, making for a worldwide total of $330.3 million in its first five days of release. This was only second to Spider-Man (2002) on the list of all-time best five-day openers that launched on a Wednesday at the time. Spider-Man benefited from being released over Fourth of July weekend, whereas Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix had not. The financial figures were also boosted with an IMAX release, taking $9.4 million from IMAX theatres in its first five days. The IMAX release was said to have screened the last twenty minutes in 3D[16].
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix ended its run with a worldwide total of just under $942 million, however, it did not top the worldwide box office and had to settle for second place. Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, the third in the series, topped the box office, with a total of just under $961 million. This was followed by Spider-Man 3 with $885 million; then DreamWorks’ Shrek the Third with $808 million; and at No. 5 Transformers with around $710 million. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix also beat out some other big movies of 2007, by quite some margin, including Pixar’s Ratatouille ($623 million), I Am Legend ($585 million), and The Simpsons Movie ($536 million). Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was the most financially successful Harry Potter film at the box office since Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone came out in 2001.
In terms of reviews, a Harry Potter film has never been panned, as they have all had generally positive comments about them, although they are not to everyone’s taste and most fans will have differing opinions on which films are better, and which are worse.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix did not get the most glowing reviews, with some saying it is not as enjoyable as other Harry Potter stories due to the need to give the audience a lot of backstory in quite a short space of time. This is my biggest issue with Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Although the ending sequence in the Ministry is a highlight, and there are lots of villains in this film, something I very much like to see, the rest of the film doesn’t have much action or excitement. They’re just at school, whilst everything exciting with Voldemort is happening on the outside. But it’s similar with lots of television series. Although you may love a particular series, we all know a few episodes are added in as filler, with less exciting moments and tension. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix feels very much like that, with all the good stuff happening at the end to lead to something better happening in the next outing.
However, on the other hand, some enjoyed the movie delving into plenty of darkness, which helped keep many adults interested. Others also liked how fast-paced the film was. Despite being adapted from a very long book, at over 800 pages, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix became one of the shortest Harry Potter films. Some fans of the books even said these omissions helped the story, whereas others did not appreciate them. There was also praise for some of the new actors coming into the franchise, such as Imelda Staunton as Dolores Umbridge and Helena Bonham Carter as Bellatrix Lestrange. It’s quite funny actually; I love Bellatrix, she’s a fantastic villain, but despite liking most villains, I can’t stand Umbridge. I’ve always said if I really dislike a villain, then that actor must’ve done an amazing job – so well done, Imelda Staunton! There were also some action shots that audiences enjoyed, like the scene of Harry and the Order flying through London, and it was felt that the darkness of the material was mixed in well with moments of humour.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was nominated at the BAFTAs, for Production Design, and Best Special Visual Effects, but it did not win. Production Design went to Atonement and Visual Effects to The Golden Compass. At the Saturn Awards, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix received numerous nominations, but no wins. These were in the categories of Best Fantasy Film, Best Director for David Yates, Best Supporting Actress for Imelda Staunton, Best Performance by a Younger Actor for Daniel Radcliffe, Best Writing for Michael Goldenberg, Best Costume, Best Make-Up, and Best Special Effects.
They had more luck at some more viewer-focused awards, such as winning the Choice Summer Movie: Action at the Teen Choice Awards, and the award for Favorite Movie Drama at the People’s Choice Awards. The film also won Family Film at the inaugural ITV National Movie Awards, also winning Performance (Male) for Daniel Radcliffe, and Performance (Female) for Emma Watson. There were also further wins at the Empire Awards, for David Yates for Best Actor, along with nominations for Best Film, Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy, and Best Actor and Best Actress for Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson respectively. It also won the Scream Award for Most Vile Villain for Ralph Villains as Voldemort, and the award for Best Sequel there, alongside nominations for Best Fantasy Movie, Effects, and Fantasy Hero for Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix also received a Critics’ Choice nomination for Best Family Film, but lost out to Disney’s Enchanted, as well as two nominations at the MTV Movie Awards, one in 2007 for Best Summer Movie You Haven’t Seen Yet, which was won by Transformers, and one in 2008 for Best Kiss for Daniel Radcliffe and Katie Leung; it was won by Robert Hoffman and Briana Evigan in Step Up 2: The Streets (2008).
Finally, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was recognised for its brilliant special effects at the Visual Effects Society. Here, they won for Outstanding Special Effects in a Feature Motion Picture, but lost to Transformers for Outstanding Models and Miniatures, and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End for Outstanding Created Environment.
LEGACY
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was, of course, just the fifth film in a series set to adapt seven novels, so it was not yet the end for the franchise, with the sixth film Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince set to be released two years later.
Outside of that, during production on Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix in 2006, some of the cast were actually asked to film a short recorded segment to be played during the pantomime show at The Children’s Party at the Palace celebration held at Buckingham Palace on 25th June 2006 for the Queen’s 80th birthday. The stage show featured actors playing literary figures, such as Anthony Head as Captain Hook; Dani Harmer and Montanna Thompson as Tracy and Justine from the CBBC series The Story of Tracy Beaker (2002-05); Richard O’Brien as the Child Catcher in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, having played the character on stage just a year before, and Amanda Redman as Cruella de Vil. It was Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, and Matthew Lewis who were involved in the pre-recorded video as their characters, and saw them being sent a letter by owl, sent by comedian Harry Hill in his role as the Owl Keeper. They opened the letter and saw it was from the Prime Minister, needing magic to locate the Queen’s handbag, as she needed her glasses to read her birthday celebrations speech. After using the spell Accio to try and locate it, instead finding numerous other lost handbags, they sent a letter back to the palace, including the spell and some borrowed magic, so the audience could use Accio for themselves. With their collective energy, the thief – who happened to be British comedian and television host Bradley Walsh – was found and the handbag was returned, as good defeated evil. This was a very random thing that I only found out about whilst researching this piece. It is available to watch online for anyone interested in seeing it!
Just a couple of months before Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was released in cinemas, some very exciting news was announced and that was that there was confirmation that there were development plans in the works to build a new land at the Islands of Adventure Park at Universal Orlando resort, to be called The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, this being a joint venture between Universal and Warner Bros. Entertainment. This followed on from earlier talks falling through with Disney, which could’ve seen a Harry Potter land being built at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida. In this case, it was expected that the new area of the theme park would open in 2009 and would depict Hogwarts and the village of Hogsmeade. J.K. Rowling was going to be involved in the development of the area, as was Stuart Craig, the production designer on the Harry Potter films[17]. The land did not actually open until June 2010, but after that, other Wizarding Worlds have since opened at other Universal properties, those being at Universal Studios in Japan, Hollywood, and Beijing, with new additions and extensions being built as well.
As the Harry Potter franchise had had book sales of 325 million worldwide before the final book even came out, and the first four films grossed more than $3.5 billion worldwide, it was clear that getting involved in a Harry Potter project was going to be good for Universal, and the fact a Harry Potter addition was coming to such a big tourist hotspot meant that good footfall was expected.
Within these theme park lands, there are a few locations first seen in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix that were recreated. One of these is the Order of the Phoenix Headquarters, the house on Grimmauld Place, which exists as a façade only at Universal Studios theme park in Orlando, close to the Diagon Alley area. The Ministry of Magic also only exists at Universal Orlando, but this time at their Epic Universe theme park, which opened on 22nd May 2025. You can even enter the area as though you have arrived via the Floo network. There is an attraction within the Ministry of Magic too, Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry, but this takes place after the events of the Harry Potter series, following Dolores Umbridge’s trial. The Hog’s Head Tavern is something that can be visited at multiple Universal theme parks though, selling speciality drinks in the recreated pub. It is recreated in the theme parks at Orlando, Japan, Beijing, and Hollywood.
After the reveal of plans to build a Harry Potter land at Universal, and then the release of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix in July 2007, things just weren’t calming down for Harry Potter fans as the wait was finally over for the final book to be published. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was published on Saturday 21st July, simultaneously published in more than 90 countries. Some branches of Waterstones held midnight launch parties for UK fans, whilst J.K. Rowling held her book launch at the Natural History Museum. The final book in the series broke sales records on both side of the Atlantic by selling 11 million copies in its first 24 hours. This comprised of 2.7 million sold in the UK and 8.3 million sold in the US on that first day. This broke the previous record for the fastest-selling book when Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince sold nine million copies on its first day of publication in 2005[18].
Outside of that, there was obviously a video game made to go alongside the release of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, as well as merchandising, consisting of posters, clothing, figurines, and prop replicas. You can also visit sets from all the movies at the Warner Bros. Studio Tour London. Some specific sets from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix that you could explore there are Umbridge’s office and the Ministry of Magic.
FINAL THOUGHTS
So, I’ve made it clear that despite the abundance of villains in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, this film is not my favourite. In fact, it is either my least favourite or my second-least favourite, depending on what day it is. It just doesn’t grab me like most of the others do.
However, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix can be seen as laying the groundwork for what is to come. After all, we couldn’t just have Voldemort return in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and then have a great battle straight after that. It is giving us insight into how both sides are preparing for the seemingly imminent war, and letting us in on some mysteries and secrets that will become clear by the finale.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix gives you just enough information and action to keep you interested and engaged for the next one. Sometimes that’s all you need.
REFERENCES
[1] Credit: Clémence Michallon, ‘Helen McCrory: How Harry Potter actor was cast as Bellatrix Lestrange but ended up playing Narcissa Malfoy’, Independent.co.uk, 16th April 2021.
[2] Credit: Evanna Lynch, The Opposite of Butterfly Hunting (2021).
[3] Credit: Ben Sherlock, ’10 Actors Who Were Almost Cast In Harry Potter Movies’, ScreenRant.com, 28th April 2020.
[4] Credit: Warner Bros., ‘Additional Scenes’, from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007) 11-Disc Blu-Ray Set (2011).
[5] Credit: HBO Max, Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts (2022).
[6] Credit: Quinci Legardye, ‘Here’s Why Emma Watson Almost Quit Harry Potter’, HarpersBazaar.com, 30th December 2021.
[7] Credit: Matthew Rudoy, ‘Harry Potter: 10 Differences Between The Order Of The Phoenix Book & The Movie’, ScreenRant.com, 20th August 2020.
[8] Credit: Chloe Roden, ‘Discovering England’s Wizarding World: 20 Years of Harry Potter Filming Locations’, FilmingInEngland.co.uk, 16th November 2021.
[9] Credit: ITV, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix: Behind the Magic (2007), Special Features YouTube Channel, 7th April 2024.
[10] Credit: Warner Bros., “Focus Points”, from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007) 11-Disc Blu-Ray Set (2011).
[11] Credit: Ashley Boucher, ‘Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix’ Turns 10: Here Are 18 Behind-the-Scenes Facts (Photos)’, TheWrap.com, 11th July 2017.
[12] Credit: Tamar Altebarmakian, ‘Secrets You Didn’t Know Behind The Making Of Harry Potter’, ScreenRant.com, 30th January 2018.
[13] Credit: BBC News, ‘Potter train attacked by vandals’, BBC.co.uk, 23rd March 2007.
[14] Credit: Sophie King, ‘Harry Potter fans in shock by editing blunder on film poster’, Mirror.co.uk, 20th September 2024.
[15] Credit: Nikki Finke, ‘‘Harry Potter’ Sets Biggest Wed Record With Magical $44.2M On First U.S. Day’, Deadline.com, 11th July 2007.
[16] Credit: Gregg Kilday, ‘‘Potter’ plot thickens box office 5-day total’, HollywoodReporter.com, 16th July 2007.
[17] Credit: James Sturcke, ‘Harry Potter theme park to open in Florida’, TheGuardian.com, 31st May 2007.
[18] Credit: BBC News, ‘Harry Potter finale sales hit 11m’, News.BBC.co.uk, 23rd July 2007.