Order of the Phoenix
A secret order in the Harry Potter universe created by JK Rowling. The Order's goal was to oppose the evil Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters and eventually bring about their demise. The first order was founded in 1970 by Albus Dumbledore, during the First Wizarding War. Many of the Order's original members died during this time, murdered by either Death Eaters or by Voldemort himself. It was dissolved in 1981 when Voldemort was 'killed'. However, during the Second Wizarding War the Order of the Phoenix was restarted in 1995. During this time it was headed by Albus Dumbledore, Mad-Eye Moody and Kingsley Shacklebolt, respectively. The headquarters of the Order were either Number 12 Grimmauld Place or the Weasley's family home 'the Burrow'. The aim of the Order was to protect the Wizarding and Muggle world from Voldemort and his followers. During the First and Second Wizarding Wars, the Ministry of Magic attempted to dissolve the Order, forcing it's members to go underground. They maintained affiliations with Dumbledore's Army during the Second Wizarding War. In the end, the Order lost many of it's members, including: Albus Dumbledore, Mad-Eye Moody, Nymphadora Tonks, Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, Fred Weasley, Frank and Alice Longbottom and James and Lily Potter (not in that order).
Hogwarts student: I hear that Ministry has attempted to disband the Order of the Phoenix. They claim there's no threat from You-Know-Who.
Friend: What's the Order of the Phoenix?
Hogwarts student: A secret society that no one knows about...well, almost no one.
Friend: What's the Order of the Phoenix?
Hogwarts student: A secret society that no one knows about...well, almost no one.