Cues No. 19 & 20

The strings comfort Harry as he reflects on what most people see as his accomplishments. The celesta notes from the mirror of Erised scene in Sorcerer’s Stone make a small appearance here. These are to represent Harry’s past and his relationship to his father while at the same time showing that he’s now coming into his own as an unlikely leader. Choir helps the strings during a variation on Cedric’s Funeral. Harry’s memory of “watching a friend die before your eyes” is still close to him. It develops into Window to the Past, further emphasizing Harry’s family influences. One last fragment of the mirror motif plays, and the Order theme appears, slowly, over the beginnings of the pushback against Umbridge. Hopeful chords nearly resolve, and a quick, exciting new piece begins over the decision to form Dumbledore’s Army.

Much more lively music accompanies the giddiness the students are all feeling by rebelling against Umbridge, forming a secret group to learn how to defend themselves. The rebellion has begun. Harps move around energetically and transition quickly to the bridge where excitement builds. Even Hermione is beside herself with enthusiasm at the idea of besting Umbridge. Moving pizzicatos in the cellos and basses quicken the harmonic pace, and a youthful Order theme appears while the students embrace their roles as rebels in the impending second Wizarding war. The camera begins to pan up towards the castle. The music knows who’s watching them before we do; Umbridge’s theme is hinted at, and plays unambiguously once it’s revealed that she is carefully planning her takeover of whatever Harry and his friends are planning. Filch then nails a new decree to the wall of the entrance hall. A low Umbridge theme plays and slowly dies down, disintegrating while Neville gets bullied by Crabbe and Goyle.

----

Violins trill and move upwards as a mysterious door appears on the wall next to Neville. At the top of the line, Neville’s theme plays innocently. More trills lead into a section that is more of magical discovery than a specific theme. It plays over the first interior shot of this new room, and is aided by Hermione affirming that Neville has indeed not just found any room, but the Room of Requirement. A slow Order theme plays in the alto flute and then in the horns as Harry states that “it’s like Hogwarts wants us to fight back.” With a place to train found, the montage can now begin.

Montages are hard to find in movies scored by John Williams, so creative liberties were taken for this section of the movie. Inspiration from small montages such as “The Presses Roll” from The Post (2017) served as a starting point for how to approach this scene from an orchestrational perspective. Williams’ most famous montage is probably “Becoming a Geisha” from Memoirs of a Geisha (2005), but its tone and purpose did not fit what his Potter style goes for, so we stayed away from that sound world. In the end, a few motoric elements combined with careful orchestration and overlay of themes we already know made for an exciting scene that pushes the narrative forward while clarifying the events unfolding through aural techniques.

A motif that will carry this montage through begins in the low violins. Little specks of the Lydian mode pop in and out over this texture. It reflects the Umbridge montage in Cue 16, but as anti-Umbridge motoric development. Neville’s first try at disarming someone is then tightly choreographed by the music. A ministry-type harmonic structure is placed on top of this montage motif as it cuts to Umbridge teaching her ministry-approved course in the classroom. A small wisp of harp plays over Neville practicing stunning under his desk. The movement comes to its first halt as Filch is foiled for the first time by the disappearing door to the Room of Requirement. Over his misfortune, it felt both appropriate and comedic that there be a short reference to “Filch’s Fond Remembrance.”

The motif begins again at a new lesson where Harry is teaching Nigel. This is choreographed in a similar way to when Neville is learning for the first time. With Nigel, it backfires and the orchestra halts abruptly at the potential injuries inflicted upon the students. Clarinets playfully continue their Lydian chirps as the boys both get up and are okay. Another small pause shows Filch having made camp for the night outside the door’s last known spot of appearance, aided with a sandwich.

Hermione and Ron prepare to face off, and their theme plays for the first time in this movie, creating a long legato line over the montage motif underneath. After Hermione successfully wins the duel, Ron’s theme bounces around the texture quietly with embarrassment. After the meeting, the students all escape through another wall away from Filch and his sandwich. Trills descend as another decree is nailed up in the entrance hall. Some sinister notes accompany Umbridge’s attempts to interrogate all students. Neville is still trying his best to learn to disarm someone while a levitation lesson is going on. Harry in Love then appears over the motoric texture as he helps Cho with her spell; Nigel falls when she loses focus and looks at Harry. Another small quotation of “Filch’s Fond Remembrance” sounds as he comes across chocolates left for him, presumably by Umbridge. It is quickly revealed that the Weasley twins are waiting for him to take the bait. In Umbridge’s office, Filch’s magical pimples are grossly shown to us alongside muted horns.

A refreshing new motoric theme plays over quicker cuts of training and decree nailing. These chords slowly have orchestration added to them and build in sound as Harry walks around giving a speech. The Order theme plays boldly in the horns. This is the new, young Order: the next generation of students to fight back against Voldemort. The music changes keys quickly and Luna’s theme plays over her skipping to a lesson. This has a continued build like the last motif, ending with Filch and the Inquisitorial Squad crashing into a broom cupboard. The original montage motif carries their misfortune to its end, and a quick cut to the next training session shows Ginny destroying the training dummy. The montage motif has now become robust and encouraging as the students have all begun to get the hang of their spells.

The final key change plays over the fade to their last lesson before Christmas. The orchestration becomes even more layered, and excited percussion sparkles from the middle of Cue 19 return. The cue appropriately reaches its conclusion on Neville finally becoming successful in disarming someone, and the whole of Dumbledore’s Army congratulate him.