None of the staff but Filch seemed to be stirring themselves to help her. Indeed, a week after Free and George’s departure Harry witnessed Professor McGonagall walking right past Peeves, who was determinedly loosening a crystal chandelier, and could have sworn he heard her tell the poltergeist out of the corner of her mouth, “It unscrews the other way.”
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix – J.K. Rowling
“If anyone fancies buing a Portable Swamp, as demonstrated upstairs, come to number ninety-three, Diagon Alley — Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes,” he said in a loud voice. “Our new premises!”
“Special discounts to Hogwarts students who swear they’re going to use our products to get rid of this old bat,” added George, pointing at Professor Umbridge.
“STOP THEM!” shrieked Umbridge, but it was too late. As the Inquisitorial Squad closed in, Fred and George kicked off from the floor, shooting fifteen feet into the air, the iron peg swinging dangerously below. Fred looked across the hall at the poltergeist bobbing on his level above the crowd.
“Give her hell from us, Peeves.”
And Peeves, whom Harry had never seen take an order from a student before, swept his belled hat from his head and sprang to a salute as Fred and George wheeled about to tumultuous applause from the students below and sped out of the open front doors into the glorious sunset.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix – J. K. Rowling
“Oh, why don’t we have a night off?” Said Hermione brightly, as a silver-tailed Weasley rocket zoomed past the window. “After all, the Easter holidays start on Friday, we’ll have plenty of time then. . . .”
“Are you feeling all right?” Ron asked, staring at her in disbelief.
“Now you mention it,” said Hermione happily, “d’you know . . . I think I’m feeling a bit . . . rebellious.”
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix – J. K. Rowling
She said nothing, but marched Harry and Marietta to the door. As it swung closed behind them, Harry heard Phineas Nigellus’s voice.
“You know, Minister, I disagree with Dumbledore on many counts . . . but you cannot deny he’s got style. . . .”
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix – J.K. Rowling
“Ah,” said Dumbledore gently, “yes. Yes, I thought we might hit that little snag.”
“Snag?” said Fudge, his voice still vibrating with joy. “I see no snag, Dumbledore!”“Well,” said Dumbledore apologetically, “I’m afraid I do.”
“Oh really?”
“Well — it’s just that you seem to be laboring under the delusion that I am going to — what is the phrase? ‘Come quietly.’ I am afraid that I am not going to come quietly at all, Cornelius. I have absolutely no intention of being sent to Azkaban. I could break out, of course — but what a waste of time, and frankly, I can think of a whole host of things I would rather be doing.”
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix – J.K. Rowling
Neville’s mother had come edging down the ward in her nightdress. She no longer had the plump, happy-looking face Harry had seen in Moody’s Old photograph of the original Order of the Phoenix. Her face was thin and worn now, her eyes seemed overlarge, and her hair, which had turned white, was whispy and dead-looking. She did not seem to want to speak, or perhaps was not able to, but she made timid motions toward Neville, holding something in her outstretched hand.
“Again?” said Mrs. Longbottom, sounding slightly weary. “Very well, Alice dear, very well — Neville, take it, whatever it is. . . .”
But Neville had already stretched out his hand, into which his mother dropped an empty Droobles Blowing Gum wrapper.
“Very nice, dear,” said Neville’s grandmother in a falsely cheery voice, patting his mother on the shoulder. But Neville said quietly, “Thanks Mum.”
His mother tottered away, back up the ward, humming to herself. Neville looked around at the others, his expression defiant, as though daring them to laugh, but Harry did not think he’d ever found anything less funny in his life.
“Well, we’d better get back,” sighed Mrs. Longbottom, drawing on long green gloves. “Very nice to have met you all. Neville, put that wrapper in the bin, she must have given you enough of them to paper your bedroom by now. . . .”
But as they left, Harry was sure he saw Neville slip the wrapper into his pocket.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix – J.K. Rowling
“Don’t you understand how Cho’s feeling at the moment?” she asked.
“No,” said Harry and Ron together.
Hermione sighed and laid down her quill.
“Well, obviously, she’s feeling very sad, because of Cedric dying. Then I expect she’s feeling confused because she liked Cedric and now she likes Harry, and she can’t work out who she likes best. Then she’ll be feeling guilty, thinking it’s an insult to Cedric’s memory to be kissing Harry at all, and she’ll be worrying about what everyone else might say about her if she starts going out with Harry. And she probably can’t work out what her feelings toward Harry are anyway, because he was the one who was with Cedric when Cedric died, so that’s all very mixed up and painful. Oh, and she’s afraid she’s going to be thrown off the Ravenclaw Quidditch team because she’s been flying so badly.”
A slightly stunned silence greeted the end of this speech, then Ron said, “One person can’t feel all that at once, they’d explode.”
“Just because you’ve got the emotional range of a teaspoon doesn’t mean we all have,” said Hermione nastily, picking up her quill again.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix – J.K. Rowling
“Good luck, Ron,” said Hermione, standing on tiptoe and kissing him on the cheek. “And you, Harry –”
Ron seemed to come to himself slightly as they walked back across the Great Hall. He touched the spot on his face where Hermione had kissed him, looking puzzled, as though he was not quite sure what had just happened.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix – J.K. Rowling
“Can we be the Anti-Umbridge League?” said Angelina hopefully.
“Or the Ministry of Magic Are Morons Group?” suggested Fred.
“I was thinking,” said Hermione, frowning at Fred, “more of a name that didn’t tell everyone what we’re up to, so we can refer to it safely outside meetings.”
“The Defense Association?” said Cho. “The D.A. for short, so nobody knows what we’re talking about?”
“Yeah, the D.A.’s good,” said Ginny. “Only let’s make it stand for Dumbledore’s Army because that’s the Ministry’s worst fear, isn’t it?”
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix – J.K. Rowling
Now that 2014 is well under way it’s a good time to look back at the movies of 2013. I went to the movies 40 times in 2013, a pretty low number for me, seeing 32 new films (the other 8 were either movies I saw more than once or classics I got the chance to see on the big screen). Through a variety of reasons, I’ve managed to miss most of the big awards contenders including 12 Years a Slave, American Hustle, Her, Philomena and The Wolf of Wall Street, unlike last year when I had seen most of them. Instead of simply ranking my favorite films from the past year, however, I prefer to highlight my top 10 (and bottom 3) movie-related things from 2013. Some of these will be particular movies or performances, some will be scenes or aspects of production, and some are bits of news or interpretations. I hope you enjoy it, and remember to let me know your favorite (or least favorite) film-related things from 2013! Continue reading
The Love Pirate 