Cue No. 3

Violins enter on a single E natural. As the image fades in of Dumbledore falling from the astronomy tower, the choir enters, reprising the music from that same moment at the end of the previous film. It ends quickly as we cut to Harry alone in his bedroom. He looks at a mirror shard in his hand, and sees someone else’s eye in it for just a fraction of a second; a quiet orchestra flourish accents this moment. When the string section cadences, Hedwig’s Theme is played on the solo harp as we see a wide shot of the bedroom, and Harry alone in it. 

The strings continue to harmonically wander as Harry makes his way down the stairs into the empty living room. He takes a last look into the cupboard under the stairs. The music used here is a callback to the descending scale from Harry’s delivery to the Dursleys' doorstep all those years ago. A wind quintet pays homage to the moment as well before transitioning into a solo horn over tremolo strings, giving way to another Hedwig’s Theme on the shot of the toy soldier. This theme does not finish though, and Harry looks away towards the front door and moves slowly towards it. The music is uncertain until he finds that all of his friends have come to take him back to the Wizarding World. At this moment, Hedwig’s Theme continues to its normal cadence with full orchestra as Harry hugs Ron and Hermione. 

Nimbus 2000 takes over as a playful nod to the first films. More and more people stumble into the house, and the scene becomes rather comical for a moment. When Bill Weasley enters to introduce himself, the Order of the Phoenix Theme sounds with much noble gusto in the brass, continuing in the woodwinds after that. Not only are several of the re-entering characters part of the Order, but the use of this theme is a callback to Harry's rescue at the beginning of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2020). 

For the first time in one of these scores, the B Theme from the Order of the Phoenix is heard. This, only appearing in the concert version until now, appropriately casts a melancholic shadow on the risks all of these brave heroes are taking to protect Harry from Voldemort. Moody quickly interrupts the moment, and his motif (turned major, for the proper character) returns with him. 

The strings maneuver around the conversation, woodwinds decorate the moment, and another Hedwig’s Theme plays, this time less nostalgic and more playful. Low strings wander around and tremolo upper strings move into more nervous tonalities as the group begins to realize the danger of the mission. This music continues under the introduction of Mundungus Fletcher, a shady character who is clearly not to be trusted. 

Hermione quickly snatches some of Harry’s hair off of the back of his head to give to Moody for the Polyjuice potion. A return of the incidental music from "Chocolate Frog Escapes" (as well as "Cornish Pixies") accompanies the moment, lending lighter and more colorful textures once again. Trills in the strings followed by wandering percussion wait out the moments leading up to the transformation of Harry’s rescuers into his lookalikes. For the transformations themselves, more incidental music from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001) is used underneath the entire tracking shot, this time from "Entry Into the Great Hall and The Banquet." It re-introduces us to the whimsical nature of magic before the film gets darker.  

The playfulness continues as a quasi-Nimbus 2000 bounces around the woodwinds while the characters change into matching clothes so they truly are indistinguishable from Harry. The music turns back to tender nostalgia as Hagrid explains, to the real Harry, that it only makes sense he should take Harry from Privet Drive because he originally brought him as a baby. There is a final Hedwig’s Theme that transitions into the Family Theme as Harry stands outside, in his last moments at 4 Privet Drive, and lets Hedwig fly out into the night.