Order of the Phoenix

## Order of the Pheonix

### Intentions

To protect the wizarding and Muggle worlds from Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters

### Affiliation

 British Ministry of Magic
{Loyalty|DA}}
 Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Harry Potter

### Enemies

Lord Voldemort
 Death Eaters

The **Order of the Phoenix** was a secret society founded by Albus Dumbledore to oppose Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters. The original Order was created in the 1970s. It was constructed after Voldemort returned to England from abroad and started his campaign to take over the Ministry of Magic and persecute Muggle-borns. The Order worked with the Ministry to oppose the Dark Lord and his followers, and played a crucial role in the British Wizarding Civil War. Their first victory came in 1981, with Voldemort's first defeat at the hands of Harry Potter. The victory came with the high cost of many of their members.

## History

### British Wizarding Civil War (1970-1981)

#### Origin

The Order of the Phoenix was founded by Albus Dumbledore during Lord Voldemort's first rise to power in the 1970s. Dumbledore formed the Order to combat Voldemort's increasing threat and power. Aurors from the British Ministry of Magic also joined the Order to participate in more secretive, sudden assaults aimed to crush the Dark Rebellion. Dumbledore created a method of communication among Order members by inventing a way to make Patronuses speak.

Although the Death Eaters had been attacking mostly Muggles and Muggle-borns to spread terror, they soon turned to attacking "*blood traitors*" such as Order members as well. The Order had to work hard, as they were outnumbered by a ratio of 20:1 by the Death Eaters. Fabian and Gideon Prewett were murdered by a group of five Death Eaters led by Antonin Dolohov. Caradoc Dearborn disappeared, the Bones family was almost completely destroyed, Benjy Fenwick was brutally murdered. Even as the Order suffered great losses, they continued to fight, and four of their members — James Potter, Lily Potter, Frank Longbottom, and Alice Longbottom — defied Voldemort himself three times.

#### The Prophecy

> "*The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies....*"
> — Sybill Trelawney's first prophecy
>
>

This defiance made the two couples and their infant sons Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom targets of a prophecy concerning a child with the power to defeat the Dark Lord. Death Eater Severus Snape heard part of the prophecy and reported it to Voldemort, who believed it referred to Harry Potter. He decided to hunt down the Potters, choosing the half-blood Harry, like Voldemort himself, as opposed to the pure-blood, Neville. The Potters, who were in hiding under the Fidelius Charm, caused Snape to change his side since he had always been in love with Lily Potter and felt the need to give her something in return for the friendship the two had shared years before.

It was not enough to save them, however; Dumbledore offered to be the Potters' Secret-Keeper in suspicion that a member of the Order who was a very close friend to the family has turned spy for the Death Eaters. James, however, insisted that Harry's godfather Sirius Black was a better candidate for the role, but Black had a different plan; he secretly suggested to James and Lily to use him as a decoy while another Order member among their closest friends, Peter Pettigrew, took the Secret-Keeper position instead.

Since he was the Death Eater spy Dumbledore was suspicious of, Pettigrew betrayed the Potters a week after the Fidelius Charm was performed, and Voldemort came to their home in Godric's Hollow on 31 October 1981. He summarily murdered James, but offered Lily a chance to live, as requested by Severus Snape. She rejected the offer, begging for her son's life in return for her's, and Voldemort used the Killing Curse against her and then on Harry.

Because Lily had willingly sacrificed herself out of love for her son, Harry was shielded from the spell, and the curse backfired. Because Voldemort made Horcruxes, he did not die, but he lost his own physical form. He also inadvertently made Harry himself a Horcrux, as a piece of his soul embedded itself into a scar on Harry's forehead.