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Vol. 1, No. 1, August 2018, pp. 1-12 
E-ISSN: 2621-6485  

  
 

Apology Strategies in Harry Potter Movie Series 

 
 1

Intan Khoirun Nisa, 
2
Adi Sutrisno  

Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia 
1intan.khoirun.n@mail.ugm.ac.id 

 
Abstract 

Apology is an inevitable part of human communication as an act of face-saving strategy. It 

is necessarily uttered if an offence is made. This research is an attempt to reveal the 

apology strategies used as well as to analyse the influence of social distance and relative 

power to the realization of apology strategies,  as seen in Harry Potter and the Order of the 

Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, and Harry Potter and the Deathly 

Hallows Part 1 and 2. In total, there are 125 data found and those are classified according 

the apology strategy employed. The result shows that the majority of the speakers employ 

indirect apology strategy „Explanation or Account of Cause‟ to apologize. Furthermore, 

this research also found that social distance and relative power are taken into account 

during the apology process and they affect the linguistic realization of apology strategies in 

the movies. 

 

Keywords: apology strategies, social distance, relative power, harry potter. 

 

 

How to Cite: Nisa, I. K., Sutrisno, A. (2018). Apology Strategies in Harry Potter Movie 

Series. English Language Teaching Educational Journal, 1(1), 1-12. 

 

INTRODUCTION 

Uttering an apology is often inevitable. People may be in a situation 

where they need to apologize due to some offences they have committed to the 

one spoken to. Apology is, hence, considered an important part of human 

communication, owing to its role as a face-saving strategy.  

To apologize, people are entitled to choose their ways of apologizing 

which is commonly called apology strategies. As it has various types of 

strategies, apology might appear in different linguistic realization for different 

situation. The situation influencing the speaker‟s choice of apology strategy is 

called social variables. 

Social variables which influence the realization of apology strategies 

include social distance and relative power. Distance is determined as the 

familiarity between the speaker and the hearer, while power is defined as the 

gap of authority between them, seen from the hearer‟s point of view. These 

variables, which distinctively surround each situation, influence the linguistic 

realization of apology strategy. For instance, a person would choose different 

method of apologizing to someone whom he is familiar with compared to 

apologizing to someone whom he is unfamiliar with. Besides, he would also 

use different apology strategy if he apologizes to his employer or to his 

colleague. 

mailto:intan.khoirun.n@mail.ugm.ac.id


 

 

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The more varied the social variables found, the more varied the 

realization of apology strategies there are. Therefore, Harry Potter Movie 

Series are chosen because it has various characters involved, which do not 

comprise only the students and the teacher, but also the minister, the enemy of 

the main character, and even the creatures in magic world such as goblin and 

centaurs. However, the investigated Harry Potter Movie Series are only 

referred to Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the 

Half Blood Prince, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 and 2. 

This is because in those parts, the majority of the characters have entered their 

adolescent period, which is assumed that they would have better linguistic 

realization compared to the moment they were still in their childhood. 

 

Theoretical Framework 

This research adopted a theory proposed by Blum-Kulka and Olshtain 

(1984), who divide apology strategies into direct and indirect apology 

strategies. Direct apology strategy is defined as the explicit utterance of 

apology, which consists of Explicit Illocutionary Force Indicating Device 

(IFID) strategy. Meanwhile, the remaining strategies are classified as indirect 

apology strategies. Those are Explanation or Account of Cause, Taking of 

Responsibility, Offer of Repair, and Promise of Forbearance. 

Blum-Kulka and Olshtain (1984) convey that the linguistic realization of 

the act of apologizing can take one of two basic forms, or a combination of 

both. This means the apology strategy expressed by a speaker can be compiled 

by ranges of apology strategies (Blum-Kulka and Olshtain, 1984). According to 

them, there are some factors which may influence the reason why the speaker 

finally decides to apologize by means of bringing back the hearer‟s face even 

though it risks the speaker‟s face. Blum-Kulka and Olshtain (1984) reveal that 

social variables including distance and power contribute to the intensification 

of the apology. Briefly, social distance represents the degree of familiarity 

between the speaker and the hearer. Meanwhile relative power represents the 

level of social gap between the speaker and the hearer. 

 

METHODS 

The primary data of this research covered the apology utterances taken 

from the movies. Utterance is defined as any stretch of talk, by one person, 

before and after in which there is silence on the part of that person (Hurford, 

Heasley, and Smith, 2007). It refers to the use by a particular speaker, on a 

particular occasion, of a piece of language, including a sequence of sentences, a 

single phrase, or even a single word (Hurford, Heasley, and Smith, 2007). This 

is what differs utterance to sentence. Utterances include a word, a phrase, a 

clause, or a sentence, while sentences focus on its grammatical completion 

consisting of a string of words expressing a complete thought (Hurford, 

Heasley, and Smith, 2007). Hence, apology utterance, as the data in this 

research, is determined as any utterance containing the strategies of apology. It 

may consist of only a word, a phrase, a clause, or also a sentence. The data 



 

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were taken from Harry Potter Movie Series, namely Harry Potter and the 

Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, and Harry 

Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 and 2. Those parts were selected 

because in those movies, the majority of the characters have entered their 

adolescent age, which is assumed that they have better linguistic realization to 

apologize. Besides, the movies have covered more than half of the series which 

means it is quite representative for a research on Harry Potter. Therefore, only 

those parts amongst all series of Harry Potter were chosen. There were several 

steps conducted in collecting the data: 

1. Downloaded the English subtitles of Harry Potter and the Order of the 

Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, and Harry Potter and the 

Deathly Hallows Part 1 and 2 from yifysubtitles.com. 
2. Watched all the movies which were obtained from the original VCDs 

distributed in Indonesia by PT. Vision Interprima Pictures. 

3. Noted down every utterance containing an apology strategy and described 

the situational context as a method to understand the cause the speaker 

uttered the apology. 

4. Examined and rechecked the rough data to see whether it suited the felicity 

condition for apology proposed by Blum-Kulka and Olshtain (1984) or 

Murphy (2015). 

5. Omitted some data which did not suit at least one of the preconditions. 

6. Grouped the final data according to the movies to make it easier to find. 

Meanwhile, in analysing the data, some step also had been conducted; 

those are: 

1. Classified the data according the apology strategies proposed by Blum-

Kulka and Olshtain (1984) 

2. Examined the social distance and relative power influencing each apology 

utterances in the data. 

3. Counted the result to find out the most frequently used apology strategy. 

4. Recapitulated the data in table. 

5. Analysed the table descriptively by also providing the example for each 

strategy to see how apology strategies were applied in the movies as well as 

how the social distance and relative power influenced the linguistic 

realization of apology strategies in the movies. 

 

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 

According to the research data, there are 5 types of apology strategies 

found in the movies. Those are Explicit Illocutionary Force Indicating Device, 

Explanation or Account of Cause, Taking of Responsibility, Offer of Repair, 

and Combination strategy. Mostly, the speaker prefers to employ indirect 

apology strategy which reaches up to 69.6%, while direct apology strategy is 

only used in 30.4% of the total data. To be exact, the most frequently used 

indirect strategy is Explanation or Account of Cause by attaining 44% data in 

the movies. Furthermore, the social distance and relative power also influence 



 

 

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the linguistic realization of apology strategies in the movies. Below are some 

examples of the data in each strategy obtained from the movies. 

 

Explicit Illocutionary Force Indicating Device (IFID) 

This strategy is signalled by the existence of a performative verbs in IFID 

such as “I‟m sorry.”, “Pardon me.”, “Forgive me.”, “Excuse me”, “I beg your 

pardon.”, and “I apologize”. Presented below is an example of this strategy 

found in the movies. 

 

(1) HP.7.1. EoA + IFID + EoA. D- P= 

00:24:30,460  00:24:59,956 

 

Context: 

In this scene, Harry invites Ron to go together with him and leave the 
Burrows but Ron refuses. He tells Harry that his plan is insane because 

they still have many things to consider such as the Trace that still lies 

within Harry, as well as her brother’s wedding. Ron also does not want to 

leave Hermione. Hearing Ron’s refusal, Harry utters that he apparently 

does not care about the wedding Ron mentioned because the more he 

postpones to find those Horcruxes the stronger Voldemort gets. 

 

Harry Potter : Come with me. 

Ron Weasley : What, and leave Hermione? You mad? We wouldn't last 

two days without her. Don't tell her I said that. Besides, 

you've still got the Trace on you. We've still got the 

wedding... 

Harry Potter : I don't care about a wedding. I'm sorry. No matter 

whose it is. I have to start finding these Horcruxes. 

They're our only chance to beat him... and the longer we 

stay here, the stronger he gets. 

 

Number (1) is an example of IFID strategy using three strategy 

combinations namely EoA + IFID + EoA below the influence of D- P=. In this 

situation, the offence is committed by Harry for insisting to leave The Burrow. 

For his apology, he employs three strategy combinations, EoA + IFID + EoA. 

The first explanation is when he says “I don't care about a wedding”. Harry 

explains that he insists to leave because Ron brother‟s wedding is apparently 

not quite necessary for him. His apology is followed by a direct apology “I‟m 

sorry. No matter whose it is”. He seems to realize that he has offended Ron by 

saying that he does not care about the wedding, therefore, he spontaneously 

says “I‟m sorry”. Following this strategy, Harry creates another explanation “I 

have to start finding these Horcruxes. They're our only chance to beat him... 

and the longer we stay here, the stronger he gets.”. This explanation is aimed to 

make Ron understand that if he stays longer in The Burrow, even for the 



 

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wedding, it would postpone his searching for Horcruxes, which can make 

Voldemort stronger. 

In example (1), D- is seen through Harry and Ron‟s close relationship, 

because they have become friends even at Harry‟s first arrival in the magic 

world. Therefore, it can be concluded that there is no distance between them. 

While P= is caused by their similar status as student at the same level, which 

makes them has no more or less power towards each other. However, even 

though the social variable of this situation is D- P=, Harry as the speaker in 

example (11) employs longer strategy, unlike other data which typically use 

shorter strategy. One of the reasons is because Harry‟s offence in this situation 

is quite serious. Actually, the cause of the offence in all of the provided 

examples is quite similar, which is the speaker is leaving the hearer. However, 

in example (1), Harry is not just about to leave the hearer, but also other 

occupants of The Burrow. Besides, Harry‟s abandonment in this situation is not 

temporary, he is planning to leave permanently, and there is no indication to 

return. Therefore, even though Harry and Ron have close distance and equal 

power, Harry uses longer strategies with longer explanation as well. 

 

Explanation or Account of Cause (EoA) 

This strategy contains the reason of the offence committed by the 

speaker, without providing additional strategies. Analysed below is an example 

of how it is used in the movies. 

 

(2) HP.5. EoA. D- P- 

01:40:51,586  01:41:12,472 

 

Context: 

Umbridge finds Harry sneaking into her room to use the floo network. She 
insists him to tell where he wants to go but Harry does not want to tell her 

anything. Umbridge thinks that Harry’s escape trial becomes Ministry 

security’s issue and since Harry does not want to tell anything, Umbridge 
plans to use the illegal Cruciatus Curse to Harry so that he will open his 

mouth. Cruciatus Curse causes the victim to feel pain and physically 

tortured. 

 

Dolores Umbridge : Very well. You give me no choice, Potter. As this is 

an issue of Ministry security... you leave me with... 

no alternative. The Cruciatus Curse ought to loosen 

your tongue. 

Harry Potter : (staring at Umbridge) 

Hermione Granger : That‟s illegal. 

Dolores Umbridge : What Cornelius doesn‟t know won‟t hurt him. 

 

 



 

 

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Number (2) is an example of EoA strategy influenced by D- P- variable. 

In this situation, Umbridge‟s cruel intention for using Cruciatus Curse becomes 

the offence of example (2). As seen in above dialogue, for this offence, 

Umbridge explains that Cruciatus Curse is needed to be done because Harry‟s 

reason for room breaking is suspected to be related to the Ministry security. 

Through this utterance, Umbridge has indirectly uttered an apology using EoA 

strategy. 

Influenced by D- P- variable, D- is shown by Harry and Umbridge‟s 

familiarity towards each other because Umbridge has become Harry‟s teacher 

in throughout this year and P- is caused by Harry‟s lower authority as student. 

Due to these social variables, Umbridge uses an idiom „loosen your tongue‟, 

which means „to speak‟, to Harry. This idiom would be less used to hearer with 

higher authority because the chosen diction is quite brave. However, despite the 

social variables, Umbridge creates a longer explanation. The possible cause is 

that she is about to make a serious violation, which is breaking the law. 

Besides, by using Cruciatus Curse means she is going to torture Harry 

physically. 

 

Taking of Responsibility (ToR) 

This strategy is used when the speaker takes the blame for the offence he 

has committed to the hearer. See example (3) to find out how this strategy is 

applied. 

 

(3) HP.5. ToR. D- P= 

00:13:30,783  00:13:37,181 

 

Context: 

In this scene, Harry is disappointed because during the holiday Harry did 

not receive any letters from his best friends and that makes him know 
nothing regarding to what happened in the magic world. Harry is rather 

pissed and Ron explains that he and Hermione actually wanted to write but 

Dumbledore did not allow them to. 

 

Harry Potter : Couldn't have put any of this in a letter, I suppose? I've 

gone all summer without a scrap of news. 

Ron Weasley : We wanted to write, mate. Really, we did. Only... 

Harry Potter : Only what? 

Hermione Granger : Only Dumbledore made us swear not to tell you 

anything. 

Number (3) is an example of ToR strategy influenced by D- P= social 

variables. As explained in theoretical framework, there are three sub-categories 

of ToR strategy. One of them is denial of fault. Number (3) is an example of 

this sub category. In this situation, the offence is committed by Ron and 

Hermione for not writing any letters to Harry during holiday. Realizing his 

fault, he says “We wanted to write, mate. Really, we did.” As seen in this 



 

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utterance, actually Ron admits that he is mistaken for not writing letters to 

Harry, but he refuses to be accused that it is because he did not want to write it. 

In fact, he is forbidden by Dumbledore. 

Example (3) is influenced by D- P= social variable. The negative distance 

(D-) is caused by Harry‟s close friendship with Ron Weasley, and the equal 

power (P=) is caused by their similar status as students in Hogwarts. Due to 

these variables, Ron‟s choice of language in his denial remains casual. He uses 

a call name such as “mate” which indicates his familiarity and closeness to 

Harry. Ron also adds “Really, we did.” in his apology as a method to minimize 

his offence and to show his sincerity. Even though they have equal power, this 

intensification is added because Ron‟s offence is quite serious because it has 

triggered Harry‟s anger. 

 

Offer of Repair (OoR) 

This strategy is employed in order to offer the compensation to the hearer 

for the violation the speaker has committed. Discussed in example (4) below is 

how OoR is used in the movies. 

 

(4) HP.5. OoR. D- P+ 

00:48:06,884  00:48:30,635 

 

Context: 

In this scene, Umbridge is inquiring Professor Trelawney when she is 

teaching. In the middle of the scene, Umbridge wants Professor Trelawney 

to predict her. At first, Professor Trelawney looks doubtful because the 

prediction for Umbridge will not be positive. However, looking at 

Umbridge’s disappointment, Professor Trelawney then expresses what she 

sees, which unfortunately is not a good prediction. 
 

Dolores Umbridge : One teensy little prophecy? Pity. 

Professor Trelawney : No, wait. Wait, no. I think I do see something. 

Yes, I do. Something dark. You are in grave 

danger. 
Dolores Umbridge : Lovely. 

 

In above situation, Umbridge now has not just become a teacher but also 

an inquisitor in Hogwarts. In this example, the offence is created by Professor 

Trelawney for disappointing Umbridge by refusing to tell her the prophecy she 

wanted. Due to this offence, she expresses an indirect apology by uttering her 

prediction to Umbridge. “No, wait. Wait, no. I think I do see something. Yes, I 

do. Something dark. You are in grave danger.”. In that utterance, it can be seen 

how she tries to repair Umbdrige‟s disappointment by conveying her 

prediction. 

 



 

 

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This example is influenced by D- P+ social variables. D- is caused by 

Umbridge and Professor Trelawney‟s familiarity towards each other because 

both are teachers in Hogwarts. Meanwhile, P+ is influenced by Umbridge‟s 

position as an inquisitor which in this situation has higher authority towards the 

speaker, Professor Trelawney. Due to the variables, as seen through Professor 

Trelawney‟s words, it looks that she really wants to repair Umbridge‟s 

disappointment. She even mentioned „no‟ for several times which indicates her 

„fear‟ towards Umbridge as an inquisitor. 

 

Combination Strategy  

This strategy is newly created in accordance to Blum-Kulka and 

Olshtain‟s theory (1984) that the linguistic realization of the act of apologizing 

can take one of two basic forms, or a combination of both. That means an 

utterance of apology may consist of a combination between the strategies in 

direct and indirect apology or a combination between strategies in indirect 

apology. However, combination is only referred to an apology utterance 

consisting of more than one indirect apology strategies. For any strategy 

combination consisting of a performative verb in IFID, it remains categorized 

as IFID. Discussed below is the analysis of Combination strategy found in the 

movies. 

(5) HP.7.2. EoA + OoR. D+ P+ 

00:13:48,293  00:14:07,443 

 

Context: 

Harry, Ron, and Hermione are in Gringotts. To make sure that Bellatrix 
Lestrange he sees is not an impostor; the staff wants to check her wand. But 

the fake Bellatrix Lestrange (Hermione) refuses. The staff explains that it is 

the bank’s policy. And like it or not, he must insist to do so. 

 
Goblin : Madam Lestrange, would you mind presenting your 

wand? 

Bellatrix Lestrange : And why should I do that? 

Goblin : It's the bank's policy. I'm sure you understand 

given the current climate. 

Bellatrix Lestrange : No. I most certainly do not understand. 

Goblin : I'm afraid I must insist. 

 

This example is influenced by D+ P+ variable. D+ is caused by the 

presence of distance between Bellatrix and the goblin. Even though the goblin 

knows who Madam Lestrange is, nevertheless, there is no interaction which 

happened between them outside the bank. P+ is affected by Bellatrix 

Lestrange‟s greater power as the Death Eater. In this situation, the offence is 

committed by the goblin for insisting Bellatrix Lestrange to confirm her 

identity. Influenced by this variable, the goblin uses two combinations of 

indirect apology strategy EoA + OoR. EoA is used to explain that he must insist 



 

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due to the bank policy and OoR is shown by the second utterance “I'm sure you 

understand given the current climate.” This OoR is identified as unspecified 

OoR because the goblin only impliedly offers his certainty towards Bellatrix. 

By using OoR he shows how Madam Lestrange is much respected that he 

„offers‟ his certainty of her understanding to make his utterance as polite as 

possible. 

 

CONCLUSION 

Referring to the result and the analysis, indirect apology strategy becomes 

the most commonly used strategy in this research. To be exact, the speakers 

prefer to use an indirect strategy by explaining the cause of the offence rather 

than to utilize either direct or other indirect apology strategies. 

In accordance to the influence of the social variables, this research finds 

that social distance and relative power are taken into account during the process 

of apologizing. The analysis reveals that these variables affect the linguistic 

realization of apology strategies used by the characters. The realization seen in 

the data is the length of the strategy the speaker employs. To a situation in 

which the social distance between the interlocutors is negative and the relative 

power is equal or negative, the speakers tend to create shorter explanation by 

adding a call name such as “dear”, “mate”, or the first name of the hearer. 

However, to a situation in which the social distance between the interlocutors is 

positive or negative and the relative power is positive, the speakers more likely 

create a longer explanation by adding a more formal call name such as “sir”, 

“ma‟am”, “professor”, or the last name of the hearer. 

 

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APPENDIX 

 

Table 1. The overall use of apology strategy in the movies 

No 
Apology Strategies 

Direct Strategy N % Indirect Strategies N % 

1. 

Explicit 

Illocutionary Force 

Indicating Device 

(IFID) 

38 30.4% 

Explanation or 

Account of Cause 

(EoA) 
55 44% 

2. 

 

  

Taking of 

Responsibility 

(ToR) 

9 7.2% 

3. 
 

  
Offer of Repair 

(OoR) 
5 4% 

4. 
 

  
Promise of 

Forbearance (PoF) 
0 0% 

5.    Combination 18 14.4% 

Total Direct 38 30.4% Indirect 87 69.6% 

 

Table 2. The general distribution of social distance and relative power 

on apology strategy used in the movies 

No 
Social 

Variables 

Apology Strategies 
Total 

IFID EoA ToR OoR PoF Combination 

N % N % N % N % N % N % N % 

1. D- P= 13 10.4 23 18.4 6 4.8 4 3.2 0 0 7 5.6 53 42.4 

2. D- P- 10 8 16 12.8 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 3.2 30 24 

3. D- P+ 12 9.6 12 9.6 2 1.6 1 0.8 0 0 3 2.4 30 24 

4. D+ P= 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

5. D+ P- 2 1.6 2 1.6 1 0.8 0 0 0 0 3 2.4 8 6.4 

6. D+ P+ 1 0.8 2 1.6 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.8 4 3.2 

Total 38 30.4 55 44 9 7.2 5 4 0 0 18 14.4 125 100 

 


