What was the Order of the Phoenix?

[vmonte]

No: HPFGUIDX 101319

jodel wrote:

So he founded the Order and staffed it with some of his own most
trusted personal associates, along with the people who were most
deeply involved, along with some of their closest friends and family
members. Namely; the Potters and the Longbottoms. The function of the 
origional Order of the Phoenix was specifically to protect the two 
most likely candidates for being the child of the Trelawney prophesy. 
It was the Harry Potter/Neville Longbottom Protective Association.


vmonte responds:

Maybe the order is a lot older than even that. The name of the group: 
The Order of the Phoenix, implies a much longer lived society.  The 
Phoenix is a bird that lives for thousands of years and continuously 
dies and is reborn.  

I was rereading OOTP and came across the scene where Harry informs 
Lupin that he is no-longer taking Occlumeny lessons. Lupin tells 
Harry that he must go back and tell Snape that he must continue the 
lessons because Harry must learn it! It is the single most important 
thing he must accomplish (lots of paraphrasing). 

Through the whole series of books Harry has always been given the 
tools, lessons, animals, etc, that he has needed to accomplish 
certain goals. 

In PoA alone, Hagrid makes sure he is acquainted with Buckbeak. Lupin 
teaches him the patronus charm. Hermione is given the time-turner, 
which is used later.

What if Harry and the kids are being singled out and trained for an 
as yet mentioned role?  (A role in which they will continue the work 
of the Order?) 

I also think that Harry may need to learn Occlumency not to protect 
himself from present day Voldemort, but because he will need to go 
back in time and impersonate James. 

And yes, someone will figure out who he is because of his eyes...

Just to throw some thoughts out...
Has the Order been around since the original founders of Hogwarts 
broke up?  Did Salazar mess with the time-line?  Has Voldemort 
somehow created a larger rift in time? 
Are the Order protectors of time? 

vivian