By A. Ibid
Paperback
215 pages
ISBN: 979-8897667932
Publication Date: February 2025

Before writing the fifth Harry Potter book, J.K. Rowling created a seven-page handwritten outline of her original vision for the plot, offering an unprecedented glimpse into her writing process. In these early notes, there are noticeable differences in the characters, terminology, and plot, culminating with a different ending, in which Sirius's fate is not brought about by Bellatrix.

Three of the essays in this collection focus on the ramifications of specific changes, such as the outline's original much darker tone, the lack of Bellatrix Lestrange, or the different designation for the Order of the Phoenix. Another takes a more holistic view, looking at the changes in the book's characters. Two essays use the outline to highlight the development that must have happened both before and after it was written. The final essay looks at how outline could be interpreted had one never seen the published book.

Together the essays explore the manuscript in detail, offering a new perspective on Rowling's creative process and deepening our understanding of the published book. This collection also includes detailed guidance to help fans interpret the outline themselves.

A. Ibid, better known as ibid-11962, is a specialist in the Wizarding World, particularly in the different sources of canon, as well as a cataloguer of the various editions and versions of J.K. Rowling’s writings, manuscripts, illustrations, and more. He has been active for over a decade in various forums and social networks, including The Harry Potter Lexicon and Reddit, where he shares his categorization, commentary, and discoveries. He is a long-time collaborator of The Rowling Library, and this book, The Phoenix or The Flame, is his first published work on Harry Potter. When he’s not researching and reading about Harry Potter, he pursues scholarship on the works of Christopher Paolini and J.R.R. Tolkien.

From Dark Dementors to Luna's Light: Brightening a Nigredo through Positive Psychology by Louise M. Freeman

Louise M. Freeman is a retired psychology professor who taught at Mary Baldwin University for twenty-three years. A behavioral neuroscientist by training, she received her doctorate from the University of California at Berkeley in 1995. Her interest in Harry Potter scholarship began in 2003 when she began reading the books to her children and evolved into a research program on psychology and young adult literature, which has led to multiple peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters, as well as many presentations at conventions, festivals, podcasts and scholarly conferences. Dr. Freeman writes about Harry Potter, Cormoran Strike and other popular book series at The Farting Sofa Faculty Lounge (www.fartingsofafaculty.blogspot.com). Podcast appearances include Potterversity, the Three Broomsticks, and The Strike and Ellacott Files. Currently, Dr. Freeman works as a licensed behavior analyst and therapeutic consultant.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is generally considered the darkest of the series and serves as the alchemical nigredo, in which Harry is psychologically broken down. However, it appears that Rowling's original outline for the story was even darker. Five specific differences in the original notes create this more downbeat tone. First, dementors appear more often and are responsible for the death of Sirius Black. Second, Luna Lovegood, a character associated with light and albedo, is absent from the outline. Third, Harry's Occlumency lessons last for most of the school year, so he experiences more failure. Fourth, Dumbledore is imprisoned and the Weasley twins expelled, denying them their empowering escapes. Fifth, the Gryffindor Quidditch team loses the final match and the Quidditch Cup. By changing these elements in the final novel, Rowling fosters her protagonist's learned optimism, drawing on positive psychology principles to reduce Harry's depression and promote his resilience.

[↑ This essay was presented at the 2024 Harry Potter Academic Conference]

★ ★ ★

From Joyce Umbridge to 'Missy' Slipkiss: How the Harry Potter Characters Evolved from the Outline to the Printed Book by Alice Arganese

Alice Arganese, a 24-year-old Italian Harry Potter expert, has been passionate about this book series since she was a child. In 2021, she graduated in Media and Languages (English and French) with a thesis in English literature about The Theme of Sacrifice in the Harry Potter Series. In 2024, she earned a master’s degree in Languages and Literatures with a thesis in Sociolinguistics titled The Dialogic Interaction in Harry Potter: A Corpus Analysis. In 2020, she joined the staff of the Italian Harry Potter fansite Portus, where she has analyzed Harry Potter chapters on Twitch and organized reading clubs on Discord. In 2020, she also started a Harry Potter-related podcast on Spotify. In high school, she even played Muggle Quidditch, and her Beater Buddy became the love of her life. While Harry Potter will always be her favorite story, she is also extremely passionate about cinema, television, literature, and music.

This essay will focus on a comparative analysis between the characters in the published edition of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and its outline. By juxtaposing the characters in the published book with those mentioned in the outline, the differences between the two texts emerge. In this essay, first, an examination of the characters absent in the outline will be presented, with particular emphasis on Luna Lovegood, Kreacher, and Bellatrix Lestrange. Second, the reasons behind Dolores Umbridge's change of name will be investigated. Third, the characters' psychology in the published book will be compared to their counterparts in the outline, with special attention on Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Ginny Weasley, and Albus Dumbledore. Fourth, an exploration of the identity of the only character described in the outline but never found in the published novel, 'Missy' Slipkiss, will be presented. By exploring these changes between the outline and the book regarding the characters, it is clear that, despite the differences and the obvious profundity of the novel, the basis for the richness of the psychological details that characterize the characters has always been present, yet unexplored, in the outline as well.

★ ★ ★

Belated Bellatrix: The before and after of Advancing the Antagonist's Arrival by Irvin Khaytman

Irvin Khaytman, also known as “hpboy13,” is a walking Harry Potter encyclopedia from New York City, where he does taxes by day and all things geeky by night. He is the author of Dumbledore: The Life and Lies, and has been writing Harry Potter essays for MuggleNet since 2007 at “The Three Broomsticks”. He runs a Harry Potter podcast (Three Broomsticks), meetup group (NY Order of the Phoenix), and dance troupe (Dancing Death Eaters). When not reading or discussing books, Irvin can be found dancing to wizard rock or planning costumes for conventions. He identifies as a Ravenpuff.

Bellatrix Lestrange is one of the most vibrant characters introduced in Order of the Phoenix, a terrifying adversary who can be considered the second most prominent villain in the entire Potter series. Given her dramatic introduction in Goblet of Fire and her integral role in the fifth book's plot, it is startling to realize that she isn't in the book's outline and was not originally intended to have such a starring role. In this essay, we will first examine what Book Five was intended to look like without Bellatrix. How was Sirius Black meant to meet his untimely end? When would the Azkaban breakout occur, and how does this change affect characters from Rita Skeeter to Walden Macnair? We will then explore not just how, but why Bellatrix became necessary in the fifth book. She serves as a critical antagonistic force for our protagonist and key supporting characters like Sirius Black and Neville Longbottom. Lastly, we will consider Bellatrix's role in Rowling's writing as a whole. She is the shadow archetype, the antithesis of Harry Potter's theme of maternal love, enjoying hurting children rather than nurturing them. The thematic necessity of her presence, in addition to the character arcs she catalyzes, led to her rise in prominence during the editing process.

[↑ This essay was presented at CONjuration 2024]

★ ★ ★

Angry Harry Potter and the Pointless Prophecy: Why the Most Annoying parts of Order of the Phoenix Are Intentional (And How the Outline Shows Us This) by Asher Scheiner

Asher Scheiner is a social worker, teacher and dad of two from New Jersey. A Pottermore-confirmed Ravenclaw, he has spent many hours asking and answering Harry Potter questions on many different internet forums under a variety of pseudonyms. He is most proud of his theory on why Hermione actually could have legally freed the house-elves with her hats and is convinced that Rita Skeeter is correct that Dumbledore did indeed kill his sister. He has written about the intersections of Harry Potter and Faith, as well of Harry Potter and Social Work, for various school projects. This essay is his first formally published work.

This essay explores the underlying purpose of J.K. Rowling's Order of the Phoenix within the broader Harry Potter series, particularly focusing on the cryptic references to "Dumbledore" found in Rowling's early plot outlines. The analysis argues that these unexplained mentions signify pivotal moments intended to erode both Harry Potter's and the reader's trust in Dumbledore, thus serving a crucial narrative function. Through a detailed examination of these plot elements, the paper suggests that Rowling's primary aim in the fifth book was to deconstruct Dumbledore's perceived omniscience and infallibility. This thematic shift is essential for the developments in the subsequent books, where a loss of trust in Dumbledore becomes a central narrative driver. The study concludes that Order of the Phoenix, often criticized for its perceived lack of plot advancement, plays a critical role in Rowling's overarching narrative strategy by setting the stage for the emotional and thematic resolution of the series.

★ ★ ★

The Phoenix and the Flame: The Symbolic Name Change of The Order of the Phoenix by Beatrice Groves

Beatrice Groves, Ph.D. and Ravenpuff, is Research Fellow and Lecturer in Renaissance English at Trinity College, Oxford. She has published three monographs, and a wide number of articles on literary allusion from Shakespeare to Rowling. Since publishing Literary Allusion in Harry Potter (Routledge, 2017) she has published journal articles on Harry Potter and Dickens, Shakespeare and Arthurian myth in The Use of English and The English Review and contributed chapters on Austen and Harry Potter (in Open at the Close: Literary Essays on Harry Potter), Snake Women in Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts (in The Ivory Tower, Harry Potter, and Beyond) and Dracula and Harry Potter (in Potterversity: Essays Exploring the World of Harry Potter). She guest blogs at Hogwarts Professor and The Strike and Ellacott Files Blog and has a dedicated blog at MuggleNet: “Bathilda’s notebook.”. She is also a regular contributor to The Rowling Library Magazine.

One of the most fundamental changes in the outline is the swapping of the names of 'Dumbledore's Army' and 'The Order of the Phoenix' for the teenage and adult resistance groups. This essay builds on the suggestion inherent in this name change (that the names are in some way interchangeable for Rowling) to argue that their being so expresses something symbolically important about the relationship between Dumbledore and Fawkes. The groups who resist the Dark Lord are named after and/or led by Dumbledore, Fawkes and Harry because these three are symbolically linked with a Trinitarian apprehension of goodness, and God, in the Christian tradition. The essay builds on the clear parallels between Dumbledore and God the Father and the relatively well-known links between Harry and Christ (links that have been acknowledged by Rowling herself) to argue for the striking – but rarely noticed - connections between the Holy Spirit and Fawkes the Phoenix.

★ ★ ★

J.K. Rowling's Phoenix 'Ring Within a Ring': The Structure of Harry's Trip through the Department of Mysteries and What It Suggests about Her Planning Grids by John Granger

John Granger, PhD, the “Dean of Harry Potter Scholars” per Lev Grossman, has been writing, speaking, and podcasting about the work of J. K. Rowling since 2002 and has been responsible for many of the more important breakthroughs in Rowling Studies, from literary alchemy and Christian symbolism to psychomachia and ring composition. His six books on the subject, his lectures at major universities, and his keynote speaker talks at academic and fan conferences have made John Granger the leading voice in scholarship about the artistry and meaning of Rowling’s novels and series for more than twenty years. John blogs at HogwartsProfessor.com and hosts a HogwartsProfessor subscription site at Substack.com, from which platform he podcasts with Nick Jeffery on the Rowling Studies program.

Do the Planning Grids that J. K. Rowling used to plot Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix reveal her core artistry and meaning in this book or the series as a whole? This essay argues they do not. The grids, beyond not reflecting the 'turtle-back' structure of Rowling's longest Potter novel or its correspondences with other books in the series, have little to no information about the organization and symbolic depths of the key passage in that work, namely, Harry's passage to and from the Hall of Prophecy inside the Department of Mysteries. This essay argues that the Planning Grids are simply plot outlines and that Rowling's genius is less in her blueprints than in the 'finishing work' of the stories she builds in her Shed.

[↑ Watch author's presentation here]

★ ★ ★

The Grid as a Fundamental Clue: Speculating the Impact of the Leaked Plans in an Alternative Timeline, and How the Fandom Would Have Tried to Interpret It by Patricio Tarantino

Patricio Tarantino is a J.K. Rowling and Harry Potter collector, who created his first Harry Potter website back in 2001. Since then, he has been actively participating in the Harry Potter fandom with different projects. From 2001 to 2008 he directed Redflu.com, one of the most popular Harry Potter websites in Spanish. In 2010 he founded The Rowling Library, a fan website focused on Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling’s other works. With The Rowling Library he oversees several projects, such as a monthly magazine and the creation of The Rowling Index, a digital archive of everything J.K. Rowling has written through the years. In 2021, he published Secret History of the Wizarding Phenomenon. He lives with his girlfriend Belén and his dog Cappuccina in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Between the release of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, fans were consumed by speculation. They dissected every clue, theorized about hidden plots, and debated the fates of characters. But what if, amid this frenzy, a plot outline for Order of the Phoenix had leaked before publication? This essay explores how such a leak would have impacted fan reactions and discussions, as well as the broader reception of the book. By considering key moments—Harry's evolving connection to Voldemort, the prophecy, Sirius's fate, and the Order's internal dynamics—it will examine how fans might have responded to leaked details about Voldemort's plan and the tragic climax at the Department of Mysteries. Through this lens, the essay will highlight how the leak could have shaped or distorted fan expectations, drawing on the highly active online fan culture of the time, and how Rowling's carefully constructed surprises might have been pre-empted. Ultimately, it will consider the tension between speculation and narrative payoff in long-running series like Harry Potter, and the delicate balance between fan anticipation and authorial control.