THE DRAGONS & DOLORES UMBRIDGE'S PROCLAMATIONS

Dragons are giant winged, fire-breathing reptilian beasts. Widely regarded as terrifying yet awe-inspiring, they can be found all over the world and are frequently referred to in Asian and medieval European folklore.

Able to fly and breathe fire through their nostrils and mouths, they are one of the most dangerous and hardest to conceal creatures in the wizarding world. The British Ministry of Magic classifies them as XXXXX, known wizard killers that are impossible to train or domesticate. Despite how dangerous they are, there are people who are trained to work with them, called dragon keepers, or dragonologists. A wizard or witch who trades and sells dragon eggs, which is an illegal activity,  is referred to as a dragon dealer.

Dragon mothers breathe fire on their eggs to keep them warm. They do not keep their eggs in nests. Newly born dragons are referred to as chicks. The dragon's first fire breaths, usually accompanied by thick grey smoke, appear when the dragon is around six months old. However, the ability to fly is normally developed later, at around twelve months, and the dragon will not be fully mature until it is two years old and ready to live on its own.

Dragon Breeding for Pleasure and Profit states that you are to feed a baby dragon a bucket of brandy mixed with chicken blood every half hour. This apparently serves a replacement for dragon milk.

Not much is known about dragon behaviour, however it seems that, at least with the Chinese Fireball, females are generally larger and dominant over males.

More information: Wizarding World I & II

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them states that sometimes females oust males from their territories, at least with the Antipodean Opaleye.

Fantastic Beasts also states that Fireballs are unusual in that they are willing to share territory with one another, although no more than three dragons will share the same territory. This indicates that dragons are highly territorial.

Dragons are generally highly aggressive towards anything, even wizards, and will sometimes attack humans without provocation, such as in the case of the Ilfracombe Incident.

The Great Fire of London in 1666 was probably started by a young Welsh Green Dragon kept in the basement of the house in Puddling Lane.

Dragon breeding was outlawed by the Warlocks' Convention of 1709.

A rogue Welsh Green dragon descends on a beach full of Muggle holidaymakers in 1932. Tilly Toke and her family happen to be there, and her family casts the largest Mass Memory Charm of this century on all the Muggles of Ilfracombe. She is later awarded the Order of Merlin, First Class for her quick action to avoid breaking the International Statute of Secrecy.

The Muggles later remember nothing of the incident, with the exception of an old fellow known as Dodgy Dirk, who still claims that a dirty great flying lizard attacked him on the beach. People think he’s crazy, of course.

In 1799 a Ukranian Ironbelly dragon carried off a Muggle sailing ship, fortunately there was no one aboard the ship at the time.

In 1802 according to an unsubstantiated report off the coast of Norway A Norwegian Ridgeback dragon, supposedly, carries off a whale calf.

Newt Scamander, for a time, worked in the Dragon Research and Restraint Bureau at the Ministry of Magic. He also spent World War I working with Ukrainian Ironbelly dragons on the Eastern Front.

More information: Wizarding World I & II

In the 1970s a rogue Antipodean Opaleye dragon killed several kangaroos in Australia. It was a male, believed to have come to Australia in search of a place to live after being ousted from its territory in New Zealand by a female.

Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger arrived just in time to see a baby Norwegian Ridgeback emerge from its egg. The baby dragon sneezed some sparks and almost bites Rubeus Hagrid, who is delighted.

The first signs of hatching must have begun by breakfast time, since it was then that Harry, Ron, and Hermione received a note from Hagrid informing them of it. They go to his hut right after their morning Herbology class.

Dragons were used in the First Task of the Triwizard Tournament, in which the champions had to retrieve a golden egg from a nesting mother. The varieties used were: the Hungarian Horntail, the Chinese Fireball, the Swedish Short-Snout, and a Welsh Green. Ron's brother Charlie Weasley worked with dragons in Romania at the time, and helped transport the dragons used in the Tournament. Dragons are also used to guard certain vaults at Gringotts Wizarding Bank, and one was used by Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger to escape the bank following their break-in.

Though they cannot be domesticated, there is one known instance of a dragon being used as a mount. Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger rode on the back of a dragon, though they had trouble maintaining a grip on their steed, and could not control its flight.

Before playing in the Quidditch final against Slytherin, Harry dreamed that the Slytherin team were flying on dragons instead of broomsticks. When he awoke he realised that they would not be allowed to ride dragons.

The dragon model, like the model in the First Task of Triwizard Tournament, was used in a roast chestnuts sale, near Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, in Diagon Alley to hold the chestnut in place.

Dragon milk can be used to create dragon milk cheese, as noted in the revised edition of Charm Your Own Cheese.

More information: Hobby Lark

 

Download The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J. K. Rowling

There are a lot of evils in Hogwarts history, but The Grandma also wants to talk today about one of the worst, Dolores Umbridge, the British half-blood witch and British Ministry of Magic bureaucrat.
 

One of the big problems of living under a state of alarm is the possibility of suffer abuses managed by the power. Hogwarts has suffered this kind of situation. Dolores Umbridge, witch and British Ministry of Magic bureaucrat was installed as Hogwarts High Inquisitor and Headmistress.

The Weasleys and The Grandma have known the story of Dolores Umbridge, her iron hand and her lack of empathy with Hogwarts students and professors.

Madam Dolores Jane Umbridge is a British half-blood witch and British Ministry of Magic bureaucrat who served as Senior Undersecretary to the Minister for Magic under Ministers Cornelius Fudge, Rufus Scrimgeour, and Pius Thicknesse.

By order of the Ministry, she was installed as Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and then later Hogwarts High Inquisitor and Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, after Professor Albus Dumbledore had been fired.

In all three of these positions at Hogwarts she had enormous power over the students, teachers, and the curriculum, which she wielded despotically.

Her time at Hogwarts was characterised by cruelty and abusive punishments against students, and because of her interfering and condescending ways, she was widely despised by most students and teachers alike.

After her suspension from these additional posts and the fall of the Ministry of Magic, Umbridge ran the Muggle-Born Registration Commission and sadistically prosecuted many innocent people. After the Second Wizarding War, she was sentenced to Azkaban for her crimes against Muggle-borns, where she would remain for the rest of her life.

Dolores Umbridge was the first child of a wizard named Orford Umbridge and a Muggle named Ellen Cracknell. Her younger brother was a Squib, but Dolores was born a witch. Under her father's influence, she despised her Muggle mother and her Squib brother, considering them inferior to her and her father, and Dolores and her father denounced them. Before Dolores reached 15 years old, Ellen and her son returned to the Muggle world, never to be heard of again.

At some point, she obtained her wand, made from birch and dragon heartstring with an unusually short length of only eight inches. According to Garrick Ollivander, abnormally short wands usually selected those whose moral character was stunted, rather than because they were physically short.

More information: Wizarding World I & II

Umbridge attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where she was Sorted into Slytherin and her head of house was Horace Slughorn.  

She never got along well with Slughorn, who considered her to be an idiotic woman and never liked her.  She was also never given any position of power during her studies, which made her feel deprived, and she never truly enjoyed her time as a student at Hogwarts.

After leaving Hogwarts, Umbridge quickly rose to influential positions in the British Ministry of Magic. At the age of 17, just after leaving Hogwarts, she started her political career as an intern in the Improper Use of Magic Office. 

Before reaching age 30, she became the Head of the Office, evidence of her ruthless tactics under her sweet attitude, which also involved taking credit for other people's work.

This set up the beginning of her dubious career as a Ministry employee, one who tyrannised her subordinates while flattering her equals and her superiors.

Dolores, being very opportunistic and power-hungry, was ashamed of her father, who was a low-level worker in the Department of Magical Maintenance, while she was seeking a professional career. Under her pressure, he retired early and she promised him a small monthly allowance in exchange for quietly leaving the public sight.

From that point on she lied about her family, claiming that she was a pure-blood rather than a half-blood. She eventually became Senior Undersecretary to the Minister for Magic and had a place in the Wizengamot.

Umbridge's hatred towards half-breeds led her to draft a piece of anti-werewolf legislation in 1993, which made it nearly impossible for werewolves, such as Remus Lupin, to find work. This act also made it easier for Lord Voldemort to recruit werewolves to his cause, preying on their treatment by the Ministry. 

She also campaigned that the merpeople be rounded up and tagged, though this idea was scrapped due to it being too ludicrous to be put into effect.

More information: Screen Rant I, II & III

As Senior Under-Secretary to the Minister for Magic, Umbridge managed to claw her way up to power using Cornelius Fudge's increasing paranoia and insecurities to her advantage.

She also used her authority to intimidate Harry Potter during an interrogation before the Wizengamot. She was very outspoken against him and tried to discredit his claim that the only reason he cast a Patronus Charm was because of the presence of Dementors.

She said that the Dementors were under the control of the Ministry, and that it was preposterous that they would just happen to wander into a Muggle suburb and chance upon a wizard. She believed Harry Potter should be punished for inadvertently violating the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery.

Owing to the fairness of Madam Amelia Bones and a majority ruling of the court, Harry Potter was found innocent. Only Fudge, Umbridge, and roughly a half-dozen of the court voted for conviction. Harry Potter was cleared of all charges, much to Umbridge's disappointment.

Umbridge was placed at Hogwarts as the new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, by order of the Ministry of Magic, under the terms of Educational Decree Number Twenty-Two, without Albus Dumbledore's consent. Her placement was to limit the learning of martial magic and allow the Ministry to monitor the activities at Hogwarts.

The Minister did this because of an unfounded fear that Albus Dumbledore was trying to upturn his position as the Minister and was also afraid that Albus Dumbledore was using the students as a means of overthrowing the Ministry.

She taught according to a politically restricted Ministry-approved curriculum. This curriculum entailed learning strictly the theory of Defence Against the Dark Arts, with no practical applications. Umbridge taught exclusively from a simplistic book: Defensive Magical Theory, by Wilbert Slinkhard, which seemed, based on the chapter headings, to concern itself with negotiation and appeasement of, rather than actual defence against, the Dark Arts.

After working at Hogwarts for a short while and having a discussion with the Minister, Educational Decree Number Twenty-Three increased Umbridge's power and influence in Hogwarts.

She was appointed the first-ever Hogwarts High Inquisitor and used this position to evaluate, harass, and fire any teachers at Hogwarts.

More information: Screen Rant I & II

Dolores Umbridge was described to be a short squat woman resembling a large pale toad. She had a broad, flabby face, a wide, slack mouth, and little neck. Her eyes were bulging and pouchy, and in her mousy brown hair she often wore a black velvet bow, which reminded Harry of a fly perched dangerously above a toad, furthering Umbridge's toad-like characteristics.

She spoke with a simpering high-pitched voice that was girlish and breathless, contrary to her appearance, Harry expected a croak, and decorated her office with kittens and other cute pink paraphernalia. Her wide toad-like smile and tendency to speak in a sugary voice that was often described as poisoned honey was a physical exemplification of her cruelty that was barely hidden by her seemingly harmless dress-style.

Umbridge's thick stubby fingers were adorned with several gaudy old rings. She also was said to have a big chest, as noted by Harry Potter when he saw Slytherin's locket lying there.

Dolores Umbridge was an evil woman, being nothing short of a sociopath, who represented the very worst of political power. She was extremely ruthless, cruel, brutal, corrupt, sadistic, arrogant, intolerant, and devoid of any kind of moral or ethical centre.

Dolores is a common Spanish name, although it also occurs as an English name. In Spanish and Latin, dolores is also the plural form of dolor, which means pain. In English, the similar sounding word Dolorous means causing or expressing grief and suffering. Dolor is the Danish name of the Cruciatus Curse.
 
Umbridge is a pun on the English umbrage meaning offence or insult, indicates that Dolores Umbridge is destined to do only harm and cause only unhappiness. It also symbolises how she is offended by any challenge to her limited world-view and her secretive nature.

Umbrage, which came from the Middle French ombrage and ultimately from the Latin umbra is a word whose meaning has evolved over time. Originally, Umbrag meant shadow or shade, then it evolved to refer to that which provides shadow or shade, then took on the meaning semblance or suspicion, and eventually to the suspicion that one has been slighted and its present meaning.

More information: The Guardian

You will be pleased to know, however,
that these problems are now to be rectified.
We will be following a carefully structured, theory-centred,
Ministry-approved course of defensive magic this year.
Copy down the following, please.

Dolores Umbridge

REMUS LUPIN & NYMPHADORA TONKS, LOVE & LOYALTY

Today, The Weasleys have received the visit of one of the most wonderful couples of wizards, Professor Remus John Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks.

Lupin is a half-blood wizard, afflicted with lycanthropy. Tonks  is a British half-blood witch and a Metamorphmagus. They are members of The Order of The Phoenix.

Before meeting Lupin and Tonks, The Grandma has offered them a new Cambridge Key English Test A2 Example to The Weasleys. Today, they have the possibility of knowing how speakings are.

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Professor Remus John Lupin, also known as Moony, is a half-blood wizard and the only son of Lyall and Hope Lupin.

He was afflicted with lycanthropy during his childhood, as a result of Fenrir Greyback's revenge against Lyall.

He attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and was Sorted into Gryffindor House. During his school years he was one of the Marauders, best friends with Sirius Black, James Potter, and Peter Pettigrew. Together they created the Marauder's Map.

After Hogwarts, Remus and his friends joined the original Order of the Phoenix and fought in the First Wizarding War. However, Pettigrew betrayed James and Lily Potter to Lord Voldemort a week after he was made the couples' Secret Keeper. Thus Remus had lost all of his closest friends in various ways by the end of the First Wizarding War. The loss of his friends devastated him, though he and Sirius Black later rekindled their friendship.

Remus taught at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as Professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts.

Remus was regarded by students to be the best Defence teacher they have had thus far. He was also a professor of Harry Potter whom he taught how to conjure a corporeal Patronus, but resigned after Severus Snape revealed to the public that Remus was a werewolf.

He fought against Death Eaters once more in the Second Wizarding War, during which he lost his friend Sirius.

Remus married fellow Order member Nymphadora Tonks and had a son, Edward Remus Lupin, of whom he named Harry the godfather.

Remus fought at the Battle of Hogwarts.

Remus briefly appeared again through the Resurrection Stone for Harry, along with James Potter, Lily Potter, and Sirius Black. After his death his son was raised by Andromeda Tonks and Harry Potter.

Remus was born to Lyall and Hope Lupin. His father worked at the Ministry of Magic and encountered the werewolf Fenrir Greyback, who was on trial for killing two children. Lyall was the only one at court to realise that Greyback was a werewolf, as Greyback pretended to be a Muggle tramp.

Outraged when Greyback was released, he voiced the opinion that Greyback deserved nothing but death. This opinion cost the Lupin family dearly, as Greyback decided to revenge himself upon Lyall by targeting his son. As the nearly five-year-old Remus slept peacefully in his bed, Greyback forced his way in through the window.

More information: Wizarding World I & II

Though Lyall was able to get there in time to drive Greyback off with powerful spells, he was unable to prevent him from completing his evil goal. Remus became infected with lycanthropy and he became a werewolf himself.

His parents took him to various healers and tried their best to make him a normal boy, but there was no cure for his condition. But Headmaster Albus Dumbledore made special accommodations allowing Remus to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Remus attended Hogwarts and was Sorted into Gryffindor House. To secure his safety, as well as that of his peers, Remus would be brought to the Shrieking Shack once a month for his transformations in order to prevent him from attacking other students.

However, this isolation caused him to attack himself out of frustration. This, and the painful monthly transformations, made the villagers of Hogsmeade mistake his screams for that of violent ghosts.

Albus Dumbledore, wanting to keep the truth of these noises a secret, encouraged these rumours. Thus, the building was dubbed the Shrieking Shack, which held the reputation for being the most haunted building in Britain.

Remus became the very best of friends with fellow Gryffindors Sirius Black, James Potter, and Peter Pettigrew. He kept his status as a werewolf a secret from all of the students at Hogwarts, including Sirius, James, and Peter, his fellow Marauders and future Order members. He made up stories to explain his monthly disappearances, such as that his mother was ill and he needed to go home to visit her. He was terrified that they would desert him once they found out what he truly was.

However, Sirius, James, and Peter worked out the truth during their second year, and due to their acceptance of who Remus was, and their unusually strong friendship with him, they decided to learn how to become Animagi in order to keep Remus company during his transformations, as a werewolf is only a danger to humans.

By their fifth year, Sirius was able to become a dog, and James was able to become a stag, animals large enough to keep the wolfish Remus in check. Peter, meanwhile, was able to become a rat.

Once a month during the full moon, Sirius, James and Peter would sneak out of the castle under James' Invisibility Cloak, transform, get into the Whomping Willow, walk down the tunnel and meet up with Remus in the Shrieking Shack. Under their influence, Lupin became tame; his body was still a wolf's, but his mind became less so when he was among them.

More information: Wizarding World I & II

The four of them soon left the Whomping Willow and would roam among the school grounds and Hogsmeade by night. Eventually, this group of friends came to call themselves the Marauders, and Remus' friends nicknamed him Moony because of his transformations during every full moon.

Remus was a good student, but also a prankster. He and Peter Pettigrew would sometimes join Sirius and James in detention for mischief-making, though they did not get into as much trouble as their other friends.

It's unlikely that any other Hogwarts students ever found out as much about the Hogwarts grounds and Hogsmeade as they did and Sirius, James, Remus and Peter used their knowledge of it to write the Marauder's Map and signed it with their nicknames. Unfortunately, it somehow ended up being confiscated by Argus Filch, but was eventually recovered by Fred Weasley and George Weasley.

Albus Dumbledore tracked Lupin down, and offered him the post of Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor at Hogwarts, replacing the permanently amnesiac Gilderoy Lockhart.

Lupin only accepted Dumbledore's proposal when he explained there would be a limitless supply of Wolfsbane Potion, courtesy of Severus Snape, now the Potions Master at the school.

Remus gave Harry private lessons in producing a Patronus as a means to repel Dementors, when it became apparent that he was especially vulnerable to them because, according to Lupin, Harry had true horrors in his past that were especially appealing to the Dementors.

When Lord Voldemort returned, Remus rejoined the Order of the Phoenix.

He was a member of the Advance Guard that escorted Harry Potter from 4 Privet Drive to 12 Grimmauld Place. Lupin lived for some time at Sirius' house, but he was not around very often as he was usually sent on many missions for the Order.

Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks married in the north of Scotland with only witnesses from the local tavern.

More information: Wizarding World

Remus was described as having a pale face with premature lines, and light brown hair that, as he progressed through his thirties, became more and more grey. The lines on his face and his greying hair were the results of the great deal of stress his body underwent with each full moon. His clothing is consistently shabby and patched, presumably because of his inability to find a decently-paid job due to his status as a werewolf.

Remus was compassionate, intelligent, tolerant, levelheaded, peaceful, selfless, brave, kind, and good-natured. Despite having suffered a great deal of prejudice in his life due to his lycanthropy, he managed to retain an ability to see the good in almost everybody and was extremely forgiving. Remus also had an excellent sense of humour.

True to being a Gryffindor, Lupin was quite courageous. Nonetheless, he suffered deep-seated feelings of shame and fear of rejection which, in certain situations, led him to consider backing down. His greatest weakness was that, in his desperate longing to belong and be liked, he was neither as brave or honest as he should have been at times. His Boggart was a full moon, reflecting on his terror of transforming into his werewolf form near humans. It also showed his immense hatred and shame over his condition.

The name Remus comes from the brothers Romulus and Remus, the legendary brothers who fought to the death over the control of Rome, having been raised by a mother wolf whose cubs had died. Because of this, some fans speculated that Remus had a brother, but Romulus is merely the code name used by Lupin for Potterwatch. Remus' intense rivalry with Romulus indicates Lupin's ongoing struggle with his other side, the werewolf.

Lupin is derived from lupinus, Latin for wolf-like; lupus, or wolf, being the basic word. Canis l​upus is the scientific name for the wolf, to be described as lupine means to resemble a wolf.

Lupin is also the name of an plant with edible seeds. The surname may also be derived from the character of Arsène Lupin, a fictional gentleman thief and master of disguise, who was created by French writer Maurice Leblanc in 1905. In Leblanc's novels, Arsène Lupin is often a force for good, while operating on the wrong side of the law. Leblanc's Lupin was said to have later inspired the character of the Lone Wolf, a jewel thief-turned-private detective in a series of novels written by Louis Joseph Vance, beginning in 1914.

More information: Screen Rant I & II

 

 

 My transformations in those days were -were terrible.

It is very painful to turn into a werewolf.

I was separated from humans to bite,

so I bit and scratched myself instead.

The villagers heard the noise and the screaming

and thought they were hearing particularly violent spirits.

Remus Lupin

 

Nymphadora Tonks, more commonly known as Tonks, occasionally Dora, is a British half-blood witch and a Metamorphmagus. She was the only child of Ted and Andromeda Tonks.

Tonks attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and was Sorted into Hufflepuff House. She was in the same year at Hogwarts as Gryffindor Charlie Weasley.

After leaving Hogwarts, Tonks joined the Ministry of Magic and trained to become an Auror under the watchful eye of Alastor Moody.

She joined the second Order of the Phoenix, working undercover in the Ministry and helping to guard the Department of Mysteries. She fought in the Battle of the Department of Mysteries.

At some point, Tonks fell in love with Remus Lupin, her fellow Order member and a werewolf who felt he was too poor, old, and dangerous for her and thus rejected her feelings, although he felt the same way.

In the wake of the return of Lord Voldemort, Tonks was assigned to Hogsmeade as part of the Auror task force sent to guard Hogwarts. She later fought in the Battle of the Astronomy Tower. After seeing the love Fleur Delacour held for Bill Weasley despite his injuries, she publicly declared her love for Remus.

Tonks and Remus were married. She formed part of the Advance Guard and bravely participated in the Battle of the Seven Potters. 

Tonks became pregnant by this time and Remus began to worry that he had passed on his werewolf condition to their son, though this proved not to be the case as the child inherited her metamorphic abilities. He in response to this attempted to leave Tonks, but was convinced by their friend Harry Potter to return to her. She gave birth to a son, Teddy Remus Lupin, named after her late father Edward Teddy, and the couple named Harry the godfather. Tonks fought in the Battle of Hogwarts.

Nymphadora Tonks was born to Edward Tonks, a Muggle-born wizard and Andromeda Tonks, a pure-blood witch and former member of the noble House of Black although she was burned off the family tree after marrying a muggle-born, which was considered a betrayal to the family. Her mother noticed that Tonks changed hair colour on the day of her birth, meaning she was a Metamorphmagus.

Tonks began her first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and was sorted into Hufflepuff House at the Sorting ceremony. 

Being the daughter of the ostracised Andromeda Tonks, she was rejected by the pure-blood supremacists of the House of Black.

More information: Wizarding World

After passing a series of character tests that exam practical skills and how well candidates react under pressure, Tonks underwent three years of Auror training under the tutelage of Alastor Moody.

Her natural metamorphic abilities allowed her to easily pass the Concealment and Disguise portion of the training without doing any work or study at all. However, Tonks' clumsiness gave her trouble with the Stealth and Tracking portion of the course. She admitted to Harry Potter that she almost failed, as she had a habit of breaking items.

Tonks qualified fully as an Auror, she was one of the last ones taken on.

With the return of Lord Voldemort, Tonks was one of the few Ministry employees to be convinced of the truth, rather than accepting the Ministry lie that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named hadn't returned.

She joined the reconstituted Order of the Phoenix, and, alongside Kingsley Shacklebolt, worked as a covert operative inside the Ministry, feeding the Order information.

Tonks had to be careful around the Ministry, though, as indiscreet actions would have seen her lose her position as an Auror. She also took shifts guarding Harry Potter's prophecy in the Department of Mysteries, along with other members of the Order. She was considered a considerable asset to the Order.  

Tonks was part of the Order's Advance Guard sent to escort Harry from 4 PrivetDrive to 12 Grimmauld Place, after his encounter with Dementors in Little Whinging.

In order to lure the Dursleys from the house so they could retrieve Harry Potter, she sent a letter via the Muggle post, informing them that they had been short-listed in the All-England Best Kept Suburban Lawn Competition. With the Dursleys out of the way, the Advance Guard arrived to protect Harry during the journey to London.

Tonks befriended the young wizard immediately and helped him pack his trunk, although she was not very good with household spells, something at which her mother excelled. She was impressed by his Firebolt broomstick. During the broomstick flight to Grimmauld Place, Tonks flew in the lead of the formation and convinced Moody to land immediately instead of doubling back.

Tonks was part of the Order force that went to rescue Harry, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Neville Longbottom, and Luna Lovegood from the Department of Mysteries, along with Mad-Eye, Kingsley, her cousin Sirius Black, and Lupin.

More information: Wizarding World

Tonks continued to serve the Order of the Phoenix, but she had become withdrawn and depressed. The change in personality -and her seeming difficulties in controlling her metamorphic abilities- was noted by those around her. Her physical changes included her hair becoming mousy brown and lank, while her body became thinner.

With the news that Lord Voldemort had returned being confirmed by the Ministry, Hogwarts received a team of Aurors to help protect the castle from any threats.

Tonks was part of the task force and was stationed in Hogsmeade. She rescued Harry from being sent back to London in one of the carriages on the Hogwarts Express, where he had been incapacitated by Draco Malfoy, then covered with his Invisibility cloak, and escorted him to the school gates.

She could do this because she had been watching the students exit the train and immediately went to investigate when Harry had not gotten off too. At some point during her time with the Order of the Phoenix, Tonks met and fell in love with fellow member Remus Lupin, who found her amusing, then impressing, and eventually reciprocated her feelings, although he didn't notice them at first because he was used to considering himself unclean and unworthy.
 

Tonks and Remus married in a quiet ceremony, shortly before the Order operation to spirit Harry away from the Dursleys ahead of his seventeenth birthday.

Tonks was a young witch with a pale heart-shaped face and dark twinkling eyes. As a Metamorphmagus, she could change her appearance at will. She typically kept her hair short and spiky, and often bubblegum-pink.

She has also worn short and spiky violet hair, curly white-blonde hair, and waist length tomato-red hair. Her natural hair colour might have been mousy brown since it was stuck on that colour during the year she had difficulty morphing.

Tonks was enthusiastic, bubbly, and easily able to make friends with people she had just met.

More information: Wizarding World

Nymphadora literally means Gift of the Nymphs. Nymphs are nature spirits and minor deities in Greek mythology who rule trees, sacred groves, streams and the ocean.

During the Renaissance, northern Europeans equated the classical nymphs with their own legends of elves. If we therefore read gift of the nymphs as gift of the elves, this echoes the ancient myth of babies stolen by elves and replaced by hideous monsters called changelings.

Nymph is also the name of the immature stage of a dragonfly or damselfly before it moults, before metamorphosing into a winged adult. Both meanings could be references to her metamorphosing skills.

A Tonk literally means, a fool or idiot, a powerful hit or strike. This could be related to Tonks's clumsiness and ability.

More information: Screen Rant I & II

Don't call me Nymphadora, Remus.

It's Tonks.

Nymphadora Tonks

THE WEASLEYS, MEMBERS OF THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX

Today, The Weasleys and The Grandma have joined The Order of the Phoenix, a secret society founded by Albus Dumbledore to oppose Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters. The family thinks their personal skills will be useful for the Order and they want to help it in its fight between Hogwarts and the Death Eaters.

Before joining the Order, The Grandma has offered them a new Cambridge Key English Test A2 Example.

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Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is a fantasy novel written by British author J. K. Rowling and the fifth novel in the Harry Potter series.

It follows Harry Potter's struggles through his fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, including the surreptitious return of the antagonist Lord Voldemort, O.W.L. exams, and an obstructive Ministry of Magic.

The novel was published on 21 June 2003 by Bloomsbury in the United Kingdom, Scholastic in the United States, and Raincoast in Canada. It sold five million copies in the first 24 hours of publication. It is the longest book of the series.

Harry Potter fans waited three years between the releases of the fourth and fifth books. Before the release of the fifth book, 200 million copies of the first four books had already been sold and translated into 55 languages in 200 countries. 

As the series was already a global phenomenon, the book forged new pre-order records, with thousands of people queuing outside book stores on 20 June 2003 to secure copies at midnight. Despite the security, thousands of copies were stolen from an Earlestown, Merseyside warehouse on 15 June 2003.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was met with mostly positive reviews and received several awards.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is the fifth book in the Harry Potter series.

The first book in the series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, was first published by Bloomsbury in 1997 with an initial print-run of 500 copies in hardback, 300 of which were distributed to libraries.

The second novel, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, was published in the UK on 2 July 1998.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was published a year later in the UK on 8 July 1999 and in the US on 8 September 1999.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was published 8 July 2000, simultaneously by Bloomsbury and Scholastic.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is the longest book in the series, yet it is the second shortest film at 2 hours and 18 minutes.

More information: Wizarding World I & II

After the publishing of Order of the Phoenix, the sixth book of the series, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, was published on 16 July 2005.

The seventh and final novel, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, was published 21 July 2007.

In 2007, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was released in a film version directed by David Yates and written by Michael Goldenberg. The film was produced by David Heyman's company, Heyday Films, alongside David Barron. The film opened to a worldwide 5-day opening of $333 million, the third best of all time.

The Order of the Phoenix was a secret society founded by Albus Dumbledore to oppose Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters.

The original Order was created in the 1970s.

It was constructed after Lord Voldemort returned to England from abroad and started his campaign to take over the Ministry of Magic and persecute Muggle-borns.

The Order worked with the Ministry to oppose the Dark Lord and his followers, and played a crucial role in the First Wizarding War. Their first victory came in 1981, with Lord Voldemort's first defeat at the hands of Harry Potter. The victory came with the high cost of many of their members.

More information: Screen Rant I, II & III

The Order disbanded but was reconvened after Harry Potter informed Dumbledore of Lord Voldemort's return.

The Ministry refused to admit that the Dark Lord had returned, thus the Order alone worked to protect Harry Potter and the prophecy concerning him and Lord Voldemort in the Department of Mysteries.

After an intense battle occurred there between the Order, Dumbledore's Army, and the Death Eaters, the Ministry finally admitted the truth.

The following year would see the Order losing their leader and the Ministry being conquered by Lord Voldemort. The Order remained an underground resistance, trying to protect Muggles and broadcast the truth during the worst days of the Second Wizarding War.

They answered the call to arms by Dumbledore's Army, fighting Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters for the final time at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Download Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling

It's a secret society.

Dumbledore's in charge, he founded it.

It's the people who fought against You-Know-Who last time.

Hermione Granger

MYRTLE WARREN & THE PSYCHOLOGICAL HEALTH RISKS

Today, The Weasleys have discovered the sad story of Myrtle Warren, the Muggle-born witch, who was killed by the Serpent of Slytherin and became a ghost who haunted the second-floor girls' bathroom at Hogwarts.

Also known as Moaning Myrtle, this young witch suffered bullying in Hogwarts. 

Myrtle Elizabeth Warren, more commonly known after her death as Moaning Myrtle, is a Muggle-born witch who attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and was sorted into Ravenclaw house.

She was killed by the Serpent of Slytherin, under Tom Riddle's orders. After the incident, she became a ghost who haunted the second-floor girls' bathroom and occasionally other bathroom facilities at Hogwarts.

Myrtle was a witch born circa to a Muggle mother and father, making her a Muggle-born.

More information: Wizarding World

She started her education at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. When she arrived at Hogwarts she was Sorted into the house of Ravenclaw. While at Hogwarts she was unable to make any friends and was constantly teased and bullied because of this and her physical appearance, which included glasses and acne.

In 1943, sometime into Myrtle's education, the Chamber of Secrets was opened for the first time. The Chamber of Secrets was a legendary chamber built by Salazar Slytherin and inside was a beast that only his heir could control.

It was believed that Gryffindor student, Rubeus Hagrid had opened the Chamber because he was caught raising Aragog, an acromantula, but it was actually Tom Marvolo Riddle, a Slytherin student.

Hogwarts was soon facing closure as Muggle-born students were being mysteriously attacked by the mythical beast thought to be down inside the Chamber.

On her final day of life, Myrtle was teased by student Olive Hornby. She had made fun of Myrtle's glasses and, as a result, left Myrtle sobbing. Myrtle then ran into one of the bathroom's stalls and started crying. Shortly after Myrtle had entered the bathroom, Tom Riddle entered and started speaking in Parseltongue in order to open the Chamber of Secrets, the entrance of which was hidden behind the sink in front of the very stall occupied by Myrtle at the time.

The Monster of Slytherin, a basilisk, then emerged from the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets. The monster had been using the pipes as a means of transportation, as to not be seen and therefore never being caught.

Myrtle, still in one of the stalls, recognised the voice as being that of a boy. Opening the stall's door, she was about to yell at Tom Riddle to go away. On Tom Riddle's command, the Basilisk stared at Myrtle and her eyes met with the monster's.

Since looking into a Basilisk's eyes is a fatal act, Myrtle was killed instantly and her body fell to the bathroom floor, becoming Tom Riddle's first victim. Tom Riddle, later known as Lord Voldemort, used her murder to make his first Horcrux: the Diary.

Myrtle's body was later found by Olive Hornby, something that Hornby would not soon forget.

Myrtle's body was removed from the school after its discovery and, following her death, Myrtle returned as a ghost so she could haunt student Olive Hornby in revenge for her bullying. Olive Hornby went to the Ministry of Magic to restrain Myrtle, who was thereafter obliged to remain at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Ever since, Myrtle haunted the bathroom where she had died, although she was sometimes seen in other bathrooms, and was even flushed into the lake occasionally. As a result of her haunting, her lavatory grave was rarely used, and was thus available for clandestine activities, such as forbidden potion-brewing, as long as one did not mind the company.

More information: Must Be Undead

The true importance of Myrtle's bathroom was that it contained the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets, the home of the basilisk of Salazar Slytherin. The Chamber was opened again, fifty years after its previous opening, by a Gryffindor first year, Ginny Weasley, who was possessed by the diary of the earlier opener, Tom Riddle. The diary was a Horcrux, though it was described as a memory at the time. Myrtle later flooded her bathroom in a fit of pique when Ginny tried to dispose of the diary by flushing it down the toilet in Myrtle's stall.

Hermione Granger used Myrtle's bathroom to brew Polyjuice Potion, which Harry Potter and Ron Weasley used to impersonate Slytherin students Gregory Goyle and Vincent Crabbe. Thus disguised, they entered the Slytherin common room to interrogate Draco Malfoy about the Chamber of Secrets. They learned only that, according to Draco's father Lucius Malfoy, the last time the chamber was open a Mudblood was killed and that, contrary to their suspicions, Draco was not the Heir of Slytherin.

Harry and Ron later learned from Aragog the Acromantula that the murdered student had been killed in a bathroom, and Harry realised that the student must have been Myrtle.

Myrtle was flattered by Harry's request that she tell the story of her death, the manner of which was one of the most important and interesting events of her short life. It is possible that Harry was the first person to treat it as something worth asking about.

Myrtle remembered only having seen a pair of enormous yellow eyes, but neither Harry nor Ron recognized this as a clue that the monster was a basilisk.

Hermione had already deduced the monster's nature by library research before she was petrified, so Myrtle's clue was of no practical importance.

During the 1994–1995 school year, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry hosted the Triwizard Tournament. Before the second task, the champions had to solve the mystery behind their golden eggs, which, when opened, emitted a harsh screeching sound. The secret was that the noise became speech when heard underwater.

One champion, Cedric Diggory, decided to meditate upon the clue in the prefects' bathroom. Myrtle spied on Cedric in the tub, admitting to Harry that it took Cedric a long time to figure it out; nearly all the bubbles in the bath were gone by the time he cracked it.

Cedric later suggested to Harry Potter that he take his egg the prefects' bathroom. With Myrtle's hints, Harry was able to decipher the riddle.

Myrtle also appeared to Harry whilst he was in the Black Lake, and pointed him in the right direction to find the village of the merpeople, thereby helping him to reach the Tournament hostages before the other champions.

Myrtle was a squat student with pimples and thick glasses. She died in 1943 and became a ghost, wearing her school uniform, as well as her glasses, for eternity.

Myrtle was constantly bullied during her education at Hogwarts, for both her physical appearance and her personality. Myrtle hardly ever smiled and took great offence at the smallest slight, crying rivers of tears and wailing, hence her nickname Moaning Myrtle. She was often upset so badly that she tried to kill herself until she realised that she was already dead.

More information: 5 Interesting Facts About Moaning Myrtle

Myrtle did tend to be happy when something bad happened to other students, like when Hermione Granger accidentally gained cat fur, ears and a tail after taking a contaminated Polyjuice Potion. The only time she seemed to enjoy herself was when she recalled the moment of death, describing the event with relish.

She did, however, seem to warm to some male students, including Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy. Myrtle also appeared to be a desperate flirt; she constantly flirted with Harry Potter, and showed her desperation to find love by spying on students such as Cedric Diggory whilst he bathed in the prefects' bathroom. Myrtle liked to take bubble baths when she was alive, due to all those pretty bubbles.

Myrtle is a type of evergreen shrub that is often overlooked because of its plainness, native to southern Europe and north Africa.

Myrtle is a variety of the colour green. It is immoderately dark, slightly more so than the colour spinach.

It is possible she was named Myrtle to continue J.K. Rowling's tradition of naming characters after flowers.

It is also possible she was given the middle name Elizabeth and surname Warren as a reference to two characters from Arthur Miller's The Crucible: Elizabeth Proctor and her young servant Mary Warren, both of which are accused of being witches at some point.

More information: Looper

 

 

 No one wants to upset me! That's a good one!

My life was nothing but misery at this place

and now people come along ruining my death!

 Don't you think I know what people say behind my back

-fat Myrtle, ugly Myrtle, miserable…?

 Myrtle Warren