Harry Potter

While home for the summer, Harry and Dudley Dursley are attacked by Dementors. The Ministry of Magic threatens to expel him, but after Dumbledore’s intervention, they agree to let him stay in school depending on the outcome of a disciplinary hearing. A guard that is part of the Order of the Phoenix, lures the Dursleys away from their house and takes Harry to their headquarters, 12 Grimmauld Place, for the remainder of his summer vacation. At the hearing, Harry is cleared of all charges and is allowed to continue to his 5th year at Hogwarts.

Upon arriving at Hogwarts, Harry realizes that the majority of his classmates don’t believe his saying that Voldemort has returned. After arguing with Professor Umbridge, the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, about her teaching methods she assigns him detention for an entire week. In his first detention, he discovers her idea of punishment: he is forced to write, “I must not tell lies” in his own blood using a special quill.

At Hermione’s urging, Harry agrees to secretly teach students a proper Defense Against the Dark Arts class. Harry assumes that no one would want to learn from him because they all thought he was a “nutter,” but ultimately finds 25 willing students. Dobby tells Harry about the Room of Requirement, a magical room in Hogwarts castle that only appears when needed, and he decides that it is an ideal practice space for the newly formed “Dumbledore’s Army.”

At the first Quidditch match of the season, Gryffindor defeated Slytherin; after the match, Draco Malfoy began taunting and insulting Harry, Fred, and George. Harry and George attacked Malfoy and as a result had their brooms confiscated and were banned from Quidditch for life by Umbridge, the newly appointed High Inquisitor.

A few nights before Christmas break begins, Harry has a dream that Mr. Weasley is attacked by a snake. After waking and alerting both Professors McGonagall and Dumbledore, it is found that Mr. Weasley is indeed at the Ministry and suffering from several bites from a venomous snake. Upon returning from Christmas vacation, Dumbledore tells Harry that he will be studying Occlumency, a tactic to guard one’s mind against intrusion, with Professor Snape for the remainder of the year. During the lessons, Harry keeps seeing a dark hallway with a door, the same one from the recurring dreams he’s been having. After one particularly difficult lesson where Harry accidentally enters Snape’s memories, Snape ends their lessons early.

During a meeting to discuss his potential career plans with Professor McGonagall, Harry expresses his desire to become an Auror, to the dismay of Umbridge. During his Ordinary Wizarding Level exam, Harry passes out and has a vision of Sirius being tortured at the Ministry of Magic. Harry tries to see if Sirius is at Grimmauld Place by connecting to the Floo Network from Umbridge’s office, but is caught. Just as Umbridge is about to use the Cruciatus Curse on Harry, Hermione tells her that Dumbledore has hidden a weapon in the Forbidden Forest.

After escaping the centaurs in the forest who attacked Umbridge, Harry and several other students go to the Ministry to try and rescue Sirius. They soon find out that Harry’s vision was a ruse. They are met by Death Eaters and are nearly defeated before members of the Order arrive to help. During the battle, Harry witnesses Sirius get blasted by a curse from Bellatrix Lestrange, Sirius’ cousin, and disappear behind a mysterious veiled archway. He is then told that Sirius is dead. Lord Voldemort appears at the Ministry and after battling Dumbledore, attempts to possess Harry.

Several days after the battle, Harry and Dumbledore meet in Dumbledore’s office, where Dumbledore apologizes for withholding information from Harry in the past year. Dumbledore then informs Harry of his ultimate destiny to defeat the Dark Lord.

Ron Weasley

Before the school year starts, Ron is appointed Gryffindor prefect, to his shock and Harry’s anger. After returning to Hogwarts, Ron tries out for the Gryffindor Quidditch team and makes the team as that season’s Keeper, though his nerves prevent him from being as spectacular as Gryffindor House had hoped he would be. Ron and Hermione encourage Harry to teach interested students Defense Against the Dark Arts, to supplement Umbridge’s Ministry-approved curriculum. After its inception, Ron joined the new renegade group, named Dumbledore’s Army (also known as the DA). Shortly before the Christmas holidays, Harry dreams that Ron’s father is attacked by a snake at the Ministry of Magic. Ron takes Harry to Professors McGonagall and Dumbledore, and they are able to alert the proper people to find Mr. Weasley and save him. After being told about Harry’s vision, Ron and several other members of the DA fly to London to save Sirius from his (then unknown) attacker at the Ministry.

Hermione Granger

Before the beginning of the school year, Hermione is appointed Gryffindor prefect, to no one’s surprise. After realizing that Umbridge’s curriculum won’t properly prepare the students for their upcoming O.W.L.s, Hermione asks if Harry would be willing to teach her and other interested students defensive magic. After he agrees, she sets up a meeting and ultimately helps Harry create Dumbledore’s Army.

Hermione rescues Harry from being tortured by Umbridge by telling her that Dumbledore had hidden a weapon in the Forbidden Forest. Hermione and Harry lead Umbridge out to the forest, where Umbridge is attacked by the centaurs after provoking them. Hermione then accompanies Harry, Ron, Luna, Neville, and Ginny to the Ministry of Magic to try and rescue Sirius.

Albus Dumbledore

After hearing that the Ministry intended to expel Harry for using magic in the presence of a Muggle, Dumbledore reminded them that expelling students wasn’t within their jurisdiction. At Harry’s hearing in August, he attends as a character witness on Harry’s behalf. After the hearing, he leaves withoutspeaking directly to Harry.

The night that Mr. Weasley is attacked, Dumbledore alerts several people who all coordinate to find Mr. Weasley. After the Christmas break, Dumbledore informs Harry that he will be studying Occlumency with Professor Snape.

When Umbridge discovers the DA, she takes several of the students to Dumbledore. Dumbledore tells Umbridge and the Ministry officials that are present that he was responsible for Harry’s creation of the DA. When the Aurors attempt to take him into custody, Dumbledore easily disarms them and escapes with Fawkes, his pet phoenix.

During the battle at the Ministry, Dumbledore battles Voldemort and ultimately wins. Near the end of the school year, Dumbledore calls Harry into his office and apologizes to him for withholding information. Dumbledore then informs Harry about the prophecy made about him before he was born and informs him of his destiny to defeat Voldemort.

Sirius Black

After hearing about Harry’s trouble with the Ministry, Sirius sends him a letter telling him to not leave Privet Drive and to stay out of trouble until the issue could be sorted out.

Sirius offers his home at 12 Grimmauld Place as the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. During the course of Harry’s stay at Grimmauld Place, Sirius encourages him to ask questions about the inner workings of the Order and about Voldemort’s actions, to Mrs. Weasley’s frustration and anger. When Harry leaves for Hogwarts, Sirius accompanies him to the train station in his Animagus form, a dog by the name of Snuffles.

Harry has a vision that Sirius is being held and tortured at the Ministry, which turns out to be a ploy by the Death Eaters to get Harry to the Ministry of Magic. Members of the Order (including Sirius) go to the Ministry to help the students battle the Death Eaters. While involved in a duel with his cousin, Bellatrix Lestrange, Sirius is hit by one of her curses and disappears behind a veiled archway into the “beyond.”

Dolores Umbridge

At Harry’s Ministry hearing, Umbridge is one of the jurors on the Wizengamot, as well as the Senior Undersecretary to the Minister of Magic. She seems incredulous that dementors would be present in a Muggle settlement and seems affronted that Dumbledore is suggesting that the Ministry sent them.

At the Start of Term banquet at Hogwarts, it is announced that Umbridge is the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. In her lessons, she used a curriculum that has been approved by the Ministry, one that eliminates all practical application of defensive spells. After arguing with Harry about Cedric Diggory’s true cause of death, she assigns Harry detention for a week. In these detentions, she has him write lines with a quill that carves the words into the back of the user’s hand, causing the lines to be written in the user’s own blood.

Umbridge is appointed the Hogwarts High Inquisitor by the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, and she begins using her new title to try and purge the school of teachers she finds unfit. She also imposes a number of Educational Decrees, which restrict the teachers’ and students’ freedom.

After Dumbledore’s escape from the Aurors attempting to arrest him, Umbridge appoints herself Headmistress of Hogwarts. With her new power, she attempts to have Hagrid removed from Hogwarts, to no avail.

After discovering Harry attempting to use her fireplace to contact Sirius, she flies into a rage. She admits to sending the dementors to Little Whinging that past summer and attempts to use the Cruciatus Curse on Harry. Before she is able to, however, Hermione claims to know of a weapon that Dumbledore hid in the Forbidden Forest.

When Hermione, Harry, and Umbridge reach the forest, they are seen by the centaurs and Umbridge insults them. One of the centaurs picks her up and carries her off into the forest, screaming.