Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Ah yes, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Also known as Harry Potter and the Year He Hit Puberty, or Harry Potter and the Year He had Undiagnosed PTSD. Harry spends a lot of this book yelling at people in full caps lock, but considering he hits puberty (First crush! Mood swings!) and has to deal with the fallout of Cedric's death without much of a support system its pretty reasonable. Despite Harry’s angst radiating off of the page (hats off to JKR for that one, she nailed it), book 5 is my favorite so far in this reread. It’s the last of the sort of ‘stand-alone’ adventure plots.
Order of the Phoenix also has Umbridge, one of the best villains of all time. Voldemort may be the Big Bad of the series, but honestly Umbridge is the one who keeps me up at night. She isn’t Evil with a capital E and a maniacal laugh. She’s the mundane variety that grows in the cracks and is easy to miss. We hate Umbridge with a visceral passion because we’ve all met her: that grade school teacher who ran their class like a petty tyrant, the unreasonable cop who was more interested in proving that he had all the power, the bureaucrat who takes great joy in enforcing rules that have long since lost all meaning. Umbridge knows the law down to the smallest detail and won’t hesitate to use it to her advantage. But more importantly, she considers herself the law - what she believes is right or wrong should apply to everyone, and disrespect to her is disrespect to the Law. At a small scale these villains are annoying at worst. But give them more power and we have a recipe for a government to go off the rails.
Cedric’s death and the subsequent announcement that Voldemort has returned marks Harry’s sudden change in the Minister’s eyes from golden child to the canary in the coal mine heralding danger if swift action isn’t taken. The minute Harry begins criticizing the status quo, Fudge does a hard 180. He’s so driven by fear that he revokes all of the unspoken special privileges Harry had previously enjoyed, and instead uses all possible technicalities to try to get Harry in trouble for things that would have previously been dismissed. Pre-Cedric, Harry gets so mad at his Aunt he inflates her like a balloon in front of the whole family, requiring a full Ministry damage control squad. Fudge tells him accidents are accidents and buys his school books. Post-Cedric, Harry saves himself and Dudley from a dementor attack in a dark alley and Fudge tries to revoke his license to practice magic, going so far as to move the time of the trial without warning.
Let’s explore the Fudge/Umbridge relationship in the context of our current world. In the US, we have a fractured political system where each side is claiming they are the only hope to save the country, and that the other side is actively trying to bring its downfall. High ranking officials motivated entirely by self preservation consistently tweet extreme messages about various minority groups are a danger to our way of life. They are Fudge. They want to preserve the status quo at all costs because their wealth and power depend on it. They do everything possible to trigger extreme loyalty and heightened fear/defensiveness in their followers. The stronger the emotional connection someone feels to their leader and the more afraid they are of impending change, the harder it is to catch flaws in an argument. Rationally, I’m fully aware there’s nothing a moth can do to hurt me. But am I going to flail first and ask questions later? You bet. We think of ourselves as enlightened creatures but we all have a lizard brain lurking in the background, ready to take control if we feel threatened.
Umbridge considers herself a moral citizen and loyal supporter of Fudge. She believes so strongly in his message that she will do anything in her power to help him, starting by changing the rules specifically to target his opposition and ending by attempting to ‘problem solve’ Harry straight off the face of the earth. Umbridges in real life are so convinced of their moral superiority to the Other that breaking the rules (unprecedented behavior ring a bell?) to further their goals is no longer a bad thing - it’s the righteous crusader doing what must be done. The problem with crusaders is that it's only righteous if they win to write the history books. Otherwise they go down in history as terrorists. (And speaking of history books - Umbridge gets her foot in the door at Hogwarts specifically because a small but vocal set of parents were concerned about what their children were being taught at school. They wanted a teacher installed who would focus on returning focus to tradition, rather than connecting concepts being learned to current events in practical ways.) At the end of the book we find out that because Umbridge knew Fudge wanted Harry gone but couldn’t directly do anything himself, Umbridge had taken it upon herself to order dementors to attack. To repeat, she tried to have a 16 year old killed because a man she looked up to had mentioned the kid was a pain. Fudge never directly told Umbridge to get rid of Harry. Fudge never even explicitly said that he wanted Harry gone. But by hiring, promoting, and consistently rewarding Umbridge, Fudge was implicitly approving and therefore responsible for her methods.
I was originally planning to focus on how the treatment of nonhumans in the wizarding world exposes pretty serious racism issues in the Harry Potter universe, and how at least some of that can be linked back to views JKR likely holds consciously or subconsciously. (Let’s be honest, JKR was probably just trying to write Fudge as a power hungry but bumbling bureaucrat, not a scheming politician trying to outsource the dirty work.) But with the steady increase of mass shootings and legislative attacks against LGBT - especially Trans folk - or other minorities, this felt more relevant. If anything I’ve written has made you think, below are some links that I think make a good starting point to continue the learning journey. (They’re also a useful starting point if you disagree with me and want to figure out how I possibly came to these conclusions.) Or if you’re just really upset with where the world is right now, and want to be a part of the change, please do three things for me:
Make friends with your neighbor(s). We live in an increasingly disconnected world, but those links are more important than ever. Many people have lost their support systems due to Covid, politics, or just Life. Shart building community with those around you - hopefully it’ll make everyone’s lives just a little bit happier and a little bit easier.
Keep talking to your family members. Yes, those ones. The ones you argue with every Thanksgiving. Remember that they are people, and keep reminding them you’re just as human too.
Get involved locally. Donate to a local mutual aid foundation. Donate to and/or volunteer for state and local races. Support local institutions or anywhere that helps foster a community feel. Americans get slammed with “VOTE VOTE VOTE” every 4 years for the presidential elections, but the local decisions are what have the biggest impact on your day to day life. I’ve added a 30 second link below you can use to make sure your voter registration is up to date. Leave a comment or shoot me an email if you’d like help getting connected with local opportunities near you, otherwise I recommend starting with a simple google search of [something you’re interested in] + volunteer opportunities. (Or just go volunteer at a local animal shelter. They always need more help and everyone’s day is better after helping small animals.)
