As a Potterhead, I have the utmost respect for the Order. They are the people who decided that they and they alone were the only ones that could stop Tom Riddle during his first rise. They decided that they were going to put their own lives on the line in order to do everything that they could to stop Voldemort from taking over. Some of them even lost their lives in that effort. And that is something to be admired.

However, my favorite thing about the books of the Harry Potter series is the fact that every character has flaws and that those that are meant to be looked up to are not without their own shortcomings and issues. The grown-ups of the series are nothing more than human. They have their own prejudices, biases, and fears, which causes them to make mistakes that the younger generation wouldn’t. And though the younger generation of fighters will make their own mistakes during their lives, and so on and so forth, they will be able to see the mistakes and biases that the previous iteration of the order was blind to and work through the issues that they just couldn't overcome. The children can clearly see where the Order failed and they will use that knowledge to defeat Voldemort in round two.

So without further ado, here are twenty-five pressing questions that I have for the first generation of the Order of the Phoenix.

25 Why Do They Never Include Harry Potter?

One thing that truly drives me bonkers about the Order is their insistence on leaving Harry Potter out of their plans, plots, and meetings. Every single ounce of information that they have and will receive will be related to Harry.

The only thing standing between Voldemort and his domination vision board is Harry.

So why do they continue to insist on leaving the poor boy in the dark? Maybe if Harry knew about the numerous plots against him, he would be prepared for his annual end of year smackdown with the dark lord.

24 Did They Do It Out Of Duty?

Was it hard for the Order to accept that they all needed to be prepared to lay down their lives for Harry at any given moment? Did any of them fully understand the role that Harry played in Voldemort’s plot or did Dumbledore keep that information secret from the Order? Did their unwavering faith in Dumbledore result in them simply accepting their duty without question? Was their love for Harry the thing that kept him safe from harm or was it simply the role that he was to play thwarting Tom?

23 Did They Do Anything For The Muggleborns?

Did the order simply dedicate themselves to thwarting Voldemort via the acquisition of information and dedication to fighting on the front lines? Or did they also assist in helping those who were persecuted for being muggleborns by the corrupted government or were they more focused on dismantling Voldemort directly? Was it the younger generation who brought in a well-rounded protection detail as well as the rebels radio transmissions which the golden trio tuned into during their horcrux search? Or were those efforts always recognized by the Order?

22 Why Did They Keep Things From The Children?

Why was the Order so dedicated to keeping their information secret? If they exposed the intel they gathered on Voldemort and pals to the rest of the wizarding world, they could have seriously put a damper on some of his plans. Since Tom’s entire thing was working behind the scenes, the Order should have committed themselves to working center stage.

Also, why was the first generation so obsessed with keeping secrets from the children?

You aren’t keeping them safe from the oncoming dangers. You are only guaranteeing that they will be unprepared when thrown onto the front lines.

21 Why Was The Weasley Family So Willing To Fight?

I want to start this entry off by saying that I am ever so proud of the entire Weasley clan and their endless bravery. However, I need to make it known that I am a little flabbergasted at the fact that every single member of the family marched to those front lines without hesitation. I can’t even imagine what was going through Molly’s mind when she saw that each and every single child of hers was marching into battle without questioning their actions. I hope that she was proud of how well she raised them rather than afraid that they would not all make it home.

20 What Happened To All The Other Members?

Though we only see a select group of members of the first generation of the Order in films, I have to wonder if those are truly the only members still standing. Did the Order disband immediately after the first war ended or did they slowly grow apart over time? Was it too painful to gather when that meeting table was surrounded by so many empty seats? Were the surviving members simply too scared or ignorant to the looming danger to stand up during the second coming? Or did they simply not make it through Voldemort’s first attempt at world domination?

19 How Were They Sure That Nobody Was Spying?

One thing that the “good guys” always seem to struggle with is the concept of trust. And though I am an incredibly trusting person, it is important to note the ways in which fear can change a person. Good people converted to Tom’s side out of fear that they would not survive his rule if they refused. So how were they so sure that no one on their side was playing for both teams in order to ensure their own safety?

18 No Room For Snape

Look, I know that Dumbledore trusts Snape and, for whatever reason, Dumbledore is not to be questioned. But Snape and his selfish actions are the only reason why James and Lily are no longer sat at the Order’s meeting table in Grimmauld Place. Snape was the one who told him about the prophecy in the first place. The only reason that he swapped over to “the good side” was because that prophecy contained Lily. If the prophecy had contained any other mother and child, I doubt Snape would have cared. There is no room for him in the Order.

17 What Did Harry Do During The Early Meetings?

I have a question for the early days of the Order. What exactly did little Harry do during those early meetings? Did he, like he did as a teen, do his best to barge in on those meetings but was sent upstairs soon after his arrival? Did James bounce him on his knee while Lily lead the meetings?

Did they all take turns carrying the boy as they planned their next move and exchanged their information? Or were the meetings held after bedtime so he simply slept through them?

16 Why Don't They Talk About The Longbottoms?

Why does no one ever mention Frank or Alice or what happened to them? Their sacrifice was, honestly, something to be respected and looked up to. Why did they not pay tribute to the fallen before each meeting? Why did they never explain to the future generation of Order members what happened to those who left their ranks in order for them to protect themselves against those same dangers? Hiding children away from the truth does not protect them from the trials ahead. It only ensures that they will be unprepared when they finally come.

15 Why Did Nobody Protect The Burrow?

I know that protection spells can be complicated but I do not understand why one was not placed over the Burrow after Voldemort came back in the fourth installment in the series. We all want to think that these bad things we fear will never touch us in our homes but that is not always the case. We need to admit looming dangers to ourselves and take every precaution. We need to tell our children everything we know so that they can be prepared and we need to protect our safe spaces from potential enemies. Better to be overly cautious than vulnerable.

14 Why Did Voldemort Try To Recruit Lily?

Was Lily’s talent the missing key to Voldemort’s success? Is that why he attempted to recruit her, despite her mudblood status? Did he attempt to recruit other Muggle-borns to the cause or was Lily the sole exception? Would her talents protect her within his ranks or would she be subject to their prejudices first hand had she joined him? What was his feelings towards other talented Muggle-borns, like Hermione Granger? Was he livid when he discovered that the mudblood who denied him was the mother of the boy from the prophecy?

13 Did They Ever Train?

Was the Order anything like Dumbledore's army? Did they simply just catch up on information that had been discovered over the week? Or did they practice defensive spells, share intel, come up with strategies and protection plans, and help each other prepare for the war to come? From what we saw while following the younger generation through their journey, they seem more prone to the latter. I feel as though that the hesitation presented in the films was due to them simply not wanting to admit that another war is on the way.

12 Why Do They Trust Dumbledore That Much?

I have to question why to Order follows Dumbledore’s every wish and command. I know that he is a great wizard and has everyone’s best interests at heart. But he is not infallible and, like every other character in the series, he has his own flaws and is prone to his own biases. No one should ever go 100% unquestioned. I’m sorry, Albus, but there has to be another way to keep Harry safe that does not involve the Dursleys.

11 Why Did Nobody Tell Harry His Purpose?

I think that if they had of explained the prophecy to Harry from the get-go, that it would have been easier for him to stomach. I think it was unfair to essentially raise him like a farm animal and then send him off to the processing plant when the time was right.

He deserved to know what his purpose in the war was. It was unfair and cruel to not explain to him what everyone already knew was coming.

10 Why Didn't Harry Ask For The Order's Help?

I know that Harry has this obsession with refusing help from outside sources and it was honestly big of him to allow Ron and Hermione to help him, but I think it was unwise for them to not even consider enlisting the help/intel of the Order during their horcrux quest. Though there is a clear difference of opinion and technique between the two generations, I do think that having more information/people on the lookout could have really sped up that search as they cut it pretty close.

9 A Changed Patronus

Why does Snape think he has the right to mock Tonks for the fact that her Patronus changed following her newly discovered love when his Patronus did the exact same thing? How gross. How lame. How completely and utterly predictable coming from Snape. Mr. “I am an exception to all of the things that I dislike other people for. I am the sad victim so I can never be at fault for literally anything ever.” Bullying is wrong... unless Snape is the one doing the bullying. At least, according to Snape.

8 Why Not Just Disguise Harry?

So, the plot to get Harry out of the Dursleys by creating several Harrys so that Voldemort and his friends did not know which Harry to follow was a good plan. But I have a better idea. How about instead of creating seven Harrys, we simply disguise Harry? The rest of the order will be waiting at the Burrow.

Only Hagrid, disguised as someone else would show up. They would load Harry onto the motorbike (driving it muggle style) and they would like a normal muggle couple just heading out for a late night ride.

7 Unprepared For Battle

How much information was the Order able to gather on Voldemort before the Battle of Hogwarts began? Was it more or less than the information that the children had gathered? Did they share any of that information with the others, or did they all go in blind to what the others knew? Though the Order is no longer necessary, following the fall of Voldemort, do you think that the younger generation of wizards grew up and became the type of parents who made their children aware of everything (good or bad) in the world so that they could feel prepared for adulthood?

6 Raising The Second Generation

I genuinely think that the Order believed that they were protecting the younger generation by leaving them out of all of their plans, meetings, and intel sharing events. I think that they thought that if they didn’t say anything out loud that it would not happen. That the simple act of not talking about the looming dangers would, in and of itself, prevent them. But talking about these present dangers would have done nothing more than prepared the children for what was coming. I think that they were just too scared to picture their children fighting like they once did.