The Advance Guard (OP)
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The Advance Guard is the third chapter in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
Contents |
Anxiety
Harry finally gets to his room in number four, Privet Drive after the long and odd conversation with his uncle and aunt narrated in A Peck of Owls, and writes three identical letters to Sirius Black, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger: "I've just been attacked by Dementors and I might be expelled from Hogwarts. I want to know what's going on and when I'm going to get out of here."
Hedwig is off hunting; Harry impatiently waits for her to arrive. He's achy and bone-tired, frustrated and very angry. He's curious regarding the Howler received by Aunt Petunia, and exasperated at being followed in secret by Arabella Figg and Mundungus Fletcher. When Hedwig finally arrives, bringing a dead frog with her, he instructs her to leave it behind and take the letters to their recipients, not returning to Privet Drive until she received a proper, long reply.
Harry plops down on the bed, feeling guilty for being harsh with Hedwig. He trusts that the following day the owl will return with three long letters with plans for his transportation to The Burrow.
Frustration
Hedwig doesn't return. Harry remains confined to his room for three days, in a foul mood. Petunia shoves food inside through the cat-flap (CS2) three times a day, but doesn't reply when he tries to question her about the mysterious Howler she received the previous night.
On the fourth night after Hedwig's departure, Harry is lying on his bed when Vernon enters the room, announcing that the Dursleys are going out. He admonishes Harry not to leave his bedroom, touch the television or any of the family's possessions, or steal food from the fridge. The boy is suspiciously accepting of these conditions, and Vernon locks him in the room before leaving.
Harry is too lazy even to turn on his bedroom light. The room becomes darker around him, and he remains lying on the bed. He would have lied there for longer, had he not heard a loud crash coming from the kitchen.
He sits upright, alarmed, now hearing voices. At first he thinks they are burglars—but they are not bothering in the least to keep their voices down. In a reflex, he gets his wand and listens intently.
Harry jumps when the lock of his bedroom door clicks, and the door swings open.
"Lower your wand, boy, before you take someone's eye out," says an unmistakable growling voice.
The Advance Guard
Harry promptly recognizes Alastor Moody (the former Auror doesn't accept the title of 'Professor', since he didn't actually teach much at Hogwarts the previous year), and lowers his wand slightly. He remains, however, suspicious and wary, until he hears the voice of Remus Lupin reassuring him.
Nymphadora Tonks decides to use Lumos to illuminate the foot of the stairs near which they all stand. Now Harry can see the visitors more clearly:
- Remus has more grey hairs than he did when Harry last saw him (PA22); his robes are shabbier and more patched than ever.
- Tonks has a pale heart-shaped face, dark twinkling eyes, and short, spiky, violet hair ("Wotcher, Harry!" she says). She doesn't like being called Nymphadora, preferring simply 'Tonks' ("So would you, if your fool of a mother had called you Nymphadora.").
- Kingsley Shacklebolt, a bald, black wizard with a deep, slow voice and a single gold hoop in his ear, says that Remus is right; Harry "looks exactly like James."
- "Except the eyes," Elphias Doge, a wheezy-voiced, silver-haired man, predictably adds. "Lily's eyes."
Moody voices his suspicions that Harry might be a Death Eater in disguise, suggesting the use of Veritaserum. Remus assures him otherwise after asking Harry what shape his Patronus takes.
Harry goes down the stairs, aware of everyone's eyes on him, and puts his wand in the back of his jeans. This ears him Moody's disapproval, and a warning ("Better wizards than you have lost buttocks, you know!"); according to the paranoid wizard, nobody bothers about elementary wand safety anymore.
Harry is still shocked at the sudden arrival of several wizards in his house after months of silence. He mentions the fortunate absence of the Dursleys, only to find out that it wasn't a coincidence: Tonks wrote them a letter by the Muggle post saying they'd been short-listed for the All-England Best Kept Suburban Lawn Competition, and inviting them to the prize-giving ceremony.
When Harry asks where they are going, Remus says only that they have set up Headquarters somewhere other than The Burrow, somewhere undetectable. He then introduces his companions to the boy—all the ones mentioned above plus:
- Dedalus Diggle, who excitedly point out that he and Harry had met before (PS2 and PS5) and drops his violet hat.
- Emmeline Vance, a "stately-looking witch in an emerald green shawl".
- Hestia Jones, a "pink-cheeked, black-haired witch".
All these wizards and witches had volunteered to go pick up Harry, says Remus. They're just waiting for the signal to leave.
Tonks remarks that the Dursleys are extremely clean; her father is a Muggle-born wizard and is "a right old slob". She guesses it varies, like it does with wizards.
When Harry starts making questions about Voldemort, he is quickly silenced by the visiting wizards and witches. Moody explains that it's too risky to discuss such matters at Number Four.
While talking to Harry, he notices that this magical eye is stuck again; that has been happening often ever since Bartemius Crouch, Jr. wore it (GF35). Moody removes the eye with a disgusting squelching sound and cleans it by rinsing the eye in a glass of water and prodding it up and down.
Remus explains to Harry that they are travelling by broomstick: Harry is too young to Apparate, the Floo Network is monitored, and they wouldn't want to make an unauthorised Portkey.
Kingsley mentions that Lupin has commended Harry's flying skills some time earlier, and the werewolf confirms it. He adds that the boy should get ready before the signal comes. Tonks offers to go help Harry, and he takes her to his room.
Nymphadora Tonks
Tonks comments that the house is a bit "too clean", only to appreciate the mess that is Harry's room moments later. He'd been locked inside for four days, in a foul mood, and had not bothered to do any cleaning.
Harry starts packing in a hurry. Meanwhile, Tonks stares at her reflection on the mirror inside his closet for a while before deciding to change her hair colour from violet to bubble-gum pink. She closes her eyes tightly and alters her appearance. She then explains that she is a Metamorphmagus—able to change her appearance at will. It is a condition one must have from birth.
Tonks goes on to say, much to Harry's fascination, that she is an Auror, having qualified a year ago, and so is Kingsley, who is a bit higher up than her. During training, she nearly failed Stealth and Tracking (she is very clumsy), and got top marks in Concealment and Disguise.
She uses her wand to pack, but the outcome isn't very orderly. Tonks mentions that her mother is much more skilled at household charms than she is. Hedwig's cage, which is dirty and starting to smell, is half-cleaned with a gauche Scourgify.
They return to the kitchen, with his trunk ahead of them, a few inches above the ground (Tonks used the spell Locomotor trunk and employed her wand to conduct it). Moody has replaced his eye. Kingsley and Sturgis are staring the microwave, and Hestia Jones is highly amused by a potato peeler. Remus was sealing a letter addressed to the Dursleys, telling them not to worry about Harry.
Moody then casts a Disillusionment Charm on Harry. James' Invisibility Cloak wouldn't stay on him while flying, and the boy needs to be camouflaged. The charm feels like an egg smashed on top of his head, trickling down his body; its effects are camouflage, with the body taking on the appearance of what's next to it.
The journey
Everyone leaves the house. Moody complains about the lack of clouds, and instructs the rest regarding their formation: Tonks and Remus cover Harry from the front and below, respectively, and Moody will be behind. The others will circle them, constantly changing position. Harry's trunk and Hedwig's cage are tied to a harkness bound to Tonks' broomstick.
Moody mentions the possibility that one of them will be murdered while they're at it; should they all die except for Harry, he is supposed to fly east, where the rear guard is standing by to take over. These plans make Harry apprehensive, but the others calm him down.
Far off in the sky, someone shoots red wand sparks, and Remus notes that that is the first signal; they mount their broomsticks. When green wand sparks shoot up, they kick off.
During the journey, they're forced to swerve slightly and then go higher up for fear of being spotted by Muggles; they later change course several times along the way. The cold and humidity are almost too much to bear. Harry remembers being this cold on a broomstick only once before (PA9).
Moody suggests that they double back for a bit, to make sure they're not followed. Tonks loudly voices her disagreement, and Lupin orders everyone to descend.
They finally land on a patch of grass in the middle of a small square. The dingy houses surrounding it aren't welcoming; some of them have broken windows, and piles of rubbish mount in front of several.
Moody uses a Put-Outer that he borrowed from Dumbledore (PS1) to extinguish all the lights in the square. Remus and Tonks carry Harry's trunk, and the rest of the guard is on lookout, holding their wands.
The former Auror then hands Harry a piece of parchment, instructing him to read it and memorise. A familiar handwriting (PS15) had written: "The Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix may be found at number twelve, Grimmauld Place, London."
Trivia
- Harry owns a book called Quidditch Teams of Britain and Ireland.
- Tonks is in awe of Harry's Firebolt; she rides a Comet 260.
| Previous chapter | This chapter | Next chapter |
|---|---|---|
| A Peack of Owls | The Advance Guard | Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place |
