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b'In my last podcast, I talked about the first of two magic duels in chapter 36 of Order of the Phoenix, the one between Harry and Bellatrix. Now it\\u2019s time to move on to the main event, the massive duel between Albus Dumbledore and Voldemort.
\\nThere is no other magical battle in the entire series to equal this one. The roller-coaster flow of spells and counterspells is wild and breathtaking. This is certainly one of the most exciting, most cinematic magical battles in the entire saga.
\\nThis mighty duel is the centerpiece of the entire seven-book tale. We are most of the way through the middle book of the series. It\\u2019s the watershed moment, when the forces of good and evil collide and the fate of the wizarding world is at stake. But neither side wins, not yet. So what is the actual point?
\\nThe most important aspect of this duel is to show how powerful truly high-level wizards are, and how powerless Harry is in this situation. Remember, up to this point Harry has seen himself as what I call \\u201csuper-hero Harry.\\u201d He has begun to count on his abilities and his \\u201cspecial-ness\\u201d to be able to face Voldemort one day. And of course he does! Any of us would. If we have to fight a supervillain, we had better find our inner superhero or we\\u2019re toast.
\\nAnd toast it is. Harry gets a first hand look at just how powerful he will need to be in order to go toe to toe — or wand to wand — with Voldemort. He sees magic way beyond that which he has experienced, way beyond what he even thought possible. His abilities, while impressive for a fifteen year old wizard, are nowhere near strong enough for a flat out battle.
\\nOf course, we\\u2019re seeing it too. We\\u2019ve been wondering how this is all going to end and assuming there will be a huge showdown at some point. We have imagined Harry and Voldemort in a duel, something like that Priori Incantatem faceoff in the graveyard, and figuring that maybe, just maybe the twin wand cores would be the secret to Harry winning the day. But in this duel, there is little wand-against-wand spellcasting. The truly epic combat consists of all environmental effects and transfiguration. The most jaw-dropping spells completely bypass the kind of \\u201cspells meeting in midair\\u201d situation that allowed Harry to escape the graveyard battle. Instead we see the water from the fountain whipped into a liquid prison and streams of fire morphing into a serpent. We see Voldemort teleport from place to place and then completely dematerialize to take on spirit form and to possess Harry.
\\nEven Dumbledore has no defense against this last tactic, and Harry feels Voldemort take over, enveloping and consuming him. And then we get the first inkling of the kind of power which CAN defeat the Dark Lord. Harry\\u2019s heart is filled not with hate and aggression but with love for Sirius. And that power is what drives Voldemort away. Here\\u2019s how it\\u2019s described:
\\nHe was gone from the hall, he was locked in the coils of a creature with red eyes, so tightly bound that Harry did not know where his body ended and the creature’s began: they were fused together, bound by pain, and there was no escape
\\nAnd when the creature spoke, it used Harry’s mouth, so that in his agony he felt his jaw move
\\n`Kill me now, Dumbledore\\u2026’
\\nBlinded and dying, every part of him screaming for release, Harry felt the creature use him again\\u2026
\\n`If death is nothing, Dumbledore, kill the boy\\u2026’
\\nLet the pain stop, thought Harry\\u2026 let him kill us\\u2026 end it, Dumbledore\\u2026 death is nothing compared to this\\u2026
\\nAnd I’ll see Sirius again\\u2026
'