Order of the Phoenix

### Intentions

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

### Affiliation

* British Ministry of Magic
* Dumbledore's Army
* Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
* Harry Potter
* Ronald Weasley
* Hermione Granger

### Enemies

* Lord Voldemort
* Death Eaters
* Death Eater controlled Ministry of Magic
* Snatchers

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 First Wizarding 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.

The Order disbanded but was reconvened in 1995 after Harry Potter informed Dumbledore of Lord Voldemort's return. The Ministry refused to admit that the Dark Lord had returned, thus the Order alone worked to protect Harry Potter and the prophecy concerning him and Voldemort in the Department of Mysteries. After an intense battle occurred there on 18 June 1996 between the Order, Dumbledore's Army, and the Death Eaters, the Ministry finally admitted the truth.

The following year would see the Order losing their leader and the Ministry being conquered by Voldemort. The Order remained an underground resistance, trying to protect Muggles and broadcast the truth during the worst days of the Second Wizarding War. They answered the call to arms by Dumbledore's Army on 2 May 1998, fighting Voldemort and his Death Eaters for the final time at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The Battle of Hogwarts ended with Voldemort's death at Harry Potter's hands and a decisive victory for the Order and their allies.

## History

### First Wizarding War

#### 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 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, and Marlene McKinnon and her family were murdered by Death Eaters, including Travers. 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

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, 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 had 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.

### Disbandment

The First Wizarding War ended with a victory for the Order and the Ministry, but the Death Eaters were still a danger. Black attempted to apprehend Pettigrew on a London street after the latter fled the scene at Godric's Hollow with his master's wand, but Pettigrew faked his own death by murdering many innocent Muggles with one Blasting Curse and cutting off his own finger, then escaped in his Animagus form (a rat) to hide with the Weasley family under the name "Scabbers". As a result, Black was permanently made the scapegoat for his friend's crimes and thrown into Azkaban without a trial.

Other actual Death Eaters, such as Travers, Mulciber and three who helped with the Bones murders, were likewise captured and imprisoned. Four of them — the Lestrange brothers; Rabastan and Rodolphus, Rodolphus' wife Bellatrix, and Barty Crouch Jr — attacked the Longbottoms shortly after their master's defeat. Seeking information about their master's downfall, the Death Eaters drove Alice and Frank insane with the Cruciatus Curse. The Death Eaters and many of their comrades were caught and sentenced to Azkaban, some of them turned in by Igor Karkaroff, who was released in exchange for information. Others, such as Lucius Malfoy, managed to avoid prison by claiming to have only served Voldemort under the Imperius Curse, though Order members were sceptical of such claims.

### Second Wizarding War

Within an hour, the original Order members had been informed. Dumbledore had Sirius Black, who was still wanted by the Ministry, sent in his Animagus form (a dog) to alert key members such as Arabella Figg, Mundungus Fletcher, and Remus Lupin of the new threat under the name "Snuffles". Upon its reconstitution, the Order set up headquarters at 12 Grimmauld Place in London — Sirius's family home. The house was protected with the Fidelius Charm, with Dumbledore as Secret-Keeper. Members of the Order were assigned by Dumbledore to protect Harry Potter and for guard duty. Harry and his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger also assisted the Order, though, being under-age, they were not official members.

### Ministry relations

Although Dumbledore and the original members of the Order accepted the return of Lord Voldemort, members of the Ministry of Magic, including Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge, were not convinced. Fudge preferred to believe that Dumbledore was spreading rumours in an attempt to undercut his authority as Minister. Years earlier, there had been widespread support for Dumbledore to take the position, although he declined, choosing instead to remain at Hogwarts. In his early years as Minister, Fudge was constantly bombarding Dumbledore, frantically seeking advice. These actions sowed the seeds of paranoia in Fudge, as he feared Dumbledore would usurp his power. He also accused Dumbledore of "*going senile in his old years*", and declared that he was clearly mistaken about Voldemort's return. However, some Aurors in the Ministry, such as Kingsley Shacklebolt and Nymphadora Tonks, came to believe Dumbledore and joined the Order in secret.

Under the Ministry's influence, the *Daily Prophet* portrayed Dumbledore and Harry as either liars or nutters, and thus many members of the wizarding public did not believe in Voldemort's return either. The Order was forced to exist underground and certain members were unable to even greet one another in public, for fear of exposing their allegiances. Voldemort and his Death Eaters took advantage of the Ministry's folly, conducting their business in secret for a year. Among their goals was to obtain a record of the prophecy concerning Voldemort and Harry, which was kept in the Department of Mysteries. The Order kept guard on the area but were hampered by the Ministry's lack of cooperation.

### Battle of the Department of Mysteries

Voldemort eventually managed to lure Harry there, along with five members of Dumbledore's Army, an organisation Harry, Hermione, and Ron founded at Hogwarts in response to Ministry employee Dolores Umbridge refusing to teach students practical Defence Against the Dark Arts. The group of teenagers were ambushed by twelve Death Eaters. The Order became aware of this through Severus Snape, and Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks, Alastor Moody, and Kingsley Shacklebolt raced to the Ministry to battle the Death Eaters.

The Order managed to save the students, and the prophecy was destroyed, but Sirius was murdered by his cousin, Bellatrix Lestrange. Albus Dumbledore helped round up the other Death Eaters, summoned the Aurors, and then duelled Voldemort in defence of Harry. All of the Order members that participated in the battle were wounded, with exception of Remus Lupin and Albus Dumbledore. In addition, all Dumbledore's Army members were injured except for Harry.

Several Ministry personnel, including Minister Fudge, entered the Ministry Atrium at the end of this duel, thus seeing Voldemort for themselves. Voldemort Disapparated with Bellatrix, but Fudge was forced to admit that Dumbledore and Harry Potter had been right. He was soon replaced by Rufus Scrimgeour as Minister for Magic.

### Guarding Hogwarts

The battle marked the official beginning of the Second Wizarding War. Although Scrimgeour was a more proactive Minister than Fudge had been, he proved to be suspicious of the Order and of Dumbledore as well. He tried to convince Harry Potter to ally himself with the Ministry to boost public morale, but Harry was disgusted by Scrimgeour's high-handed methods and declared his loyalty to Dumbledore and the Order. Over the course of the school year, Dumbledore taught Harry about Voldemort's past and of the existence of his Horcruxes. This extra lessons would prove to be valuable, as they gave Harry much needed information regarding Voldemort's past.

In the meantime, the Order kept watch at Hogwarts. However, Draco Malfoy, becoming a Death Eater in place of his incarcerated father, managed to use a Vanishing Cabinet to get Death Eaters into the school, and the Battle of the Astronomy Tower ensued. Dumbledore was cornered by Malfoy, but the headmaster managed to convince the boy to lower his wand, and Severus Snape stepped in to kill Dumbledore. Not knowing that this was a plan Dumbledore and Snape had conceived earlier, nor of the headmaster's medical condition due to the curse, the Order believed that they had been betrayed.

### Fall of the Ministry of Magic

Now under the leadership of Alastor Moody, the Order's next goal was to remove Harry from his relatives' home before the protection offered by his mother's blood expired on his seventeenth birthday. Unfortunately, a number of the simpler solutions to the situation, such as Floo Powder or Apparition were unavailable due to monitoring by the Ministry, which was being infiltrated by the Death Eaters, and Harry, as an under-age wizard, still had the trace on him. The Order also assigned two of its members, Dedalus Diggle and Hestia Jones, to take Harry's relatives into hiding so that they could not be targeted by Death Eaters. Thus, the Order had to fly him out, using six decoys disguised as Harry with Polyjuice Potion. Despite being ambushed by over thirty Death Eaters and Voldemort himself, the Order managed to get Harry to safety at the Burrow, their next headquarters since Snape knew of 12 Grimmauld Place. Sadly, Alastor Moody and Harry's beloved pet owl, Hedwig, were killed in the fray.

Five days later, on 1 August 1997, the Death Eaters seized control of the Ministry. Scrimgeour was murdered and Pius Thicknesse, who Corban Yaxley had under the Imperius Curse, was installed as Voldemort's puppet Minister for Magic. Kingsley Shacklebolt managed to warn the Order of the coup by sending his Patronus to the Burrow, where Bill and Fleur's reception was being held. Death Eaters stormed the wedding looking for Harry. Various Order members were interrogated, but none were killed. In the meantime, Harry had vanished along with Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley. The three sought to find and destroy Voldemort's Horcruxes, a concept and mission of which the rest of the Order had not been informed.

### Resistance

While Voldemort controlled the Ministry, the Order members were fugitives. The Weasleys were kept under heavy surveillance, as they were known to associate with Harry. The Taboo curse was placed upon Voldemort's name since only enemies of the Dark Lord were willing to speak it aloud. This caused Kingsley to nearly be captured after saying the name, but managed to fight off the Death Eaters that attacked him and went on the run.

The Weasleys were also forced into hiding after it was discovered that Ron was travelling with Harry, "*Undesirable Number 1*," in the spring of 1998. The Weasleys abandoned The Burrow and stayed with their Aunt Muriel, protected by the Fidelius Charm, with the exception of Bill who resided at Shell Cottage with Fleur. This led to Arthur and Bill quitting their respective jobs, Ginny being pulled out of school, and the twins Fred and George Weasley unable to man their shop.

*Potterwatch* The Order led the underground resistance, participating in the radio programme *Potterwatch*, which broadcast the truth while the *Daily Prophet* and other news outlets were controlled by the corrupted Ministry. The Order encouraged people to do as they were doing — protect innocent Muggles from being harmed for the amusement of Death Eaters, and Muggle-borns who were being persecuted by the Ministry's new Muggle-Born Registration Commission. They also encouraged the wizarding community to stay strong and united, especially in such dark times.

Lee Jordan

### Battle of Hogwarts

On 1 May 1998, the Order received the call to arms from Neville Longbottom, who was left leading Dumbledore's Army at the Death Eater-controlled Hogwarts. He used the Dumbledore's Army coins to contact members of the D.A. who had already graduated Hogwarts, thus assembling a small fighting force. Along with the D.A., the Order of the Phoenix took a final stand against Voldemort and his army. The school was evacuated, the younger students leaving and the ones of age, wanting to fight to stay.

They formulated the battle plan with the professors of Hogwarts, who led fighters to the three highest towers, while Kingsley, Remus Lupin, and Arthur Weasley led troops to the school grounds, and Fred and George Weasley organised the defence of the entrances and passageways into the school. The wooden bridge was also destroyed during by Neville, Seamus Finnigan, and Ginny under the orders of McGonagall. The bridge was destroyed using charges.

The Battle of Hogwarts beginning at midnight on 2 May, was a fierce conflict. When Lord Voldemort learned that Harry was in the castle to locate and destroy one of his final Horcruxes, he ordered every Death Eater and creature that had pledged loyalty to him to attack the school. The battle was fought through the castle and the grounds. It resulted in many casualties, the fifty fallen. Of those fallen fifty, Order members Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks were murdered. Remus was murdered by Antonin Dolohov and Tonks by Bellatrix Lestrange. Fred Weasley was also killed in an explosion outside the Room of Requirement, this explosion destroyed the seventh-floor corridor.

Severus Snape met in secret with Voldemort, Voldemort killed him using Nagini, in order to gain the full power of the elder wand.

Voldemort withdrew his forces and gave Harry an ultimatum, face him or he would destroy Hogwarts and kill every last person that attempted to aid him. After learning from Snape's memories that he had to die in order for Voldemort to be defeated, Harry willingly went to Voldemort. He let the Dark Lord hit him with a Killing Curse, not putting up a fight. However, Harry survived the encounter briefly entering limbo. Harry choose to return to the land of the living to finish his fight, resulting in him defeating Voldemort once and for all. This led to the end of the Second Wizarding War. The remainder of the Death Eaters were either captured, killed, or fled school grounds.

## Affiliates of the Order

### Allies

During the First Wizarding War, the Order was allied with the Ministry of Magic. During the Second Wizarding War, however, the Ministry was at times sceptical of Lord Voldemort's return and later taken over by Voldemort's followers. The Order was allied with Dumbledore's Army, as well as various individuals, during that conflict.

* Eugenia Jenkins/Harold Minchum/Millicent Bagnold
* Barty Crouch Snr

* Ministry of Magic
* Aurors

* Giants
* Werewolves
* Inferi (100+)

* Fabian Prewett
* Edgar Bones
* Marlene McKinnon
* Benjy Fenwick
* James Potter I
* Lily Potter
* Caradoc Dearborn
* Dorcas Meadowes

* Evan Rosier
* Wilkes
* Several giants
* Lord Voldemort's physical body Template:C

* Evan Rosier
* Wilkes
* Several giants
* Dozens of Death Eaters and Werewolfs
* Lord Voldemort's physical body Template:C|casualties1 = \*Gideon Prewett
* Fabian Prewett
* Edgar Bones
* Marlene McKinnon
* Benjy Fenwick
* James Potter I
* Lily Potter
* Caradoc Dearborn
* Dorcas Meadowes
* Many Others}}