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Welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory. In this video, we’re going to be
discussing a segment from the Order of the phoenix where EVERYONE’S FAVOURITE Hogwarts
headmistress, Dolores Umbridge, is brought to Justice. The 1996 school year was rough,
as it saw Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore vacate the school, and Dolores Umbridge enter.
Voldemort was back- this was an inevitable fact- but Cornelius Fudge, who presides over
the ministry of magic, was simply blinded by fear, and denied it vehemently. Dumbledore
implored with Fudge to see reason, and to acknowledge that Voldemort had in fact returned-
but Fudge wouldn’t, and in response he slandered Dumbledore’s name. The daily prophet would
release headline after headline expressing the ‘slipping standards’ of Hogwarts and
this is what led to the ministries gradual takeover of the school, and Umbridge’s placement.
In that same school year, Umbridge also worked as both the Defence Against the Dark Arts
Professor, and Hogwarts high inquisitor. She was massively unpopular among the student
body, with a few exceptions, and she made the lives of the students miserable. She would
introduce rule after rule after rule, or - educational decree, as she liked to call them, and it
got to the point where the students weren’t able to do anything. To make things worse,
Umbridge would conduct cruel and unreasonable punishments on those who violated her rules.
Umbridge knew that her connections with the ministry would allow her to get away with
almost anything.
However, later on in the book/film, we finally see the terrible Umbridge get what was coming
to her- when Hermione comes up with an impromptu plan to lead her to the Forbidden forest.
The ministry (and Umbridge) suspected that Dumbledore and the Order were up to something-
which meant that when Hermione dangled the idea of a ‘secret weapon’ in front of
her, she fell right in to their trap.
Dolores Umbridge: "Then . . . where is it?" Hermione Granger: "In there, of course, It
had to be somewhere that students weren’t going to find it accidentally, didn’t it?"
Dolores Umbridge: "Of course, Of course . . . very well, then . . . you two stay ahead of me."
Harry Potter: "Can we have your wand, then, if we’re going first?"
Dolores Umbridge: "No, I don’t think so, Mr. Potter. The Ministry places a rather higher
value on my life than yours, I’m afraid."
While treading through the forest, Hermione and Harry didn’t have much of a plan - they
just needed to buy some time. All of a sudden, however, Umbridge, Harry and Hermione were
faced with a band of centaurs - and they didn’t look particularly pleased. Unsurprisingly,
Umbridge was displeased with the arrival of the centaurs, and, though afraid, began to
spout off racial slurs toward them - exercising her extreme prejudice and arrogance. This
only angered the Centaurs further, and they began to advance on Umbridge- at which point
she cast the Incarcerous spell on one of them.
This is where the book and film differ quite a bit, as in the book the Centaurs are successful
in overpowering Umbridge without any external help - a group of them carrying her away from
Hermione and Harry while she screamed for her life.
"Over the plunging, many-coloured backs and heads of the centaurs Harry saw Umbridge being
borne away through the trees by Bane, still screaming nonstop; her voice grew fainter
and fainter until they could no longer hear it over the trampling of hooves surrounding
them."
At this point, the remaining centaurs actually turned on Harry and Hermione - as Hermione
had accidentally insulted them. When trying to explain to the centaurs that she and Harry
were not like Umbridge, and that they had no affiliation with the ministry of magic,
she mistakenly mentioned that she WANTED the centaurs to drive Umbridge off for them. This
deeply offended the centaurs, as they felt that this was just another pair of arrogant
wizards that felt that centaurs existed to serve them. Because of this the centaurs decided
that they would attack.
Before being attacked, however, Hagrid’s half-brother Grawp intervened. Grawp is first
introduced to us earlier in the book/film, when Hagrid brings the trio to the forest
to make introductions. Hagrid discovered his brother Grawp while making a trip to the tribe
of giants in 1995 on Albus Dumbledore’s orders. Dumbledore wanted the giants as allies
if things were to kick off with Voldemort, and, given that Hagrid is a half-giant, Dumbledore
felt that he was the man to send.
After spending three days at the giants camp, Hagrid eventually discovered that he has a
half-brother- Grawp. The pair share a mother, a giantess by the name of Fridwulfa, and when
Hagrid recognized that Grawp was being bullied by the other giants for his small 16 FOOT
stature- Hagrid took Grawp with him back to Hogwarts.
Knowing that he likely wouldn’t be able to keep Grawp in plain sight, Hagrid kept
Grawp in the Forbidden Forest for months, teaching him manners and pieces of English.
Though Hagrid’s attempts at domesticating Grawp were largely futile, Hagrid cared for
him very much- and it’s a good thing that he was around, because he was the reason that
Harry and Hermione were able to survive their encounter with the centaurs. Recognizing that
Harry and Hermione were in danger, Grawp intervened, and despite taking a multitude of arrows to
the face, was able to successfully chase the centaurs away.
In the FILM however, after Umbridge casts the incarcerous spell on the centaurs she
is suddenly picked up by Grawp, and with her arms flailing, the Centaurs capitalized on
her suspension in mid-air, and took the opportunity to capture her. Though some stray arrows hit
Grawp in the process, after they had captured Umbridge the Centaurs were satisfied and simply
fled.
However, the question remains- why didn’t Umbridge simply use magic on Grawp and free
herself from his grasp? After all, she was picked up by the scruff of her neck- which
meant that both of her arms were free. Surely she could have cast some sort of spell, couldn’t
she? Why would she just dangle there desperately and allow the Centaurs to take control of
the situation?
I have a few theories for why this may have happened.
The first reason that she may not have fought back is because she didn’t have her wand
- as far as I can tell from the scene in the film, Umbridge doesn’t have a wand in her
hand. Wandless magic, or at least powerful wandless magic, is not as common as you may
think - and it may just be that Umbridge never took the time to hone the use of her magic
abilities without her wooden vessel.
The next reason for why Umbridge may not have fought back is the fact that Grawp is a giant.
It’s well known in the wizarding world that certain magical creatures, giants included,
have hides that repel all but the most concentrated and powerful spells. Umbridge, recognizing
that she had been picked up by a creature which was resistant to most of her magic,
had no other option than to demand that Grawp put her down.
The third and final reason for why Umbridge may not have fought back is that she was simply
caught completely off guard. In one moment, Umbridge was at the Hogwarts castle in complete
control, and in the next, she was entirely out of her element- totally alone facing off
against a band of centaurs. The last thing that she expected was to be picked up by a
giant, and there was very little time between her actually being picked up, and when the
centaurs jumped at the opportunity to capture her.
Umbridge’s fate certainly seemed uncertain for a while, but, she was eventually rescued
by Dumbledore. How he managed to rescue her is untelling, but many magical creatures did
have a considerable amount of respect for Albus- as shown by their salute at his funeral.
The experience for Umbridge was traumatic nonetheless, and she was left with a deep
fear of centaurs for the rest of her life.
What do you guys think? Why was Umbridge so helpless? Did you guys notice the difference
between the book and film versions of this scene? Let me know down in the comment section
below