The Battle of the Department of Mysteries was the first major conflict of the Second Wizarding War between the Order of the Phoenix and the Death Eaters. It took place on June 17, 1996, and resulted in Lord Voldemort’s return being made public and the Ministry of Magic finally taking action.
Background
Prophecy
- "The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches.…born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies…and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not.…and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives.…the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies…"
- — Prophecy concerning Lord Voldemort and Harry Potter[src]
At the height of the First Wizarding War, Sybill Trelawney made a prophecy about the only person who could defeat Lord Voldemort. This prophecy was heard in its entirety by Albus Dumbledore and in part by Severus Snape, who reported what he heard to Voldemort. The Dark Lord believed that the prophecy referred to Harry Potter and attempted to kill the infant, but the Killing Curse rebounded and resulted in the Dark Lord’s fall.
When Voldemort returned in 1995 and failed to kill Harry for the second time, because of Priori Incantatem on this occasion, he became determined to know the full prophecy, a record of which was kept in the Department of Mysteries.
Attempts at Theft
In 1996, there was a mass breakout of Death Eaters from Azkaban after the Dementors defected to Voldemort. Ten long-imprisoned Death Eaters – including Bellatrix, Rodolphus and Rabastan Lestrange, Antonin Dolohov, and Augustus Rookwood – were free to join their master again. The Ministry of Magic, however, refused to admit that Voldemort had returned and blamed the breakout on Sirius Black.
Because the Ministry did not believe that Voldemort had returned and because he now had many servants to do his bidding, Voldemort did not attempt to retrieve the prophecy he sought himself. The Death Eaters made a few attempts at stealing the prophecy in question.
Lucius Malfoy placed Unspeakable Broderick Bode under the Imperius Curse to force him to steal the prophecy. However, the protection charm placed on items in the Hall of Prophecy only allows those who are mentioned in the prophecy to access them; Voldemort punished Avery Jr. for assuring the Dark Lord that the plan would have worked. Broderick Bode was afflicted with a mind-confusing curse and admitted to St. Mungo's. To prevent the plot from being revealed, the Death Eaters sent a pot of Devil's Snare to Bode, and it strangled him in his hospital bed. Sturgis Podmore was also placed under the Imperius Curse to attempt the same, but was arrested trying to break into the Department of Mysteries.
Thus, Voldemort tried a different tactic. Utilizing his connection to Harry Potter, who had failed in his Occlumency lessons, Voldemort made Harry dream that his godfather was being tortured by Death Eaters in the Department of Mysteries to lure him there.
Dumbledore’s Army
- Hermione Granger: "Voldemort knows you, Harry! He took Ginny down into the Chamber of Secrets to lure you there, it’s the kind of thing he does, he knows you’re the – the sort of person who’d go to Sirius’s aid! What if he’s just trying to get you into the Department of Myst-?"
- Harry Potter: "Hermione, it doesn’t matter if he’s done it to get me there or not – they’ve taken McGonagall to St. Mungo’s, there isn’t anyone from the Order left at Hogwarts who we can tell, and if we don’t go, Sirius is dead!"
- — after Harry has a dream of Sirius being tortured[src]
Harry told his friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger of his dream, intending to immediately leave Hogwarts to save Sirius. Hermione, suspecting foul play, managed to talk him into first trying to see if Sirius wasn’t at Number 12 Grimmauld Place. With the help of Ginny Weasley and Luna Lovegood, they snuck into Dolores Umbridge’s office so that Harry could Floo Sirius. Just after Kreacher informed Harry that Sirius was not at home, Umbridge arrived with the Inquisitorial Squad.
Umbridge attempted to interrogate Harry, even going so far as to threaten him with the Cruciatus Curse. This prompted Hermione to lie, tricking Umbridge into going into the Forbidden Forest with her and Harry. Umbridge summarily offended the Centaurs who confronted them, and with some assistance Grawp, Harry and Hermione escaped back to the castle. In the meantime, Ron, Ginny, Luna and Neville Longbottom had escaped the Inquisitorial Squad.
The six teenagers rode Thestrals to the Ministry of Magic to rescue Sirius Black.
Battle
The Hall of Prophecy
- Lucius Malfoy: "Oh, you don’t know Potter as I do, Bellatrix. He has a great weakness for heroics; the Dark Lord understands this about him. Now give me the prophecy, Potter."
- Harry Potter: "I know Sirius is here. I know you’ve got him!"
- Lucius Malfoy: "It’s time you learned the difference between lie and dreams, Potter. Now give me the prophecy, or we start using wands."
- — the Death Eaters confront the D.A. members[src]
During the search for Sirius in the place he saw in his dreams, Harry spotted an orb with his and the Dark Lord’s names and picked it up. This prompted twelve Death Eaters – Bellatrix Lestrange, Rodolphus Lestrange, Rabastan Lestrange, Antonin Dolohov, Avery Jr., Walden Macnair, Crabbe, Nott, Augustus Rookwood, Jugson, Mulciber and leader Lucius Malfoy – to emerge from the shadows and demand that Harry give them the prophecy.
On Harry’s signal, the six D.A. members all used the Reductor Curse to smash the shelves of prophecies, distracting the Death Eaters so that they could flee. As they ran, Nott grabbed Harry’s arm, but was stunned by Hermione. She, Harry, and Neville are then separated from the other three.
Pursuit
Harry, Hermione and Neville are pursued into a different room by two Death Eaters. Harry stuns one and tackles the other when he attempts to use the Killing Curse on Hermione. Neville accidentally disarms both the Death Eater and Harry, but before the Death Eater could retrieve his wand, Hermione stuns him. He is knocked into a bell jar that made his head turn into that of a baby, and then back into an adult, continuously aging and de-aging.
The three then run into the next room, where they are struck with Impediment Jinxes by Death Eaters eventually identified as Antonin Dolohov and Jugson. Hermione silences Dolohov to prevent him from alerting the other Death Eaters as to their location, and Harry Body-Binds Jugson. Dolohov then strikes Hermione with an unnamed curse that incapacitates her for the rest of the battle. He breaks Neville’s wand and nose and wordlessly threatens Harry, but is distracted by the Death Eater with the baby head, giving Harry the chance to Body-Bind him.
Neville takes Hermione’s wand and carries her as he and Harry meet up with Ginny, Luna and Ron. Ron has been hit by a curse that makes him highly confused – possibly the Confundus Charm – and Ginny’s ankle is broken. They managed to get away from the Death Eaters chasing them because Luna used the Reductor Curse on the model of the planet Pluto to injure them.
- "Let’s see how long Longbottom lasts before he cracks like his parents…unless Potter wants to give us the prophecy."
- — Bellatrix gleefully threatens Neville with the Cruciatus Curse[src]
The group is then cornered by several Death Eaters, including Bellatrix Lestrange, in the Death Chamber. Ron summons a brain and is injured by it, and Ginny and Luna are both stunned. Bellatrix briefly uses the Cruciatus Curse on Neville to try to coerce Harry into handing over the prophecy.
Arrival of the Order of the Phoenix
Just as Harry is about to hand the prophecy to Lucius Malfoy, Sirius Black, Nymphadora Tonks, Remus Lupin, Kingsley Shacklebolt and Alastor Moody of the Order of the Phoenix arrive, and the battle resumes.
Harry and Neville escape Malfoy and stun Walden Macnair. Dolohov, having defeated and injured Moody, hits Neville with a Tarantallegra and uses the same curse he previously used on Hermione on Harry, though most of the harm is blocked by Harry’s Shield Charm. Before he can attack again, Sirius slams into him and the two begin to duel. Harry Body-Binds Dolohov and Sirius runs off to duel Bellatrix, who had just defeated Tonks.
Once again, Harry and Neville try to escape, but are stopped by Malfoy. Harry passes Neville the prophecy, and it falls through his pocket and breaks.
At this moment, Albus Dumbledore arrives and most of the fighting stops. Dumbledore quickly rounds up numerous Death Eaters, but Bellatrix and Sirius are still dueling. Bellatrix knocks her cousin into the veil, killing him. Remus prevents Harry from jumping after Sirius, telling him that his godfather is dead.
- Bellatrix Lestrange: "Come out, come out, little Harry! What did you come after me for, then? I thought you were here to avenge my dear cousin!"
- Harry Potter: "I am!"
- Bellatrix Lestrange: "Aaaaaah…did you love him, little baby Potter?"
- — Bellatrix taunts Harry about Sirius’s murder[src]
Harry pursues Bellatrix and attempts to use the Cruciatus Curse on her in retaliation for her murder of Sirius. He only causes her a brief moment of pain, however, unable to summon enough malice to make the Unforgivable Curse successfully. Bellatrix’s attempts to curse Harry are interrupted by the arrival of Lord Voldemort.
Duel in the Ministry Atrium
- Dumbledore: "It was foolish to come here tonight, Tom. The Aurors are on their way-"
- Voldemort: "By which time I shall be gone, and you will be dead!"
- — Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Voldemort attempts to hit Harry with the Killing Curse, but the blow is prevented; Dumbledore animates a golden statue to cover Harry and shield him from the curse. He animates the other statues from the Fountain of Magical Brethren to immobilize Bellatrix and warn Ministry officials. Voldemort and Dumbledore duel, Fawkes taking a Killing Curse for Dumbledore at one point, bursting into flames and instantly being reborn.
Voldemort briefly possessed Harry, hoping that Dumbledore would sacrifice him in order to kill the Dark Lord. However, as Harry dwelt on his grief for his late godfather, the power of his love forced Voldemort to release him. He took Bellatrix with him as he fled, but not before he was seen by Ministry officials, including Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge.
Aftermath
- "Merlin’s beard – here – here! – in the Ministry of Magic! – great heavens above – it doesn’t seem possible – my word – how can this be-?"
- — Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge’s reaction to seeing Voldemort[src]
Of the twelve Death Eaters who broke into the Department of Mysteries, all of them but Bellatrix Lestrange were sent to Azkaban. They failed in their aim to seize the prophecy made about Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort, but Dumbledore would subsequently tell Harry of its content and importance.
The Order of the Phoenix suffered the loss of Sirius Black as well as several injuries. Mad-Eye Moody, Tonks and Kingsley Shacklebolt were all injured, but recovered. Ginny Weasley’s broken ankle and Neville Longbottom’s broken nose were quickly repaired by Hogwarts nurse Poppy Pomfrey, and Neville eventually got a new wand. Ron Weasley had welts for some time from the brains that grabbed him, but they faded with time and treatment. Hermione Granger had to take ten potions a day to treat the curse she was struck with, which might have been fatal had Antonin Dolohov been able to speak it aloud, but made a full recovery.
Harry Potter felt great grief and guilt over the death of his godfather, and fury toward Dumbledore for not telling him about the prophecy that declares him as the only one able to defeat Voldemort.
After the Battle of the Department of Mysteries, the Ministry of Magic was forced to admit to the public that Dumbledore and Harry had been right all along, and that Voldemort had returned. Dolores Umbridge was removed from Hogwarts and Dumbledore was reinstated as Headmaster, as well as in all his other positions. The ineffectual Cornelius Fudge was soon replaced by the more proactive Rufus Scrimgeour as Minister of Magic.
This battle marked the beginning of open war.