Film / Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

"If Voldemort's raising an army, then I want to fight."

"I want you to listen to me very carefully, Harry. You're not a bad person. You're a very good person, who bad things have happened to. You understand? Besides, the world isn't split into good people and Death Eaters. We have all got both light and dark inside us. What matters is the power we choose to act on. That's who we really are."

— Sirius Black

The one with evil Margaret Thatcher.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is the fifth film in the Harry Potter series, released in 2007. It marks the in-series debut of director David Yates, who would go on to direct the rest of the series and the Fantastic Beasts spinoffs.

Voldemort's back, but the Ministry of Magic is in denial, so they decide the best solution is to start a Government Conspiracy to cover up all the evidence, and send one of their own — Dolores Umbridge — to Hogwarts to take over. Meanwhile, Harry has been haunted by strange dreams...

Amusingly, this movie takes the longest book and compresses it into the second-shortest movie (and it remains the shortest film based on a single book), although the original cut was nearly 3 hours long, which would have made it the longest film and second-longest film based on a single book. It is also the final film to be produced prior to the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and the completion of the book series, releasing merely a week before the book.

Followed by Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

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Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix contains examples of:

• 0% Approval Rating: Judging by the students' reaction to Umbridge's brief speech in the beginning of the film, viewers can tell something is up with Umbridge.
  Ron: [angry, after hearing Umbridge's speech] Illuminating?! What a load of waffle!
• Accidental Misnaming: Sirius mistakenly calls Harry by the name of "James." This does not happen in the book; it is only debated that Sirius views Harry as a pal in the same way he viewed James Potter.
• Adapted Out: With Order of the Phoenix being the longest book in the series, it stands to reason that plenty had to be cut out to attain a manageable runtime.
  • A portrait of Sirius's mother hangs in Grimmauld Place and features regularly whenever Harry is there in the book. She doesn't appear in the film.
  • Another portrait character, Phineus Nigellus, has a painting in both Grimmauld Place and Dumbledore's office and can travel between both at will; he is addressed by Dumbledore in a single scene, but has no lines (his most iconic instead being given to Kingsley Shacklebolt) and does not reappear in any subsequent films, despite being a crucial element of the plot in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
  • Cho's friend Marietta is not in the movie, and her role as the one who rats out Dumbledore's Army to Umbridge is given to Cho herself.
  • Like the last movie, Dobby's reappearance is not included, with Neville being the one to discover the Room of Requirement instead.
  • The entire Quidditch plotline from this year is completely absent from the movie. Parts of it are adapted into the next film along with that book's own Quidditch plot.
  • Mundungus Fletcher and Bill Weasley are absent from both this film and the next despite being fairly prominent members of the Order in the books. They both finally appear in the Deathly Hallows movies.
• Adaptational Angst Downgrade:
  • Harry doesn't fly into frequent ALL CAPS rants of rage at his friends nor does he rage at Dumbledore during the final scenes as in the book; the movie instead portrays his inner struggle throughout the plot as one of bleak isolation because of his tribulations rather than angry frustration from feeling like he's treated with kid gloves too often. Likewise, the moment where he punches Draco for insulting his mother and his expulsion from Quidditch is removed.
  • Sirius is dealing with cabin fever at having to stay locked up in Grimmauld Place, and it's hinted that he's turning into an alcoholic by Christmas. It's also suggested that he sees Harry as a Replacement Goldfish for his father. The former is left out of the film completely, while the latter is only kept to a hint in the final battle.
  • Cho's grief for Cedric is toned down in the film. It's said in the book that she spends most of the time alone and crying, and her first kiss with Harry is rendered quite awkward because of how she can't stop thinking about Cedric at first.
• Adaptational Attractiveness:
  • In the book, Bellatrix Lestrange is mentioned as having been very attractive before her stay in Azkaban, but not in the present. Here she's played by Helena Bonham Carter, who personifies Raven Hair, Ivory Skin. She does at least have bad teeth and is quite pale, but she is still much more attractive than her book version.invoked
  • Umbridge in the book is described as looking like a toad. Imelda Staunton's portrayal of her is far more attractive, creating a huge contrast between her sweet grandmotherly appearance and the evil deeds she does.
  • Downplayed with Luna Lovegood, who in the book is described as having Messy Hair and appears to be average looking. She's played by the gorgeous Evanna Lynch and her unusual fashion sense is portrayed as endearingly quirky rather than unflattering.
• Adaptational Badass:
  • Dolores Umbridge, in support of her Adaptational Villainy. In the book, the Hogwarts staff use copious amounts of Bothering by the Book, along with occasional outright defiance, to make her job more difficult, and her tenure as Hogwarts's Headmistress practically impossible. Even the students get in on the act, with jokes, pranks, and other cleverness running Umbridge ragged despite her best efforts, which causes that she ultimately doesn't actually accomplish much in the book. In the film, her reign of terror at Hogwarts is basically unimpeded until her final Humiliation Conga. She also successfully catches the DA in the Room of Requirement, and learns of them through tricking Cho into drinking Veritaserum — while in the book she relied on a snitch and even then didn't catch them.
  • The film version of Hermione manages to cow Grawp into submission by refusing to be scared and showing a "firm hand" after he picks her up in curiosity. By contrast, in the book, Hermione is completely terrified the entire time and is never actually caught by Grawp because Harry manages to pull her out of the way in time. Afterwards she couldn't even speak and clings to Harry in fear until they finally leave. At least part of this can be attributed to the fact that Grawp himself is portrayed much more as a Gentle Giant in the movies, whereas the book version is significantly more prone to bursts of violence when irritated.
  • Ginny didn't do anything of note in the Department of Mysteries in the book, and neither in fact did Luna. Both of them get moments where they fight off Death Eaters; Luna uses Levicorpus to send a Death Eater flying, and Ginny hits one with such a strong Reductor Curse that she destroys most of the shelves. Both of them are also shown casting Patronuses in the DA meeting, which they didn't appear to be able to do in the book (Ginny's Patronus was never even revealed in the books).
  • In the book, Moody is the first member of the Order to go down during the final battle, to the point we don't see him actually trade hits on page. In the film, we see him casually stun a Death Eater with his staff and later holding his own against two others at once (which in the book was done by Kingsley).
  • Lucius also shows his aggressive duelling prowess in the aforementioned scene with Moody, while in the book he's too focused on getting the prophecy to do much duelling.
  • After Harry gives Lucius Malfoy the prophecy, Sirius says to Lucius "Get away from my godson!" and punches him in the face, which never occurred in the book, though Sirius did do a fairly similar thing to Antonin Dolohov.
  • Ron gets a few moments he didn't have in the book; notably publicly defending Harry in the common room, casting a Patronus in the DA, and trying to fight off his restraints when Umbridge says she'll torture Harry. Additionally, in the Ministry, he doesn't get hit with a curse that makes him The Load and helps fight off the Death Eaters more effectively than he did in the book.
  • The film version of Voldemort becomes Dumbledore's equal in magic power where his book version was clearly outmatched (although this is also related to Dumbledore becoming also weaker — see Adaptational Wimp below). In the main point of comparison between continuities, the book version of Dumbledore trapped Voldemort in a sphere of water that proved decisive, forcing the dark wizard to teleport away and change tactics, while in the film Voldemort breaks out of it directly, piercing the prison with a spell against Harry that gets Dumbledore distracted enough for Voldemort to dispel entirely the sphere. Voldemort also invokes a giant fire snake that is certainly more impressive than anything he did in the book, managing even to visibly scare Dumbledore until the latter disrupts it and later literally floors Albus with a magic wave that thrashes the entire room.
• Adaptational Context Change:
  • In the book, Harry is shown a photograph of the original Order of the Phoenix by Mad-Eye Moody. Harry finds it disturbing, especially since so many of them died shortly after it was taken. In the film version, Sirius shows Harry the photo instead and it's a more tender scene — with Sirius reminiscing on the people he misses.
  • The movie changes context of Sirius's famous line, "the world isn't split into good people and Death Eaters". In the book, Harry suspected Umbridge is a Death Eater because of her cruelty, and when he told Sirius about his suspicions he answered with said quote, meaning that Death Eaters aren't the only evil in the world. In the movie, Sirius says it when Harry is doubting himself, and the quote is supposed to mean that no one is really pure good or pure evil. Ironically, substituting "Evil" for "Death Eaters" makes the quote opposite to the original meaning, since it suggests that Death Eaters are all the evil in the world.
  • Fred and George's departure from Hogwarts takes place during an O.W.Ls examination, with them releasing their Weasley's Wildfire Whiz-bangs during their escape, in the book the fireworks were a earlier incident and the twins left before the examinations started.
  • Harry's vision of Sirius tortured by Voldemort takes place in the courtyard after the twin's escape rather than during his History of Magic examination.
• Adaptational Heroism: A small case. The centaurs have it in for Hagrid after he stops them from killing Firenze in the book - and Harry and Hermione suffer from guilt-by-association after they carry off Umbridge. This is left out of the film and the centaurs don't go after Harry and Hermione, merely carrying off Umbridge.
• Adaptational Jerkass: In both the book and the movie, Fudge thinks Dumbledore is planning to turn the Hogwarts students against him. To prevent this, he forbids them from learning practical defensive magic and sends Umbridge to Hogwarts to enforce this prohibition. Harry and his friends start an illegal study group named Dumbledore's Army, secretly teaching the students how to cast defensive spells without Umbridge knowing. In the book, Dumbledore's Army is willingly revealed by the best friend of Harry's love interest Cho, followed by Harry and Cho having a fight about this in which both sides actually have a point. In the movie, when Umbridge discovers Dumbledore's Army, the group is unwillingly revealed by Cho herself, who has been clearly forced to show its location given that she is shown dragged along by Malfoy. However, rather jarringly, the rest of the school seems to alienate her for this, with Harry himself rather coldly pushing past her without a word - it's unclear if they even know that she was coerced by Veritaserum, though Harry at least gets to hears this about when caught by Umbridge, with Snape explaining to the latter that she was forced to take the last of his stores.
• Adaptational Nationality: Luna's nationality wasn't clarified in the book; just that she was living near the Weasleys (which is in Devon) and the audio books gave her an English accent. The Irish actress Evanna Lynch was deemed the best fit for the part, and thus she uses her own accent. By the time of the Deathly Hallows movie, they had Rhys Ifans put on an Irish accent to match her.
• Adaptational Nice Guy: Grawp is portrayed as very gentle, whilst in the book, he is very violent and even strikes his half-brother Hagrid in the face during his appearance.
• Adaptational Super Power Change:
  • In the book, Tonks has the ability to change her appearance as she wishes, and keeps her hair mainly bubble-gum pink. In the film (where it is switched to purple), when Harry is picked up from the Dursleys, Moody calls her Nymphadora and as she angrily tells him not to do that, her hair keeps changing colour, and then their brooms arrive and her hair settles on one colour. This suggests in the film, her hair changes colour when she is feeling a particularly strong emotion, not just at will.
  • Ginny's specialty in the books is the Bat Bogey Hex. Here in the film, it's the Reductor Curse - which she casts in the Hall of Prophecy and causes Disaster Dominoes.
  • Levicorpus was a nonverbal spell created by the Half-Blood Prince, and it wasn't introduced until the sixth book. In this film, DA members are seen verbally practicing it at meetings, and Luna loudly casts it in the Ministry, with nothing suggesting it is not a regular, public domain spell like any other. (Although, to be fair, the way Lupin described it in the sixth book implies that this particular spell may have gone public at some point, as using its effects was a vogue prank around Hogwarts for a while.)
  • Voldemort has much more variety in his attacks against Dumbledore, employing spells of fire, shadow, and sound, as well as telekinetic glass blades, which he never uses in the books (neither in this duel nor in any other point of the series). In the book, when it took for him to attack, he resorted to just spam Avada Kedavra and use occasional counterspells.
• Adaptational Sympathy: While Trelawney's firing at the hands of Umbridge in the book is already portrayed as pitiful, the movie manages to make the scene even sadder. The book has Trelawney being quite drunk and still a touch of comedic relief when fired and Harry and Hermione express pure apathy to hearing her firing. The movie does away with her comedic alcoholism and portrays her firing 100% for drama and Harry and Hermione feel utter pity for her.
• Adaptational Villainy:
  • Amazingly, the movie takes Umbridge, who is quite possibly the most evil of Harry's antagonists outside of Voldemort himself, and makes her even more evil. In the book, the punishment bit where Umbridge makes Harry write lines which carve themselves into his hand is a punishment only for Harry and later Lee Jordan. In the movie, Umbridge makes all the kids caught in the Room of Requirement suffer this, even a little first-year. The book mentions that Umbridge put four successive classes in detention for using Skiving Snackboxes to feign "Umbridge-itis", but it isn't explained how she gave them this punishment.
  • The movie also makes Fudge even more corrupt by changing the context of one of his book lines during Harry's hearing: "Laws can be changed". In the book, he says this in response to Dumbledore pointing out that at the time of the trial, it's not within the Wizengamot's jurisdiction to expel the students of a school. In the movie, however, he says this in response to Dumbledore pointing out that minors are allowed to use magic in self-defence as if he's actually of a mind to make that illegal just because it's inconvenient for convicting Harry.
• Adaptational Wimp:
  • In the book, members of the Dumbledore's Army were able to hold their own against the Death Eaters when ambushed by them in Department of Mysteries. Although ultimately overwhelmed and defeated by more experienced and numerous wizards, they did put up a fight and incapacitated a few of them. In the movie, however, they are quickly captured one by one in something which is hardly a battle — more like rounding up inept kids. This is partially because instead of duelling with the DA members, like in the book, the Death Eaters just take some ghost-esque forms which literally came out of nowhere and which suddenly make this whole combat spells business (the staple of the series, you know) completely pointless.
  • There's also Bellatrix Lestrange, who is not only extremely goofy and over-the-top compared to her novel counterpart (as if her faux-childish facade which she took just to mock Harry — and which she dropped immediately after he used Cruciatus Curse on her — was interpreted as a genuine character trait), but not nearly as dangerous in combat. In the book, she defeated three members of the Order in quick succession (Tonks, Black, and Kingsley of all people), managed to parry a spell by Dumbledore while escaping, and the only time she was shown struggling was when hit by the Cruciatus Curse. In the movie, meanwhile, she only manages to kill Black via a lucky shot when he was distracted. Later, when subjected to aforementioned Cruciatus Curse by Harry, in the book she quickly shrugged it off and stopped fooling around, while in the movie she is instantly reduced to a pathetic, whimpering mass on the floor at Harry's mercy.
  • Dumbledore gets noticeably depowered for his duel with Voldemort. In the book, he almost toyed with the dark wizard during their battle, taunting him and generally making it look easy (even although Voldemort noted Dumbledore was trying to catch him alive rather than fighting all out), and at the end he forced Voldemort to flee from the battle and possess Harry in order to escape from a decisive water-binding spell. In contrast, the film has Dumbledore struggling to hold his own, looking downright scared by an enemy spell and even ending up knocked down at one point, and the battle ends in a technical stalemate after Dumbledore parries a glass storm spell by Voldemort: the latter realizes that he can't get past Dumbledore and kill Harry directly, so he decides to withdraw and try the mentioned spoiler, while the former and Harry are left visibly weary and seemingly impressed by Voldemort's power.
• Adaptation Dye-Job:
  • Sort of. Tonks can change her hair at will and usually favours it pink in the book. In the film, it's mostly purple (but turns red when she gets angry, and white when she apparates), which is only at the start of the book. The reason for the change was because pink was already associated with Umbridge in the film.
  • Luna is said to have dirty blonde hair in the book. It's platinum blonde in the film.
  • Hermione's hair is blonde for this film because Emma Watson had dyed it that way for Ballet Shoes. Somewhat justified as other characters changed their hairstyle throughout the series — Harry Potter himself sported a much longer haircut in the previous film.
• Adaptation Expansion:
  • Umbridge's inspection of the teachers is shown in a bit more detail in the film than the book, additionally showing her enforcing various rules around the school.
  • In the book, the Ministry simply passes various decrees. In the film, each decree is nailed to the wall outside the Great Hall as Umbridge gradually seizes control of the school. This is also a setup for her eventual Humiliation Conga - where Fred and George cause them all to fall and come crashing down around her.
  • The breakout of Azkaban happens offscreen in the book, but we get to see it in the film.
  • Characters who weren't shown casting Patronuses do so in the film — such as Ron, Luna, and Ginny. Their Patronuses hadn't been revealed in the books yet, and Ginny's never was (though J. K. Rowling confirmed it was a horse, as shown in the film).
  • At the same time, the trope is also inverted in that Order of the Phoenix is the longest of the Potter novels, yet was condensed into the second-shortest of the films. Even Deathly Hallows, which is a shorter novel, was adapted into two films.
• Adaptation Explanation Extrication: Has its own page.
• Adaptation-Induced Plot Hole: Has its own page.
• Adapted Out:
  • The scene with Mundungus Fletcher in Privet Drive is omitted, due to Mundungus's omission from the film.
  • Dobby the house elf, along with original member of the Order of the Phoenix Mundungus Fletcher, are not featured in the film. Neville seems to serve as a replacement character for Dobby.
  • Perkins never appears in the film.
  • The Sorting Hat does not appear (aside from a deleted scene), much less does it sing (although it has never sang before in the films).
  • The Creevey brothers are not featured in the film. However, the character Nigel Wolpert, who is not in the books seems to serve as a replacement.
  • The Quidditch season is removed entirely from the film. Because of the omission, Angelina Johnson and her fellow chasers Katie Bell and Alicia Spinnet are also cut; Katie returns for the following three films, but Angelina and Alicia are never seen again.
  • Due to the omission of St Mungo's, the re-appearance of Gilderoy Lockhart and the appearance of Neville's parents are also omitted.
  • Rita Skeeter was also omitted. In the book, Hermione blackmails her into writing articles that support Harry as the rest of the Wizarding world denies his claims, as well as him being sent dozens of mail. Instead, Seamus believes Harry when he looks at the paper with the Azkaban breakout.
  • The Centaur Firenze is omitted from all of the films after the first.
  • Young Lily Potter is cut from the film; the scene of her defending Snape and Snape calling her a mudblood never appears at all in the films, not even during The Prince's Tale.
  • Marietta Edgecombe is ommitted, with her role of betraying the DA given to Cho Chang under the influence of Veritaserum.
  • No ghosts appear in the film, so Harry never questions Nearly Headless Nick about ghosts.
• Age Lift: Other way round for Cho. She's a year above Harry in the books, but in the films' continuity, a line from Hermione about Cho being afraid she'll fail her OWL exams puts her in the same year.
• Battle in the Centre of the Mind: The film makes good use of this in sequences throughout, especially at the end when Voldemort attempts to possess Harry. Voldemort imprints Harry with the memories of all the loved ones he has seen die by that point at Voldemort's hands before Harry turns it back on him by noting that he truly pities him for his inability to feel love or the joy of friendship.
• Beam-O-War: The Wizard Duel between Voldemort and Dumbledore starts with one. It also produces plenty of backscatter that has Harry ducking for cover.
• Big Damn Heroes: In the climax when Harry's friends have all been captured and he's forced to hand over the prophecy orb, suddenly a flash of light appears behind Malfoy.
  Sirius: Get away from my godson. *POW*
• Boring, but Practical: Sirius completely ruins Voldemort's entire plan via the most mundane and non-magical way imaginable: he simply walks up to Lucius (who is holding the prophecy orb) and punches him in the face. Lucius falls to the ground and drops the orb, which shatters into pieces.
• Broken Pedestal: The saintly image Harry has of his father takes a crack in this film, as his occlumency lessons reveal James' past as a braggart and a bully who tormented Snape.
• Camera Abuse: When Filch comes into Umbridge's office with pustules on his face after eating the twins' chocolates, a few of them burst, the fluid supposedly hitting the camera.
• Cassandra Truth: Harry keeps telling Umbridge the truth that Voldemort killed Cedric but she keeps accusing him of lying and punishes him with detention.
• Catapult Nightmare: Justified as Harry's nightmares are actually depictions of reality brought to him by the unique bond between him and Voldemort. Potter still doesn't fling himself up from lying down, though — the camera just shows him opening his eyes and waking up all sweaty and nervous.
• Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: This film features the first and only appearance of Grawp, and the last appearances of the centaurs and Fudge (whose role in the story ended here anyway, so no true major change).
• Composite Character: Minor example. In the book, it was Padma Patil who was said to cast a really strong Reductor Curse. This is instead given to Ginny in the film.
• Continuity Snarl: In this movie, Hermione had trouble ultimately saying Voldemort's name while talking to the newly formed DA. However, in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Hermione has no problem saying Voldemort's name and even tells Lucius Malfoy that "fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself." Then again, Voldemort was still believed to be more or less gone by the time of the latter film; he's recently returned by the time of this one.
• Crazy-Prepared: Dumbledore lampshades this aspect of himself when he appears at Harry's trial. After Fudge stutters that he was informed of the change in Harry's trial time, Dumbledore simply replies, "...but by a happy mistake, I arrived at the Ministry three hours early."
• Dangled by a Giant: Grawp pulls a Big Damn Heroes by picking up Dolores Umbridge by the scruff of her pink jumper and lifting her to eye level so he can stare at her, right when she's holding Harry and Hermione at wandpoint and nearly strangling one of the local centaurs with some conjured ropes. He eventually lets her go, not through her own efforts, but when he gets bored of the centaurs shooting him, at which point said centaurs carry her off to do... something uncomfortable... to her.
• Dare to Be Badass: During one of the training sessions in Dumbledore's Army, Harry gives a brief speech regarding this, urging each member to try their very best to reach their full magical potential.
  Harry: Working hard is important. But there is something that matters even more, believing in yourself. Think of it this way; every great wizard in history has started out as nothing more than what we are now: students. If they can do it, why not us?
• Darker and Edgier: Although it truly changed with the revival of Voldemort and the death of Cedric in the final act of Goblet of Fire, it is otherwise still a fairly upbeat film. With Order of the Phoenix, the Potter film series becomes noticeably darker and more somber from this point forward.
• Decomposite Character: Cho is the one who betrays Dumbledore's Army to Umbridge, albeit under the influence of Veritaserum, taking Marietta's place from the book.
• Deer in the Headlights: The entire DA when Umbridge blows down the door to the Room of Requirement.
• Demoted to Extra:
  • Kreacher's role is diminished to only two scenes: him speaking to Walburga Black's portrait (which is where Harry first sees him) and when he makes insulting comments to Harry. It is also never explained that he gave information to Narcissa Malfoy. In the book, Kreacher is introduced to Harry by Hermione in front of all the Weasley children.
  • As in all of the previous films, Ginny's role is diminished, and nothing of her relationship with Michael Corner is ever talked about though they are seen together at the meeting in the Hog's Head where Harry, Ron, and Hermione form Dumbledore's Army.
• Did You Actually Believe...?: Part of Lucius's Trash Talk in the climax.
• Dies Differently in Adaptation: In the movie, Sirius Black is hit with Avada Kedavra, falls through an archway portal and disappears. In the book, the spell's beam of light is red, not green like the Killing Curse, and Harry sees it all happen in front of him and doesn't realize said character is dead until after their body doesn't reappear at the other side of the archway, so it was falling through that itself that ended said character's life (it being some kind of portal to the afterlife.)
• Disproportionate Retribution:
  • In the Forbidden Forest, after Umbridge calls the centaurs creatures of near-human intelligence, a Ministry designation, one of them fires an arrow at her. While she was a horrible woman, that specific insult didn't call for trying to kill her.^note This makes more sense in the books, where centaurs are very arrogant about their intelligence, as well as a bit of a superiority complex, and being compared unfavourably to humans would be a massive insult to them
  • The reaction toward Cho's "betrayal" is fairly disproportionate, given that she did not willingly do so and was forced to do so with Veritaserum. Albeit, whether everyone knew at the time that it was because of the latter is unclear.
• Droste Image: The cover of the textbook Dark Arts Defence — Basics for Beginners (which replaces Defensive Magical Theory from the original book) features a young witch and wizard surrounded by black cats and reading a copy of the book with the cover facing out.
• Early-Bird Cameo: The production team made sure to cast an actor as Aberforth Dumbledore for a quick cameo, to set up his later relevance to the seventh book and film. Same with Kreacher, who was almost left out of the film, until Rowling told the production team to include him.
• Elemental Powers: Occurs in the duel between Dumbledore and Voldemort during the climax. Voldemort conjures Fiendfyre (fire), then Dumbledore encases him in a sphere of water (water), Voldemort makes an air current and shockwave (air), and finally Dumbledore turns the various glass pieces flying at him and Harry into sand (earth).
• Entitled Bitch: Even though Umbridge sadistically tortured Harry and many other students by making them carve words into their own skin, took over Hogwarts, and forced students to follow increasingly inane rules, she is genuinely shocked when Harry refuses to save her from a herd of centaurs that she pissed off.
• Epic Rocking: The 6-minute "Room of Requirement" from the soundtrack.
• Exact Words: Umbridge catches the wrong end of this from Harry while she is being dragged off by centaurs.
  Umbridge: Harry! Tell them this is all a misunderstanding! Tell them I mean no harm!
  Harry: I'm sorry, professor, but I must not tell lies.
• Failed Attempt at Drama: An in-universe example. At the very beginning, when Dudley taunts Harry about this dead mother, Harry snaps a little and threatens his cousin with his wand at his throat... Dudley's gang, not knowing a thing about magic or wands, just laugh at this 'pathetic' display. Dudley himself, on the other hand, knows enough to realize he's being threatened and for once has the presence of mind not to make another move.
• Fantastic Fighting Style: The older and more experienced wizards use specific wand-casting movements and stances. Because this film would feature magic fights at a higher level, the actors were trained in wand duelling by dance choreographer Paul Harris.
• Five-Second Foreshadowing: In Occlumency lessons, Snape snaps at Harry, "You and Black, you’re two of a kind, sentimental children forever whining about how bitterly unfair your lives have been. Well, it may have escaped your notice, but life isn’t fair. Your blessed father knew that, in fact, he frequently saw to it!" Right after this, Harry accidentally reverses Snape's Legilimency back on him and sees James bullying Snape when they attended Hogwarts.
• Floating Water: In the climatic battle, Dumbledore momentarily nabs Voldemort inside a sphere of water and levitates it into the air.
• Foreshadowing: A couple of times in the film, Ginny is shown getting jealous at Cho's attention to Harry — foreshadowing their relationship in the next installment.
• Freeze-Frame Bonus: The Starbucks siren is in the photo Sirius shows Harry of the original Order of the Phoenix. She's stylized in keeping with the decor of the room.
• Girliness Upgrade: Tonks in the book favoured her hair short and spiky (though she does occasionally have long hair). In the film, her hair is shoulder-length.
• Half-Breed Discrimination: Umbridge, especially to Hagrid and before she gets carried away by a bunch of angry centaurs. She is also shown measuring how tall Professor Flitwick was, to see if he was part goblin. Flitwick is noticeably offended.
• Hidden Depths: Snape's past as a bullied kid, which is the apparent reason for him picking on Harry since the beginning of the story.
• Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy: Death Eaters can't seem to hit a panicked teenager with a spell even from behind.
• Implied Death Threat: When Bellatrix taunts Neville by asking how his parents are, he simply answers "Better, now they're about to be avenged."
• Ironic Echo: Earlier in the movie, Umbridge forces Harry to write "I must not tell lies." on a piece of parchment with a quill that carves those same words into his hand. Later, when she is accosted by a herd of centaurs that she pissed off, Harry declines her offer to lie and get her out of the mess by saying, "I'm sorry, professor, but I must not tell lies."
• Kick the Dog:
  • Everything Umbridge does. She can't walk down a hallway without finding a dog to kick. The film makes it worse — they just let the monster run loose, giving her a microphone to broadcast her new rules all over the school and use a spell to forcibly separate a kissing couple.
  • ...And use others to tuck in someone's shirt surreptitiously, fix another's tie, etc. That sequence is full of Lawful Stupid dog-kicking.
• Laughing Mad: Bellatrix has a habit of cackling madly.
• Life Isn't Fair: Snape to Harry:
  Snape: Well, it may have escaped your notice, but life isn't fair.
• Macross Missile Massacre: Voldemort attempts this during his duel with Dumbledore by sending thousands of glass pieces at him, which Dumbledore counters with turning the pieces into sand.
• Making a Splash: Dumbledore uses a water-binding spell against Voldemort, though unlike in the book, Voldemort manages to break it.
• Malevolent Masked Men: Every Death Eater except for Bellatrix Lestrange shows up in the Department of Mysteries wearing a creepy mask.
• Manic Pixie Dream Girl: Averted. Luna has many of the quirks associated with this character in her early interactions with Harry Potter but never serves to liven up any boring aspects of Harry's (or any other male character's) life, so she's more just an individual who marches to the beat of her own drummer.
• Match Cut: From a baby thestral devouring a hunk of raw meat to Ron Weasley devouring some sort of fried meat pastry, much to Hermione's disgust.
• Moment of Silence: Harry's reaction to Sirius's death is drowned out by music, with special note going to Harry letting out a scream of anguish that was apparently too agonizing to put in the movie.
• Mood Whiplash: Following Fred's and George's Crowning Moment of Awesome, with the school cheering them, Harry suddenly has a vision of Voldemort torturing Sirius.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • When Harry shoves his wand under Dudley's chin for bullying him, Dudley freezes up, realizing that pushing Harry any further would end very badly.
  • Umbridge and her Inquisitorial Squad have one when Fred and George trash Umbridge's classroom with fireworks.
  • Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville, and Luna all have this reaction when they are surrounded by Death Eaters in the Hall of Prophecy. They have another one when the shelves in the Hall of Prophecy start collapsing after Ginny uses Reducto on one of the Death Eater.
  • Lucius' face completely falls when the prophecy orb falls out of his hand (after he gets punched by Sirius) and smashes to pieces, knowing that his mission has failed and Voldemort will not be happy.
  • Dumbledore has a brief but visible moment of fear when Voldemort summons Fiendfyre. Fortunately, he's able to dispel the attack while sending some of it back at Voldemort.
  • Fudge gasps "He's back!" upon seeing Voldemort in the Ministry, both because a dangerous dark wizard has indeed returned and because his own denial of Harry's warnings will now end his career.
• The One Thing I Don't Hate About You: After Kingsley Shacklebolt and a couple of other aurors fail to arrest Dumbledore, Kingsley comments that the man certainly has style. While his employers might think he's playing this trope straight, the audience knows which side Kingsley is really on.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Fred and George comforting a crying first-year who's been made to carve lines into his own hand, followed by them hitting Umbridge with a Death Glare more potent than Avada Kedavra, is a very sobering moment from two normally joking characters.
• Out of Focus: Draco Malfoy is given especially little to do this time, having only three lines of dialogue and being essentially treated as just another Umbridge flunky. In fact, Lucius Malfoy is featured more prominently in this film than his son! Draco's big role in the next film makes up for it though.
• Pet the Dog:
  • The talking howler-style letter that expelled Harry at least hoped he was doing well. It's nice compared to everything else the Ministry of Magic does to him and his friends.
  • Fred and George get a much straighter example later in the film. Comforting a first-year named Michael, who was crying due to Umbridge's horrible punishments.
  • Many Slytherins, including Pansy Parkinson and even Draco Malfoy, seem to find the Weasley twins' escape entertaining. Draco and Goyle can be seen smiling, at least until they're targeted by the fireworks themselves. Pansy can be seen when the Weasleys fly outside, being the last person to clap, begrudgingly clapping with the rest of the school.
• Plank Gag: A Running Gag is that Filch is seen climbing a ladder to display the many "Educational Decrees", as passed by Professor Umbridge. During one of these scenes, he turns round while carrying the ladder, causing students to duck out of the way.
• The Power of Glass: In his duel against Dumbledore, Voldemort uses a spell that throws a storm of broken shards of glass against him.
• Practical Voice-Over: During the training montage.
• Resigned in Disgrace: Plays out somewhat differently than in the books — in the film, when Fudge is exposed as a liar, the Daily Prophet says that he voluntarily resigns right away. This is in contrast to the books, where he tries to get Harry to support him despite having run a smear campaign against Harry, Dumbledore, and their supporters; when that fails, he is forcibly sacked.
• Screw the Rules, I Make Them!: Fudge and the Ministry attempt to do this to Harry, expelling him from Hogwarts before he even has a chance to defend himself, however, Dumbledore is able to get them to reconsider.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here:
  • Bellatrix as soon as Dumbledore shows up in the Ministry. This is mostly due to circumstances changing; in the book, Dumbledore brings the statues to life and one of them keeps Bellatrix trapped there.
  • After the Ministry attack, Fudge is said to have resigned in disgrace. This is in contrast to the book, where he stays on for a fortnight before he's unanimously sacked.
• Secret Government Warehouse: Who would have thought something innocuously named the Department of Mysteries would have one of these?

• Ship Tease: Big time between Harry and Hermione. While it has occasionally come up in the movies before (and since), this film features it more so than any other movie. Possibly justified, as the director David Yates has stated that he believed that something would happen between the two in future films. Perhaps he wanted to take it in a different direction to the books?
• Shout-Out: A shiny firework (lit by the resident pair of tricksters, no less) turning into a dragon which swoops down and chases someone, then safely blows up in the air, creating a flurry of colourful explosions? Now where have we seen this before?
• Sinister Geometry: Places associated with the Ministry Of Magic's more sinister side are rife with these. The hallway to the courtroom, the Department of Mysteries, the Death Chamber, and of course Azkaban itself are all cubical or triangular, every angle perfect, clean, and sterile.
• Skip of Innocence: Luna does this to reflect her demeanour.
• Spinning Paper: The movie reinvigorates this Dead Horse Trope, and it's awesome. The moving (and talking) pictures help and are entirely Justified because, well, they're magic, and there's a practical use in that it keeps the movie from being bogged down by exposition and allows for easy scene transitions.
• Stock Footage:
  • Footage from previous films (and from earlier scenes in this film) is used for when Harry is experiencing flashbacks, both for his Occlumency lessons and for when Voldemort invades his mind.
  • The fiery serpent Voldemort conjures during the final duel uses the same animation the Basilisk did when it is writhing around.
• A Storm Is Coming: Hagrid says "There's a storm coming", and this scene is directly followed by the Death Eaters breaking out of Azkaban.
• Suddenly Shouting:
  • While Harry is in Dumbledore's office after dreaming of the attack on Arthur Weasley and the grownups are all talking, he starts looking like he's struggling with something inside him before shouting "LOOK AT ME!" (Dumbledore had been avoiding him all movie.) This convinces Dumbledore and Snape to start the Occlumency lessons straightaway instead of waiting until after Christmas.
  • Bellatrix voices her displeasure with Harry's lack of fear of Voldemort rather loudly.
    Bellatrix: You dare speak his name... YOU FILTHY HALF-BLOOD!
• Symbolically Broken Object:
  • The fiery dragon conjured by the Weasley twins destroys all of Umbridge's Educational Decrees, showing that her control over Hogwarts has been broken.
  • The giant banner of Fudge at the Ministry is shredded during Dumbledore's and Voldemort's Wizard Duel, shortly before Fudge himself loses his position as Minister.
• Training Montage: The Room of Requirement scenes where Harry teaches the DA various self-defence spells.
• Visual Pun: Fred and George's dragon firework explodes into numerous sparks that shatter all of Umbridge's educational decrees and cause them to fall around her. That is to say, they literally broke all the rules.
• Walk and Talk: Harry, Ron, and Hermione are filmed in this way as they walk along the wooden footbridge, planning their secret defence against the dark arts meetings.
• Would Hit a Girl: During the battle in the prophecy room, one Death Eater hits Luna in the face before she hits him with Levicorpus.
• Writers Cannot Do Math: Mrs. Figg refers to Cedric's death as happening "last year" — as in during Harry's fourth year. Except the death only happened a couple of months ago in June, when the Dementor Attack happens in August (although it's possible that her "last year" was referring to Harry's previous year in school).
• Wrong-Name Outburst: At one point, Harry is duelling beside his deceased father's best friend, Sirius. When Harry pulls an impressive move, Sirius shouts "Nice one, James!"
• You Fool!: As Voldemort is forced out of Harry Potter by the power of his love for others, he tells him, "You're a fool, Harry Potter. And you will lose... everything."
• You Taught Me That: Professor Umbridge makes Harry magically carve the words "I must not tell lies" on the back of his hand as a punishment for telling a Cassandra Truth (that Voldemort has returned). Towards the end, he and Hermione have lured Umbridge to a centaur herd, and when Umbridge pleas for Harry to tell the centaurs she means them no harm, he replies "I'm sorry, Professor, but I must not tell lies", while holding up the scarred hand.

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"I must not tell lies"