In the words of George ...

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix: Chapter 29

If I had the displeasure of introducing Dolores Umbridge to a crowd, it might go something like this:

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Dolores Umbridge, the most hated headmistress in the history of Hogwarts.

Or, Dolores Umbridge, the wicked witch of the Ministry of the Magic.

But I think I would most like to introduce her in the words of George Weasley: Dolores Umbridge, the old bat.

Yes, that would give me pleasure.

As readers we, of course, side with Harry and all his friends. And we root against their opposition. And Dolores is definitely the opposition. I hope Harry gets to be an auror, especially after her display in the career counseling session. Talk about your micro-managers. Oh, and good for McGonagall standing up to the boss.

Harry's talk with Sirius and Lupin should calm him down about his dad. Their insistence on resuming his Occlumency lessons was revealing. Everyone believes this is serious business, but they won't tell Harry exactly why. Tell the boy already. Don't you know by now that this approach doesn't work with Harry. He will just go off in another direction if he doesn't understand why.

And then there's Snape. He needs to grow up and forget the past. Move on. Let it go. And just take one for the Order.

Going to the dogs

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: Chapter 17

Hogwarts sure is turning into a zoo.

Sirius Black can turn himself into a big dog, as I made reference to in earlier posts. Peter Pettigrew is a rat. Crookshanks ... I keep waiting for him to be somebody, but so far he's just a plain old cat. Seriously, who besides McGonagall would want to use their magical powers to morph into a cat? And Lupin is a werewolf.

I saw that coming. With a name like Lupin it made sense, because the latin word for wolf is lupus.

So two and a half of the trio (Ron has a broken leg you know) take out the vaunted Sirius Black? Didn't see that coming.

It also made sense that Lupin found his way to the Shrieking Shack. Harry needed help against the dark arts and Lupin is the first competent prof he's had. Plus, Lupin had taken an obvious interest in Harry.

And is there anything happening at Hogwarts that Lupin doesn't know about?

Rats, cats and dogs ... and werewolves ... Oh, my!

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: Chapter 18

Lupin continues to make a short story long, but the others don't help as they argue about the revelation that Scabbers is Pettigrew.

It's all very interesting to learn about Lupin's werewolfing and how Black, Pettigrew and James Potter tried to turn Hogwarts into Animal House. But even Black gets impatient.

Enter Snape, who can add eavesdropper to his resume the next time he tries for the Defense Against the Dark Arts position.

Snape, he just never gets along with the popular kids. Time for me to turn the page and see what part he will play and if Black gets to satisfy his murderous desires.