Cue No. 8

Harry has another uncomfortable dream accompanied by choir with string harmonics and trills in the celesta. After the creation of an ominous bed of sound, the tone shifts abruptly as we see Mr. Weasley marveling at the escalator on his way into the London underground. During this comedic sequence, woodwinds and pizzicato strings follow the on-screen choreography of Harry showing Mr. Weasley how to function in the Muggle world.

The music sputters to an awkward pause as they make it through the turnstile. Once up on street level, the music continues, this time with the violas providing more of a motoric push forward. Once they enter the telephone booth on the empty corner, the orchestra descends with them in a flurry of magic. The transition from Muggle world to Wizarding world is accompanied by a darker atmosphere than we’ve experienced in previous films, but Harry again takes a moment to marvel.

Once Harry steps out of the booth, the music becomes exclusively rhythmic, giving excitement to what Harry is seeing, as it unfolds to the audience. The orchestra erupts in a robust and industrial call and response between the low and high brass. Percussion with the strings and middle winds keep the strong motoric movement going. Harry has stepped into the Ministry of Magic for the first time.

Developing upon the first film’s revelation of the Wizarding world, the music that accompanied Harry’s entrance to Diagon Alley for the first time gets a twisted and politicized reprise. It is quoted in a slightly sinister and completely “grown up” way, stripping new parts of the Wizarding world of their wonder and showing the darker and more nuanced sides of being an adult wizard. After the big reveal of the atrium, the music calms down as the camera follows Harry to the lifts. The rhythm does not change. This whole section of music draws much influence from early 2000s Williams writing such as A.I.: Artificial Intelligence (2001), particularly the Rouge City sequence introducing the Mecha World. Percussion and woodwinds take over the sonic world until the lift finally gets to its destination.

It should be noted that the Ministry of Magic theme is not used in this grand entrance of the actual location in the film. This is deliberately done to differentiate the Ministry itself from the corrupt people who the theme represents. The theme will certainly see the light of day in the next cue.

Cornelius Fudge and Lucius Malfoy are speaking quietly as Harry and Mr. Weasley pass by a mysterious door. The music segues into a tracked moment from Sorcerer’s Stone, originally over Hermione’s reading about the Gringotts break-in, fitting the hints of something sinister within this Wizarding institution. As this ends, Harry and Mr. Weasley reach the entrance to the courtroom, one of them significantly more optimistic than the other.