Reasons for the Age Minimum in The Order of the Phoenix

To tie in with the homework on The Order of the Phoenix.

Reasons for the Age Minimum in The Order of the Phoenix

The Order of the Phoenix is the group started by Albus Dumbledore, to go against Voldemort’s Death Eaters. He first began the Order during Voldemort’s first reign of terror, the date of the creation was sometime during the 1970’s.

Original members of the Order, along with Dumbledore, included Alastor Moody, Minerva McGonagall, James Potter, Lily Evans/Potter, Remus Lupin, Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew. The Order was dissolved after Voldemort was defeated in 1981, as there seemed to be no need for it.

However, in the summer of 1995, the Order reformed, welcoming many new members such as Nymphadora Tonks and Kingsley Shacklebolt. However, despite the fact that Harry Potter is the only person destined to be able to defeat Voldemort, he has not yet been permitted to be a part of the Order of the Phoenix.

So what is the reason for the age minimum? Fred and George were only able to join the Order when they came of age, and even then, their mother Molly Weasley was reluctant to let them join. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny have never been able to attend the meetings, and it could be argued that the lack of information they received was one of the contributing factors in Sirius Black’s death.

One of the possible reasons for the age minimum could be that before the age of seventeen, a witch or wizard is still considered to be underage, and their magic is not yet fully developed to be able to cope with what the Order asks. However, throughout Harry’s time at Hogwarts, he has, with the help of his friends, retrieved the Philosopher’s Stone from under Voldemort’s nose, he has single-handedly defeated a basilisk, he has performed a patronus on a large number of dementors, escaped from Voldemort a second time, survived a battle at the Ministry of Magic against lots of Death Eaters, escaped from the clutches of the Inferi and managed to survive a further battle on the grounds of Hogwarts.

It is safe to say that Harry is perfectly capable of becoming a member of the Order, yet this has still not happened.

So what could be the reason? Certainly not ability. No longer could it be age – he is almost seventeen. In my belief, the most plausible reason for the age minimum of the order of the phoenix, is because the adult members want to keep the war away from the younger generation. They know what it is like to live through a war, and want to protect their children from such horrors.

Whatever the reason for the age minimum in the Order, one thing is for sure: with or without them, Harry will be going after Voldemort in book seven.

A fabulous picture of Moody's photo of the original order, by the wonderful artist Marta:



Picture from Marta's website, www.artdungeon.net

That was interesting Duck, though I always thought it was because they weren't allowed to use magic out of school before they turned 17 and thus couldn't do what the Order asks of them - but your theory made a lot of sense, they're a very protective group of people - 50 points.