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The Wiki for The Order of the Phoenix says that Alastor Moody and then Kingsley Shacklebolt led the order after Dumbledore's death. I certainly don't remember this being explicitly stated.

Is there any canon evidence of this? Was there a definite leader after Dumbledore's death?

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  • Moody certainly seems to be in charge of the mission to move Harry from 4 Privet Drive
    – Au101
    Mar 6, 2016 at 17:47
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    @Au101 - Yes, which is where I think their assumption comes from, but he seems like so much more of a 'mission leader' or captain or something, rather than an overall leader of the order. I base this on his former descriptions and history.
    – ThruGog
    Mar 6, 2016 at 17:51
  • Moody was a mission leader however he was the only order member capable of leading the Order.
    – Bellerophon
    Mar 6, 2016 at 19:47

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I don't know who else could have lead The Order. The Weasleys had their family to worry about, the Hogwarts students are clearly too young. Lupin is unreliable because he becomes a werewolf each month, and both he and Nympadora were concerned with their child.

Most of the wizarding world is opposed to Voldemort, but living in abject fear of him, subservient, and not offering any active resistance (until the battle of Hogwarts). The Order is severely reduced, and hidden from all eyes. It can't exactly put out a job as in The Daily Prophet for a new resistance leader.

That just leaves Moody and Shacklebolt who could be focussed 100% on the work of the Order. So I don't see any reason to doubt this assertion.

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  • Shacklebolt worked for the Ministry; he couldn't exactly devote 100% of time to the Order either.
    – Janus Bahs Jacquet
    Mar 6, 2016 at 21:37
  • Fair point, Moody seems a better choice.
    – AJFaraday
    Mar 6, 2016 at 21:38
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    Why must there be a leader?
    – Oriol
    Mar 6, 2016 at 22:53
  • @Oriol there's not a lot of communist undertones in Harry Potter. In my own experience organisations where nobody can have the last word tend to become counter-productive, and more involved in bickering than their declared purpose.
    – AJFaraday
    Mar 6, 2016 at 22:55
  • Actually Lupin and Tonks were pregnant only after Harry, Ron and Hermione sought refuge at Grimmauld Place. So Lupin would have been eligible when Moody died. Sure, he was married. But Tonks was also a part of the Order. So he wouldn't have faced much resistance at home. But Lupin's character does seem like the type who would rather defer leadership to someone he feels is more suited for it, than take it on himself. Which means Shacklebolt likely was the leader.
    – ʀᴇᴅ_ᴅᴇᴠɪʟ226
    Mar 7, 2016 at 5:38

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