50 Fun Facts About Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

On what date was Order of the Phoenix published?

Fans had waited three years since Goblet of Fire, and thousands queued outside shops the night before for midnight copies.

How many copies did Order of the Phoenix sell in its first 24 hours?

Half-Blood Prince later did nine million in a day and Deathly Hallows eleven million.

Which publisher released Order of the Phoenix in the United Kingdom?

Scholastic handled the US and Raincoast Canada, the same split as the earlier books.

How many pages is the British edition of Order of the Phoenix?

The American edition runs to 870, making it the longest book in the series adapted into the second-shortest film.

What is the address of the Order's headquarters?

The Black family home came with a tapestry of the family tree that Rowling faxed to the film's set designers in full.

Who becomes the new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor in Harry's fifth year?

A senior Ministry employee, she runs a textbook-only curriculum and bans practical defensive spells.

What is the name of the secret student group Harry teaches?

Dumbledore later claims he formed the group himself to save Harry from expulsion, then goes into hiding.

Where does Harry's secret defence group hold its meetings?

In the film the St Mungo's scene was cut, so Neville's reveal about his parents was moved here after a lesson.

What attacks Harry and his cousin Dudley during the summer?

Harry drives them off with a Patronus, which lands him a Ministry hearing for underage magic.

Whom does Harry see being attacked by Nagini in a dream?

The attack really happened, proving Harry's mind is linked to Voldemort's and prompting the Occlumency lessons.

Which teacher is ordered to teach Harry Occlumency?

During one lesson Harry sees a memory of his father James bullying the teenage Snape at school.

Which Minister for Magic leads the smear campaign against Harry and Dumbledore?

Robert Hardy plays him in the film, where he resigns in disgrace after seeing Voldemort in the Ministry atrium.

Who carries Umbridge off after she provokes them in the Forbidden Forest?

Hermione had lured her there with talk of a secret weapon; in the film it is where Grawp is kept.

In the novel, who accidentally knocks the prophecy sphere down some steps, smashing it?

The film hands the fumble to Lucius Malfoy, who drops it during the fight.

Who kills Sirius Black in the Department of Mysteries?

She is Sirius's own cousin, and had escaped Azkaban with nine other Death Eaters earlier that year.

Sirius dies by falling through what?

The veiled arch stands in the Death Chamber, one of the sequences built largely by VFX house Double Negative.

Who made the prophecy about the child with the power to vanquish Voldemort?

The prophecy is why Voldemort murdered Harry's parents, and why he still wants Harry dead.

Thousands of copies were stolen before release from a warehouse in which English county?

The Earlestown theft on 15 June 2003 came despite heavy security around the midnight launch.

Who directed the 2007 film adaptation?

The TV director was picked for an edgy, political film and stayed on for every remaining instalment.

Who wrote the screenplay, the only Potter film not scripted by Steve Kloves?

He had once been considered for the first film; Kloves returned for all the remaining instalments.

Which of these directors turned down the film before Yates was hired?

Mike Newell, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Matthew Vaughn and Mira Nair also passed.

Who composed the film's score?

He recorded nearly two hours of music at Abbey Road and built new themes for Umbridge and Voldemort's invasion of Harry's mind.

Which drum was added to the score's percussion for a deeper, darker sound?

Hooper earned a World Soundtrack Discovery Award nomination for the work.

Roughly how many girls attended the open casting call that Evanna Lynch won for Luna?

The queue stretched a mile; The New York Times later called her performance spellbinding.

Which future Oscar nominee auditioned for Luna but was judged too young?

She was about 11 at the time; her breakthrough in Atonement came the same year the film was released.

Who was first cast as Bellatrix but withdrew after becoming pregnant?

She returned from Half-Blood Prince onwards as Narcissa Malfoy, Bellatrix's sister.

Who ultimately played Bellatrix in the film?

The Times called her a shining but underused talent; her casting was announced on 25 May 2006.

Who plays Umbridge in the film?

The Guardian said she came close to stealing the show; her office set was dressed in fluffy pink filigree and animated kitten plates.

Which house-elf was written back into the film at Rowling's insistence?

She warned the filmmakers they would be tied in knots by the seventh film without him; Dobby was cut entirely instead.

Which subplot did screenwriter Goldenberg say he "hated" to cut from the film?

He argued any version that kept it would be a lesser film; Rupert Grint, whose Ron tries out for keeper in the book, was disappointed.

Which journalist from Goblet of Fire was removed from the film entirely?

In the book Hermione blackmails her into writing an article backing Harry; Miranda Richardson took the cut philosophically.

Stuart Craig's Ministry atrium was partly inspired by a Burger King on which London street?

He admired its Victorian façade; the finished set was over 200 feet long, the largest in the series to that point.

What did Rowling fax the producers so the Grimmauld Place set could be accurate?

The tapestry spreads across three walls of the set, with every name and birth year she supplied.

Why was filming paused for two months from May 2006?

Radcliffe had A/S Levels and Watson her GCSEs; shooting wrapped that November.

Which actor's movements were "soul captured" to animate Grawp?

Image Metrics' technology modelled the giant's face on the actor rather than building him from scratch.

In which city did the film hold its world premiere on 28 June 2007?

The London premiere followed on 3 July with Rowling in attendance; the stars left wandprints at Grauman's Chinese Theatre after the LA one.

Despite adapting the longest book, how long does the film run?

Yates originally had a three-hour cut and had to lose 45 minutes, including a scene of Harry skipping stones at Glenfinnan.

Which film narrowly beat it to become the highest-grossing release of 2007?

Phoenix finished at $942.9 million to the Pirates sequel's $960 million.

Leaked 2010 documents showed Warner Bros. claimed the film "lost" how much, despite its gross?

The figure became a textbook example of Hollywood accounting for a film that took more than $940 million.

The film's first trailer was attached to which other Warner Bros. release in November 2006?

The US trailer later played ahead of Spider-Man 3 in May 2007.

Which band recorded the song heard playing in the Gryffindor common room?

Rupert Grint said Yates used it to give the common room a more casual feel.

The family of which footballer made a cameo in the film?

Yates is the partner of the player's aunt; Arsenal commitments kept the footballer himself out of the shot.

Which Scream Award did Ralph Fiennes win for the film?

The film itself took Best Sequel at the Spike TV ceremony.

What rating out of four did Roger Ebert give the film?

He felt Harry no longer had as much joy; Rolling Stone's Peter Travers called it the best of the series so far.

On what date did the film open in the United States?

Australia's date was pulled forward from September after a 2,000-signature petition.

Umbridge recruits Slytherins into which group to spy on other students?

They expose the secret defence group, leading to Dumbledore's escape and Umbridge's promotion to headmistress.

Which classmate does Harry develop romantic feelings for in this instalment?

The romance ends when Harry wrongly believes she betrayed the group to Umbridge.

What does Umbridge's magic quill do as Harry writes his lines?

The quill prop was designed by the set designers; Harry refuses to tell Dumbledore what she is doing.

Which Tube station was closed for filming Harry's journey to his Ministry hearing?

A red phone box near Scotland Yard served as the Ministry's visitor entrance.

On which creatures do Harry and his friends fly to the Ministry?

The flight over the Thames takes in the London Eye, Canary Wharf, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace and HMS Belfast.