How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
"Your father knew what he was getting into and he won't thank you for messing things up for the Order!" said Sirius, equally angry. "This is how it is – this is why you're not in the Order – you don't understand – there are things worth dying for!"
"Easy for you to say, stuck here!" bellowed Fred. "I don't see you risking your neck!"
The little color remaining in Sirius's face drained from it. He looked for a moment as though he would quite like to hit Fred, but when he spoke, it was in a voice of determined calm. (22.106-108)
Sirius is always all too ready to die for what he believes in – he is willing to risk his life at the drop of a hat, just to accompany Harry to the train station at King's Cross or to chat with him in the Gryffindor common room. The problem is that Sirius is also supposed to be a father figure for Harry, and fathers can't be as reckless with their lives as ordinary guys. After all, look how miserable Mr. Weasley's injury makes Fred, George, Ron, and Ginny. Mr. Weasley has a family to look after, so he has to be careful of himself. Sirius, on the other hand, is supposed to be Harry's godfather. He's supposed to be responsible for Harry. But he isn't used to that kind of adult burden. So, he's not really capable of behaving like a father, of not taking those heroic risks that he always wants to take. And his reckless behavior is what leads to his death and Harry's deep sense of loss in Book 5.
Quote #5
If Harry had ever sat through a longer night than this one, he could not remember it. Sirius suggested once, without any real conviction, that they all go to bed, but the Weasleys' looks of disgust were answer enough. They mostly sat in silence around the table, watching the candle wick sinking lower and lower into liquid wax, occasionally raising a bottle to their lips, speaking only to check the time, to wonder aloud what was happening and to reassure each other if there was bad news, they would know straight away, for Mrs. Weasley must long since have arrived at St. Mungo's. (22.122)
This is a nice reversal for Harry: usually, he's the one lying in the hospital wing frightening his friends with his injuries. But in Book 5, Harry gets to see what it's like to worry about other people: first, Mr. Weasley when he has been bitten by Voldemort's snake, and then at the end of the novel, when Hermione and Ron have both been seriously injured in the showdown at the Department of Mysteries.
Quote #6
"No!" [Professor Trelawney] shrieked. "NO! This cannot be happening ... it cannot ... I refuse to accept it!"
"You didn't realize this was coming?" said a high girlish voice, sounding callously amused, and Harry, moving slightly to his right, saw that Trelawney's terrifying vision was nothing other than Professor Umbridge. "Incapable though you are of predicting even tomorrow's weather, you must surely have realized that your pitiful performance during my inspections, and lack of any improvement, would make it inevitable that you would be sacked?" (26.230-231)
Professor Umbridge really enjoys bringing one of her fellow teachers to her knees by firing Professor Trelawney and throwing her out of the castle in the most public and humiliating fashion possible. We're of two minds about this scene: first, it seems like Professor Umbridge is just enjoying the pain that she's causing. She likes having the power to destroy another person as she is destroying Professor Trelawney. On the other hand, could this be a warning to the other teachers in the school not to cross her? Or is it a public performance to attract people who are bullies like Professor Umbridge to join her side? Why do you think Professor Umbridge decides to fire Professor Trelawney so publicly? What is she getting out of it?