But first, a lecture. Come on, people, if you haven't already, read the books. They've been out for a decade. If Harry's strategy against Voldemort was to procrastinate for ten years, the world would be toast. Likewise, getting the CliffsNotes version of the books via the films — the bold print, the stuff that wouldn't be on a pop quiz if the professor were up to snuff — well, it's not doing you any favors. If it were, the good folks at AMG wouldn't have pulled me, the resident weird Harry Potter fangirl, away from my cubicle to give you the background you need for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Honestly, I don't mind. Speculating about Harry on company time is a golden opportunity if ever there was one: before there were Harry Potter action figures; before Dumbledore's office was made into a Lego playset; before there were weird Harry Potter fangirls; before there were creepy photos of Daniel Radcliffe, there was just a book about an orphan with a destiny. Keep that in mind when you see a queue of squealing girls lining up their Quidditch-themed sleeping bags for tickets to an advanced screening of Order.
If you're not caught up, or skipped the movies and the book — or if you just don't remember — here's what you need to know. Harry Potter (a very young Daniel Radcliffe in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone) is about to turn 11, but he isn't very excited. His aunt and uncle (Fiona Shaw and Richard Griffiths) — two-thirds of the worst foster family in the history of the world — aren't prone to acknowledging Harry's existence, let alone his day of birth, and tend to give him old socks or single tissues when they do. Harry's room is actually a cupboard, which he is regularly locked inside of as punishment for various magical infractions, although he doesn't realize they're magical at the time. Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon live a life of militant normality, and Harry's very appearance — particularly the lightening-bolt scar on his forehead — is blasphemous in their world. So blasphemous that, when faced with the prospect of getting rid of Harry for a while after a letter arrives explaining his magical heritage and subsequent position as a student of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Petunia and Vernon cart the family off to a deserted (but magic-free) island. Luckily, things don't go as planned. Hagrid (Robbie Coltrane), a half-giant and Hogwarts employee, comes to the rescue and gives Harry a long overdue explanation for his parents' deaths — they were killed trying to protect Harry from Voldemort, a dark wizard obsessed with "pure-blooded" wizard heritage. When Harry's mother sacrificed her own life for his, an ancient magic strong enough to counter the otherwise 100-percent fatal death curse was invoked, resulting in the curse rebounding off of Harry and onto Voldemort, leaving Harry with a permanent scar, two thoroughly dead parents, a psychic link to a wizard who wants to kill him even more than he did in the first place, and instant celebrity status for what most of the magical community saw as the end of Voldemort. "Wizard" is a strong term for Voldemort, who, post-curse, has been reduced to an essence of sorts, doomed to living via the possession of other, stronger beings. It would be wise, going into Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, to ask yourself why Voldemort wanted to kill Harry as an infant, and why the death curse merely reduced him into a weakened state rather than killing him outright. At any rate, thus began Voldemort's journey to restore his body, and by the time Harry headed to school, where a fortunate series of events led to the fateful friendship between Ron (Rupert Grint), Hermione (Emma Watson), and himself, Voldemort was busy trying to obtain the legendary sorcerer's stone, which carried with it the enviable power of rendering its user immortal. Unfortunately for evil everywhere, Harry and company thwarted the Dark Lord (or at least his not-very-scary computer-generated face on the back of Professor Quirrell's [Ian Hart] head).
Like its predecessor, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets was directed by Chris Columbus, and was a near carbon copy of the book. Also like its predecessor, Harry, with a little help from his friends, defeated Voldemort (this time in the form of a magical memory) and the monster he had unleashed onto the school. Chamber's plot is relatively straightforward, but it laid more important foundations for things that came to pass, perhaps the most significant point being that despite the similarities between Harry and Young Voldemort (both were orphans who were unloved by those entrusted to care for them, and both became powerful wizards with a "certain disregard for the rules"), Voldemort and Harry chose different paths. Voldemort sought infamy, while Harry balked at his own popularity; Voldemort collected so-called worthy, pure-blooded followers through fear and manipulation, whereas Harry sought and found friendships based on mutual respect, with no regards to lineage or wealth.
Next comes Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, a favorite of hardcore loyalists and casual fans alike. This is a unique addition to the series, in that there is no Big Bad, so to speak. There is literally a big, bad wolf – Harry’s new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor and mentor, Remus Lupin (David Thewlis), who, despite his good intensions and friendship with Harry, is a werewolf during every full moon. In addition, Harry's prison-escapee godfather Sirius Black (Gary Oldman) often takes the form of a large, black dog; however, it's revealed later that he's just trying to protect his godson from Peter Pettigrew (Timothy Spall), the man responsible for Sirius's wrongful murder conviction. Otherwise, there is no Voldemort popping up like a perpetual cold sore — just Harry struggling with the murder of his parents. Of course, that's been an ongoing battle, but it's made worse by the presence of Dementors, the guards of the wizard prison, Azkaban. Dementors, who were characterized as "among the foulest creatures that walk this earth" by Professor Lupin, survive by sapping the hope from human beings and leaving them with the worst memories of their lives; having lost his parents in such a brutal fashion left Harry particularly vulnerable. Harry's quest in Prisoner is to master his own fear — a skill he'll certainly need to overcome Voldemort in the long run — by learning an advanced protective charm against Dementors. Ultimately, he successfully uses the charm to repel the Dementors from both himself and Sirius, whom, after much confusion (and a fair amount of traveling through time), Harry realizes is one of the last and closest living links to his mother and father. Despite Sirius's fugitive status, he becomes a trusted confidante of Harry's over the summer before his fourth year at Hogwarts. (He's also one of a select few who know that Pettigrew, who escaped with his life thanks to Harry's mercy alone, is still alive.) Although it wasn't given an incredible amount of attention in the film, it wouldn't be a bad idea to take into account that Sirius is perhaps the only person who hates Harry's potions professor, Severus Snape (Alan Rickman), more than Harry does. The mutual loathing between the two men goes back to their own days at Hogwarts, and if Order is true to the book, things between them are only going to get worse.
It looks like Sirius might be right about Snape in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. A few choice remarks by the professor are enough to convince Harry that Snape is a Death Eater, the term for one of Voldemort's loyal followers, although headmaster Albus Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) insists that Snape is on the side of good and has even helped to spy on Voldemort. For now, though, that plot is on the backburner — trust me, it doesn't stay that way — as Harry tries to stay afloat in the Triwizard Tournament, which, unbeknownst to all but one loyal Death Eater, he has been entered in at the behest of Voldemort himself. By this time, Voldemort has managed to attain what he refers to as a rudimentary body — he's corporeal, but just barely. Getting back to his old form takes a complicated bit of magic that includes, among other things, bones from the grave of his father, the right hand of his servant (gross), and "blood of the enemy," i.e., Harry. To get Harry to the site of the spell, Voldemort enlists the help of a disguised Death Eater to rig the Triwizard Tournament and see that the trophy is enchanted to transport Harry out of Hogwarts. Movie fans and readers alike questioned why Voldemort didn't have his lackey enchant a tube of toothpaste to accomplish the same thing at the very beginning of the school year, but aside from the fact that the story would have been three pages long and kind of dumb, it goes to show what kind of a class act we're dealing with when it comes to the Dark Lord. Voldemort wanted Harry to think he was on the verge of all the glory a 14-year-old boy could imagine before he snatched it away, killed him, and rose to power. As if that weren't enough, when one of Harry's co-competitors showed up alongside Harry, he had him immediately and callously murdered. Voldemort is a jerk. Once again, however, his plans went awry and Harry, well, Harry lived, although he's got a considerable amount of emotional baggage to contend with over the summer. Meanwhile (this is going to be huge), the Minister of Magic doesn't believe that Voldemort is back.
So, casual fans, consider yourselves up to date (but read the books anyway). When you walk into the theater, remember that Harry has had a hard time of it, what with the yearly attempts on his life, and try to forgive him for being kind of a tool to his friends. He's only 15, after all. Also, don't forget that he and Voldemort still share a psychic link, although Voldemort isn't privy to it. Don't forget that Sirius has become a father figure to Harry over the past couple of years, even if it wasn't at the forefront of the films. Don't forget that Voldemort tried to kill Harry as a baby and we still don't know why. Most of all, remember what I said about Voldemort — he's a jerk.
One last thing: when you see me (in my Quidditch-themed sleeping bag), don't forget to buy me some popcorn.
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