Isolation Quotes in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #4

But the great black dog gave a joyful bark and gamboled around them, snapping at pigeons and chasing its own tail. Harry couldn't help laughing. Sirius had been trapped inside for a very long time. (10.24)

These few moments in the novel when we see Sirius free at last really brings home how trapped, bitter, and miserable his year at Number Twelve truly is. Why do you think J.K. Rowling chose to put Sirius in this position? How does Sirius's situation in Book 5 mirror Harry's? How does Rowling foreshadow Sirius's fate earlier in Book 5?

Quote #5

Dinner in the Great Hall that night was not a pleasant experience for Harry. The news about his shouting match with Umbridge had traveled exceptionally fast even by Hogwarts' standards. He heard whispers all around him as he sat eating between Ron and Hermione. The funny thing was that none of the whisperers seemed to mind him overhearing what they were saying about him. On the contrary, it was as though they were hoping he would get angry and start shouting again, so that they could hear his story firsthand. (13.1)

By shouting out in class, Harry makes a spectacle out of himself. So, all of his peers start to treat him like a spectacle, a show that they want to watch. He no longer seems like a person with real feelings to them; they have become totally distant from Harry. When does the rest of Hogwarts start to remember that Harry has emotions like the rest of them? What makes his classmates believe in him once more?

Quote #6

She turned away, leaving Professor Trelawney standing rooted to the spot, her chest heaving. Harry caught Ron's eye and knew that Ron was thinking exactly the same as he was: they both knew that Professor Trelawney was an old fraud, but on the other hand, they loathed Umbridge so much that they felt very much on Trelawney's side. (15.102)

Professor Trelawney is an old fraud. She makes a mockery of the whole idea of predicting the future, since all she really wants to do is tell people that they're going to die soon, generally in horrible ways. But she's harmless – she occasionally frightens impressionable students, but she doesn't do any damage. Now, Professor Umbridge, she is damaging. So, of course her sadistic persecution of poor, batty old Professor Trelawney is going to excite our sympathy – even if we don't think much of Trelawney herself.